perspective | life & careers

Cultural exchange
Koji Takaishi's long commute keeps him in the action on two continents

By MICHEL NOLAN

Home plate is covered

Charlene Takaishi has a fear of flying. This is why, after five years of watching her husband, Koji, leave for Japan, she's only traveled there once. "It's 12 hours over water and I don't do that," she explains, "unless I can have a glass of wine in flight." It would take lots more than one glass, however. After 35 years of marriage, she and Koji have an understanding, says Charlene, who runs to check the bride-and-groom gift plaque on the kitchen wall to ascertain the year of their wedding. "He had this opportunity to go (to Japan), and I know how much he loves baseball. He gets to go back to the country of his birth." Koji Takaishi serves as the cultural adviser to manager Bobby Valentine of the Chiba Lotte Marines, a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League. He travels with the team and has spent as long as nine months of the year in Japan. The time they spend apart is acceptable to each, she'll tell you. Over the years they have learned to compromise. "When we first met, it was East meets West because our cultures are so different. He's had to loosen up being married to me." She loves to decorate and hopes Koji will be pleased with her efforts when he gets home from his trips. She says she did feel bad, though, when her husband came home from a long trip and drove right past the house because he doesn't recognize it. Charlene, in a burst of aesthetic zeal, had the house painted and re-roofed and changed the landscaping. Fortunately, she left the address alone. "The only way to decorate is when no one is around to tell you they don't like the color," she rationalized. In addition to exterior improvements, she's also recarpeted and repainted the interior and renovated the kitchen when he's been away. She's redecorated the bedrooms, bathrooms and Koji's office — a nearly sacrosanct space. Fearlessly, she takes on almost anything. When she's not decorating, reading "good" fiction or writing short stories, Charlene likes to travel — mostly visits to see their daughter in Oregon, or trips up the California coast. All by train, of course. There is still that fear of flying thing. — Michel Nolan

Not adjacent ones separated by a border 100 miles to the south, but civilizations divided by philosophy, tradition and a 5,500-mile stretch of Pacific Ocean.

Takaishi, a San Bernardino resident and businessman, spends nearly nine months of every year at his "other" job, traveling with the Chiba Lotte Marines, a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League. The 12-hour nonstop flight is a heck of a commute.

"Cross-cultural occupations are a phenomenon now but in the future they will get more common," Takaishi said recently on the eve of his third trip this year to his native country.

While he's there, he leaves behind his wife of 35 years, Charlene (whom he calls "Charlie"), a comfortable home near Arrowhead Country Club, and Subaru of San Bernardino, the car dealership he owns with two other partners.

Not everything is different on the other side of the globe. Take baseball, for example.

The Chiba Lotte Marines were led to the 2005 Japan Series championship by their manager, former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

As the special assistant to Valentine, Takaishi serves as the cultural adviser, translating as needed and helping to maintain good international relations.

"Bobby Valentine is great — on and off the field. I have great respect for him. He's a gentleman of the old school." — Koji Takaishi

"I advise him about what is acceptable by the Japanese culture," said Takaishi, who earned a degree in political science before coming to the United States when he was 23.

Although he became a naturalized United States citizen in 1998, he says he is still learning more articulate English. He is fluent in both Japanese and English and looks forward to visiting his family — his mother and two sisters — in Minami-Alps, the city of his birth.

Surrounded by towering verdant mountains, the city is situated in a region of rolling green hills, amid vineyards and orchards known for producing delicious grapes, peaches and cherries. The countryside, with its tranquil gardens, hot springs and historic castles, is a 180-degree shift from the whirlwind of people and traffic that is Tokyo.

In addition to Takaishi's cultural responsibilities, he also scouts local baseball talent for the team — a team that was turned around by the Valentine phenomenon.

"Bobby Valentine is great — on and off the field. I have great respect for him," Takaishi said. "He's a gentleman of the old school."

Valentine is immensely popular in Japan, and regarded as a hero. Now in his fifth season with the Chiba Lotte Marines, he's even had a hamburger (the Bobby Burger) and a beer (Bobeer) named for him. He's been called "the American Tsunami."

Friends since they met in 1990 through a mutual friend and baseball general manager in Japan, Valentine and Takaishi hit it off right away.

"When Bobby asked me to be his assistant, I agreed because I have a lot of free time with my job and have the luxury of doing what I enjoy," said Takaishi, 66, who purchased the Subaru dealership with a silent partner from Japan and Geoff Harris, president of Subaru of San Bernardino. Like everyone else these days, they look forward to the economy improving.

Takaishi, who left for Japan on July 17, plans to return home early this month. But he may not stay put.

"If we advance to the playoffs, then I'll turn around and go back in early October," he said.

This year, Takaishi says he's making four shorter trips, winding down, getting ready to retire. He no longer plans to stay in Japan the full nine months.

When he's gone, he misses home and golf and Charlie, too.

He and Charlene have a daughter, Kathleen, whom they call "Kumi."

The 32-year-old is the head golf coach at Portland State University, an achievement that makes her father, an avid golfer, beam with pride.

"I started teaching Kumi to play golf when she was in junior high," he said. "She didn't want to play soccer so I gave her a choice of washing cars at Subaru or joining junior golf. She chose golf."

Takaishi said he went to see her play in tournaments when she was at Oregon State and is proud of her.

Father and daughter rarely play golf when both are in town, however.

"She's better than him," Charlene laughs, "it has to do with youth."