On Wednesday, September 2nd, at Kitagin Ballpark in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, the ceremony pitch for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles vs. Orix Buffaloes The Buffaloes game featured Takuhiro Kimura (Tianjin), who currently resides in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture and is active as an Iwate Life Ambassador.

When he reached mound, he recited a haiku wishing for the win of Rakuten Eagles, then pitch. He energized the final Tohoku Series regular season held in Aomori, Yamagata, Fukushima, and Akita at the Iwate venue.

Today's ceremonial pitch was performed by #TenshinKimura, who is currently active in Iwate Prefecture⚾

He recited a poem on the mound, and then delivered a pitch filled with emotion🔥

The ball flew straight, nice ball👏✨ #RakutenEagles#StrongEaglesInnovation pic.twitter.com/OpHHPdv7SQ

— Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (@Rakuten__Eagles) September 2, 2026

Comment from Takuhiro "Tenshin" Kimura
"Today was the ceremonial pitch at a long-awaited first-team game, and it felt incredibly good. Ambassador Okajima praised my slider during practice, so I was torn until the very end between throwing a fastball or a slider, and as a result, it ended up being a halfway-decent ball. I didn't look at the speed gun, but it felt like it was 146km/h.
The applause from the fans made me really happy. I've lived in Iwate for five years now, and I felt like I've been accepted. I think the feeling of everyone wishing for a win has also increased.
For today's game, a Rakuten Eagles win, I think it's possible!"

Text by Sari Ikeda