Photo/Illutration Players toss Akinobu Okada, the Hanshin Tigers manager, in the air after winning the Japan Series at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Nov. 5. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

When the Hanshin Tigers were in the Japan Series back in 1985, the games were played during the day while we kids were at school.

But some of my junior high school classmates worked out a plan to find out, during class, how Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu and Akinobu Okada were doing.

They brought their transistor radios into the classroom, tucked into their shirts with the earphone cord going through a sleeve of their school uniforms and the earbud exiting out the wrist area.

To avoid getting caught, they all propped their chins on their hands, but I could see their bodies jerking from time to time.

That was 38 years ago. The now-defunct Kokutetsu (Japanese National Railways) had yet to be privatized and the popular TV variety show “8-ji da yo Zenin Shugo” (It’s 8 o’clock, gather round) ended that year.

Also in 1985, the old Dendenkosha (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corp.) was privatized and renamed Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. with its abbreviated name, NTT, being voted the year’s “newly coined word.”

Writing all this makes me truly feel that it was a completely different era. I am sure younger readers of this column must particularly feel so.

Tigers fans have been patient beyond belief. Every time they believed their dream would come true again, they were brutally let down. But they just wouldn’t--or couldn’t--give up.

When the team won the Japan Series 38 years ago, it was during the Showa Era (1926-1989). When they finally clinched the title again on Nov. 5 this year, the Heisei Era (1989-2019) was already in the past, and this is now the fifth year of the Reiwa Era.

“It’s taken a long time,” said Tigers manager Okada, full of emotion. I couldn’t agree more.

It is said that great ballplayers do not necessarily become great baseball managers and that is probably because we humans tend to cling to our past successes.

Okada, however, wrote in his book “Sora Soyo” (It goes without saying) that the style of baseball he strives for as a manager is not the type that he likes, but what suits his team.

As an avid shogi fan, Okada played it in the locker room even during his playing days. He would be thinking many moves ahead.

Over the years, maturity was added to his sharp insight and his players responded to his guidance by ringing up victories.

A special sales campaign to celebrate the occasion began yesterday. The last time it was held, there was no consumption tax. But now it’s 10 percent--ah, that’s not the thing to say under the circumstances.

Money flies out of shoppers' wallets, but never mind. As Tigers fans, they are squealing with delight.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 7

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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