Part of the fun of catching a baseball game are the things that are happening outside of the baseball action itself. You know, the hot dogs, the crowds going wild, the petite actresses breaking stacks of bricks with their heads…wait, what?
Last Sunday, the Chiba Lotte Marines played the Seibu Lions at their home field in Saitama, and the game started off with a ceremonial first pitch. Just as it is in the Big Leagues, the first pitch at a Japanese baseball game is often a chance for a political figure or celebrity to have a bit of fun—or embarrass themselves. While the guest of honor’s pitch wasn’t a great one (it didn’t quite make it to the plate, but it got where it was going faster than this pitch), it was what she did before tossing the ball towards home plate that turned heads.
The actress, Rina Takeda, has a black belt in Ryukyu Shorin-ryu Karate, and has appeared in several martial arts movies that—inexplicably—have the name “girl” in their titles: High Kick Girl!, The Ancient Dogoo Girl, Karate Girl, and The Kunoichi: Ninja Girl. In an interview with Far East Films, Takeda explains that she grew up sparring with her brother, who also studied karate.
If you’ve been watching TV lately, you might have seen this ad for Credit Saison that features the talented Miss Takeda, performing the same move, but in a less sporty outfit (the first time we saw the ad, we thought they’d swapped in a stunt double). Come to think of it, there might be a whole lot less credit card debt in the world if shoppers were forced to break things with their heads before whipping out the plastic…
You can see a bit more of Rina Takeda in action below:
–Alec Jordan
Image: Screengrab from パ●リーグ TV
Rina Takeda, Japanese Actress, Karate Movies
