The Jan. 13 announcement that the Atlanta Braves have signed the team’s first Japanese-born player prompted predictions of increased tourism from Japan and an energized business relationship with companies there.

But before signing veteran pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, Braves management first sought assurances that a Japanese player would be comfortable living here.

Braves General Manager Frank Wren went to the Japanese consulate in Atlanta twice to discuss that issue. Mr. Wren met two years ago with then-Consul General Shoji Ogawa and in early January of this year with Takuji Hanatani, the current consul general. 

“This is a huge transition,” Mr. Wren told GlobalAtlanta at a Jan. 13 welcoming ceremony  for  Mr. Kawakami.  “For a guy to come from the other side of the world and feel lost, that wouldn’t be a good environment for him, and we wanted to make sure that was not the case.”

Mr. Wren said he came away from his most recent meeting with Mr. Hanatani, “excited about the fact that our community could support a Japanese player and make him feel comfortable.”

More than 7,000 Georgians identify themselves as Japanese, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. At the welcoming conference, Mr. Kawakami said through a translator that he finds Atlanta “relaxing.”  While eating dinner at a Morton’s Steakhouse shortly after arriving in town, he met former Atlanta Mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, who was seated at a nearby table. He later sampled hotdogs and cheeseburgers at the Varsity, the landmark drive-in restaurant near the Georgia Institute of Technology.

More than a dozen Japanese reporters covered the news conference introducing Mr. Kawakami. At a later reception members of Georgia’s Japanese community were able to meet Mr. Kawakami and get autographs.

“The No. 1 emotion here is excitement,” said Yoshi Domoto, president of the Japan America Society of Georgia.

Takeshi Saito, chief executive director of the Southeastern office of the Japan External Trade Organization said Mr. Kawakami’s signing can only be good for business, which is already strong with Japanese auto factories and other businesses throughout the region. 

“A Japanese player contributes to many tourists from Japan, and not only from Japan but from around the Southeast,” said Mr. Saito.

Japanese-born Yuki Takatori, a professor of Japanese and linguistics at Georgia State University agreed. An avid baseball fan, she has traveled to other American cities to see teams with Japanese baseball players.  At the reception honoring Mr. Kawakimi, she praised the Braves for signing a Japanese player. 

“It’s long overdue,” she said, adding that Mr. Kawakami may help attract Japanese tour groups to Atlanta.

Japanese players, “are great ambassadors to the United States,” said Mr. Hanatani, Japan's top diplomat in the Southeast. 

“We should recognize the tourism impact,” he said. “I’m sure Mr. Kawakami will attract many Japanese baseball fans from all over Japan, but particularly from Nagoya city, that is the home ground of the Chunichi Dragons. (Mr. Kawakami’s former team).”

The consul general added, “It is another reason for Delta Air Lines to create a direct flight between Atlanta and Nagoya.”

In 2007, a Japanese delegation traveled to Atlanta, lobbying for direct flights between Atlanta and Nagoya, Japan’s third-largest metro area.

Direct flights from his hometown or not,  Mr. Kawakami will have little trouble adjusting to Atlanta, Mr. Hanatani predicted.

“It should be very easy,” said the consul general.

Indeed, Mr. Kawakami seems to have already mastered some key words in the Southern vocabulary. 

“Hello, my name is Kenshin Kawakami,” the player told reporters, his only words without a translator. “Ya’ll call me Kenshin.”

With reporting by Trevor Williams

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