Blouson Chiemi mourns the death of Kokutetsu Swallows pitching legend Kaneda Masaichi

On October 6th, Kaneda Masaichi (86), a Zainichi Korean-Japanese professional baseball player for the Kokutetsu Swallows (now known as the Yakult Swallows) passed away due to acute cholangitis.

Kaneda, known in the baseball world as “The Emperor” is one of the best pitchers in Japanese baseball history who has won 400 games and was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Comedy talent Blouson Chiemi was a friend of Kaneda.

Blouson said, “I remember Kaneda, as he would come to eat breakfast at a restaurant where I worked part-time.  To me, Kaneda-san was a very important family member.  I think about my time working at the part-time job and it’s a coincidence this morning because I wanted to call Kaneda-san but learned he passed away.  It was unexpected, a surprise and I couldn’t stop crying.  I was thinking that maybe Kaneda-san wanted me to make that call.  Kaneda-san is now on my side and I think he still supports me.  Thank you very much Kaneda-san!”.