Tokyo’s Historical Fuchu Is Rooting For Australia

Aussies might give a snarky chuckle at the title of the post, but even though Kangaeroo.com is at least somewhat concerned with the Australian vernacular, in this case we’re talking about barracking.

Fuchu‘s history dates over 1,500 years when it was the seat of government in the Musashi Province and later served as a postal town on the arterial Koshu Kaido road in the feudal era before becoming the suburban hub that it is now. But it is also Tokyo’s Aussie town, and it is awash with green and gold and Australian flags and cheer right now.

Fuchu’s latest adopted Aussies are the Australian baseball team in Japan to compete in the Asian leg of the World Baseball Classic to be held at Tokyo Dome next month.

It’s not the first Aussie sports to base itself in Fuchu while competing in Japan.

In 2019, the Wallabies, the national rugby union team, also chose to camp in Fuchu, which has its own professional rugby union teams and refers to itself as the Rugby City.

For the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which were actually held in 2021 because of Covid, the Japanese government created the Host Town Initiative, assigning municipalities to be hosts for national Olympic team squads visiting for the Games. Fuchu was assigned to be Australia’s Host Town, though quarantining meant it couldn’t play the role it would have liked.

Fuchu and Baseball Australia signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 that Fuchu would host any Australian baseball teams visiting Japan, and that’s what happened in the 2023 version of the WBC, where Japan would become the world champion of an American sport. (Japan is the only non-American team to be a world champion of American sports, though a Canadian team has won the World Series in baseball but that was only in Major League Baseball, which is for Americans. Anyway, I digress.)

Fuchu has warmly welcomed the Aussie teams, and it seems the feelings are reciprocated.

“This will be our fifth official Team Australia camp in Fuchu City and we keep going back for a reason,” Baseball Australia CEO Glenn Williams told Baseball.com.au. “Mayor Takano and the City of Fuchu could not be more supportive of our team, and our players always feel genuinely welcome when they arrive. The support from the local community is incredible, and we’re really looking forward to getting back to our home away from home as we prepare for an exciting World Baseball Classic campaign.”

Part of the agreement between Baseball Australia and Fuchu is for players to engage in community events. They will get out and meet people, hang out, and go through drills together in a community event to be held on Feb. 22.

Earlier today, I went to watch a few innings of a practice game between the Aussies and the Ashikaga All Stars. I missed the ceremony held to kick off the game, with a musical performance by local children, because I was having a coffee and cake at a Pronto Coffee Shop that has been converted into an Australia-themed diner while the team is camped in the city.

Fuchu is adorned with Australian flags, and flags were presented to the hundreds of fans who turned up to watch the Aussies strut their stuff. They were highly active participants, too, mimicking the Japanese practice of singing and chanting for their adopted team when it was at-bat.

A group of about 15-20 young men had composed some wonderful ditties for individual players on the Australian team, which I found both humorous and impressive.

Plenty of fans got into the spirit and weren’t afraid to display their affections for the Australian team and all things Australian.

I was very surprised to note that the Australian flag was given prime prominence, even above the Japanese flag, for the game at the Fuchu Civic Stadium.

In 2023, Australia finished a surprise 2nd in the Japan group, beating South Korea and Taiwan for a place in the quarter finals of the tournament. This is no mean feat as baseball is barely a blip on the radar in the Australian sporting world.

Even Dave Nilsson, Australia’s current coach who was an All-Star player in the MLB and even had a short stint in Japanese Pro Baseball in 2000, is known and honored in his homeland, though it’s a bit much to say he’s a household name. And he is the best baseballer Australia has ever produced. Only two-time World Series winner Graeme Lloyd is more decorated. They don’t have a lot of competition.

Travis Bazzana was the first ever Australian to be the No. 1 draft pick in MLB when the Cleveland Guardians selected him in 2024, and he will play in the World Baseball Classic for the Aussies. But I only know that because I looked it up for this article. His feat is amazing, yet I suspect very few Aussies know about it.

George Callil is not widely known, but notable because his mother is Japanese and he is a flawless speaker of the language, so helps facilitate good relations between the people of Fuchu and his teammates.

The Aussies realize they are very much an underdog again this time around, but will be hoping to be a team of champions even if there are no champions on the team.

Whatever happens, I’ll be rooting for them, for sure.

See more by Team Australia here (great video and photos from today): Facebook