Hi Everyone,
I received several feedback on MK-KO powder brush.
Thank you.
Some people were interested in the background of the Carp design so I want to write a bit about the history.
Hiroshima Carp Baseball club was born in 1950, five years after the war ended.
At the time, Japan had a professional baseball league. Most popular are the Giants in Tokyo, and the Tigers in Osaka. It is similar to the rivalry between NY and Boston.
Hiroshima Carp.
A week team in a small city.
They were not able to pay even train tickets to Tokyo.
At that time, no super express Shinkansen that takes only four hours now. They took a train all night.
The team was in financial difficulty from the beginning. So, Manager, Coaches and players collected money by visiting many towns in Hiroshima.
It is like crowdfunding.
I remember reading one story.
When the team was taking a train to Tokyo, an old lady came to see off the team and gave the manager ‘Onigiri.’ I think his name was Shiraishi.
Onigiri is a rice ball, a typical home made dishes in Japan.
The train left the Hiroshima Station, but Shiraishi-san could not eat it. His tears didn’t stop.
It was 1950.
The Carp was a hope of the city or Hiroshima Prefecture, which was trying to recover from the war damage.
People donated money though they still suffered from poverty.
The Carp would not have survived without the donation. That is why the Carp is called the team of the citizens.
Yet it took 25 years till they won the league.
Even now, the Hiroshima Carp is struggling because good players choose to leave for big city clubs, e.g. Giants in Tokyo, and Tigers in Osaka.
But in a way, they are spoiled. As far as they are playing in Hiroshima and don’t leave the town, they don’t have to win. Fans are happy with the team.
Very different from Tokyo Giants or New York Yankees who ‘must’ win.
Things changed when the new stadium was built.
For last several years, the Carp attendance has been more than 2 million. This is huge, considering the size of the city – a little more than 1 million.
(this is a home of the Carp)
(This is at a play-off at Osaka, the number of Carp fans is increasing)
People buy Carp goods in red,
Every game is sold out, so that they can pay good money to players.
They won three years in a row!
The morning in Hiroshima starts with a conversation ‘how was the Carp last night?’
So it is easy for me to speak to Kumano brush companies.
A little talk about the Carp makes business easy.
I have to confess, though, I was a Tokyo Giants fan when I was a kid, LOL.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
(this is a product by the MK-KO designer)
Comments
Thank you!
thank you, too)