Natsumi Asai
Yoshiaki Iwazawa
The thoughts and dreams of the venue's MCs, Natsumi Asai and Yoshiaki Iwasawa
It's been almost 29 years since Urawa Reds changed their name from Mitsubishi Motors Football Club and were reborn as a professional football club.
There are people who have been involved in all, or almost, of that history. They are Natsumi Asai and Yoshiaki Iwasawa, who are in charge of the in-stadium MCs for home games.
Asai has been in charge since the J.League's inception, and Iwasawa has been in charge since 1995, his third year. What was theきっかけ (trigger/reason) that led these two to become involved with Urawa Reds?
Asai: "Before I got involved with the Reds, I worked in baseball. But I felt like everyone already knew about baseball, and no matter how much I studied, I couldn't keep up. That's when I heard about the 'professional soccer league starting next year,' and the idea was to train people to talk about it beforehand. I didn't know anything about soccer, and I didn't know anyone who played soccer. But I thought that since nobody was playing it, it might be fun for someone who didn't know anything to learn about it."
Iwasawa: "In my case, they were looking for a stadium DJ for the Reds and a stadium DJ for Yokohama Marinos (now Yokohama F･Marinos), so they asked me to send a demo tape. I sent in the tape, and a few days later they told me, 'Iwasawa, you got the job. That's great!' I was really happy that I got the job, but in my heart I was thinking, 'Which one is it?'"
Neither of them had initially thought, "I want to work for the Reds."
As mentioned earlier, Asai was unfamiliar with soccer, and when it came to finding a job, he wanted to work for Verdy Kawasaki (now Tokyo Verdy), Yokohama Marinos, or Yokohama Flügels, all of which were close to where he lived at the time.
Asai: "I wondered, 'Why?' But the Reds were the most popular team, and I had already done interviews and things like that, so I think they thought, 'We can leave it to him.' I knew they had an incredible number of fans and supporters, and I wondered, 'What am I going to do?' But I had absolutely no problem talking to people. I would casually walk in while they were getting massages before Trial and ask Masahiro Fukuda, 'How are things going today?' (laughs). But everyone was very welcoming and would say things like, 'We're going to win today!' I was young, and they were all like older brothers to me, so they were really kind to me, and everyone was so nice. It's embarrassing to think about now, though (laughs)."
Iwasawa, who had observed the J.League from the outside for the first two years, also had a fearsome image of the Reds' supporters.
Iwasawa: "I was happy to be offered the job, but honestly, I was like, 'Reds, huh...' The president of my agency at the time told me, 'Reds would suit you, Iwasawa. I think the image of fighting, of martial arts, would suit you,' but I didn't think so myself (laughs)."
[Share Urawa]
