Tacoma-Pierce County High School Sister City Cultural Exchange Program (1987–2009)

The Sister City Cultural Baseball Exchange between Tacoma, Wash., and Kitakyushu, Japan, came to fruition when Takeshi Ikeda and Hiroshi Yaskawa came to a mutual agreement to form the exchange in 1987. Since then, over 800 Young Ambassadors have enriched their lives with the opportunity to play international baseball and gain a greater cultural understanding of each other.

The Sister City mission statement of “promoting peace through mutual respect, understanding, one individual, one community at a time,” clearly states the goal of the exchange program. Since its formation, Takeshi Ikeda, Tony Anderson and Joe Kosai all served to promote the exchange and its cultural benefits. Tak, as he was known to his friends, believed that through sports we could improve our understanding between the Japanese and American cultures. He served as co-chairman of the Sister City program for

20 years until his death in 2008. Tony Anderson served with the baseball exchange from 1991-2009, working as the chairperson since 1994. Born in 1957, Anderson wrestled, played football and excelled at baseball at White River High School. Tak Ikeda asked Anderson to participate in the program in 1991, and Tony has not looked back since. Joe Kosai took the first high school baseball team to Kitakyushu as a group leader to begin the program. In honor of his dedication to the exchange, Kosai received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosettes award from the Japanese government in 2005.

Today, the Sister City Cultural Baseball Exchange continues to offer young athletes the opportunity to broaden their minds and discover firsthand how similar people are all over the world, all while allowing them to experience international baseball. And, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Sister City program with Kitakyushu, a 22-member delegation will travel to Japan in August to hear the cry of, “Play Ball”, one final time.