Japanese-American Perspectives

There are now reports out that Eri Yoshida could be thinking about leaving the Kobe 9 Cruise after Yoshihiro Nakata was suddenly ousted as manager.

On Thursday, it was announced that Yoshida would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the club due to stomach pains (likely stress related). Club president Kazuya Hirota apparently didn't do much to try and stop her, leaving open the possibility that Yoshida will end up leaving the club for good.

Said Yoshida on her way back to her home in Yokohama:

I started feeling stomach pains on the night of the 29th. I just need to gets some things sorted out.

...I just can't believe what's happening. All I want is for the manager to return.

...I want to keep playing baseball. I'd like to try and return as soon as possible.

In other news, the team officially announced that Shinichi Murakami would be taking over the team as interim manager, effective today.