December 2, 2018 (Tokyo, Japan) – Luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot welcomed Masahiro Tanaka, the first Japanese Hublot ambassador and Major League Baseball player of the New York Yankees, together with Gurimu Narita, the para snowboarder who declared his next challenge will be to high jump.
Hublot is a young and dynamic Swiss watch brand who believes in the importance of sharing – sharing the successes and contributing back to society. And to date, Hublot has hosted numerous charity events across the globe by joining forces with world-famous athletes who are also the Brand’s Ambassadors: Usain Bolt, the fastest man of all time; Pelé, the living football legend; and newly Kylian Mbappe, who received “FIFA Young Player Award” for his amazing performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia™.
The charity aims to support the victims of the disaster-affected area after the “2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake” that struck northern Japan on September 6, 2018. Both athletes having strong links with this region, wanted to give back to Hokkaido through a unique experience and interaction with various children. Mr Tanaka spent his high school days in Hokkaido and Mr Narita spent a lot of time practicing snowboarding in Hokkaido.
The event kicked off with Masahiro Tanaka and Gurimu Narita practicing warm-up exercises with 20 children. After a session of playing catch, Mr Tanaka acted as catcher to receive pitches from Mr Narita and the children, and at the same time he offered pitching advices. Spending time and receiving tips from world-class professionals was a memorable moment for the children, and they definitively enjoyed the time.
After few practice rounds, everyone participated in the main challenge of the day: the target challenge. Both athletes, together with the children, aimed at targeting various sizes labelled with different monetary values. Children hit 4 targets, Narita hit 1 target while being novice at baseball and Tanaka who exhibiting astounding accuracy hit 3 targets. The total of 1,800,000 yen (CHF15600) was presented to Hokkaido Disaster Relief Donation Committee for supporting victims of the Hokkaido Iburi earthquake.
Masahiro Tanaka commented: “It was great to team up with Hublot one more time, especially for such an important charity event for me personally as I have close ties with the region. I would like to I don’t have many opportunities to interact with other athletes outside of my sport, so it was really stimulating to do this together with Gurimu. When I was around the age of these kids, it was my dream to meet professional players, so I hope the children had a similar experience with both of us today.”
Gurimu Narita said: “ I want to share the word I always think when I play sports. “One step at this moment is important rather than thinking about the future, when difficulties come up” I think that doing the best at this moment is a keyword to make the future bright ” with a smile and concluded the event.
