Wednesday, January 31, 2007

NPB 2007 Team Slogans

With spring training starting tomorrow, it seems that almost all of the teams have pretty much settled on their slogans for the year, as far as I can tell. Some are funnier than others.

(Also, Spring Training camp locations are on japanesebaseball.com here. I need to inform Jeff Shaw that the nearest training camps to him are the BayStars, Carp, and Dragons, not the Fighters.)

Pacific League

Fighters: 「FANS: Focus, Advance, Nexus Spirit」 (集中、進化、結束)

("Shuuchuu, shinka, kessoku". The latter is more like "union", but whatever.)

Lions: 「心を、ひとつに。力を、ひとつに。」

("Kokoro wo, hitotsu ni. Chikara wo, hitotsu ni." There's no official English version, but it's something to the effect of "One Heart. One Power.")

Hawks: 「めざせ世界一!」

("Mezase sekai ichi!" Again, no official English version, but they've had this slogan for three years now... effectively "Aim to be the best in the world!")

Marines: "All Hands to the Flag!" ~結束、フラッグのために~

("Kessoku, furaggu no tame ni", literally "unite for the flag", referring to the pennant, I assume)

Buffaloes: "One Heart Beat" ~鼓動をひとつに~

("Kodou wo hitotsu ni")

Rakuten: "Think Hard, Win More." ~考えろ。そして勝利を掴め!~

("Kangaeru. Soshite shouri wo tsukame!" literally "think - then seize the victory!")

Central League

Hanshin: "Be the Best For the Fans" ~最高をめざせ! そしてファンのために!~

("Saikou wo mezase! Soshite fan no tame ni!" literally "aim for the best! For the sake of the fans!")

Yakult: "Let's Make It Happen!"

Yomiuri: "Show the Spirit ~奪回~"

(That last part is pronounced "dakkai" and means "recapture". Technically, dakkai is the slogan, and "show the spirit" is the catchphrase, but whatever.)

Hiroshima: "All-In"

(this was their slogan last year too)

Yokohama: 「なせば成る~Move on~」

("Naseba naru" -- I always thought of that phrase more like "if you put your mind to it, you can do it")

Chunichi doesn't appear to HAVE a slogan for this year. Are they still in Ochiai "オレ竜" mode? ("Ore-ryu", or "my way", but with the pun that the ryu is the kanji for dragon)

Argh, I've had Fighters outfielder Atsunori Inaba's cheer song going through my head since I got to the Rakuten slogan, since the last part of it is "shouri wo tsukami tore".

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