Emi Taniyasu, who has been an in-stadium announcer for professional baseball club Lotte for 33 years and is known for her distinctive and smooth voice, will retire from announcing duties only this season.
A native of Hokkaido, Mr. Taniyasu joined the then Lotte Orions in 1990 as a member of the baseball team staff and has been in charge of in-stadium announcements since 1991.
Last season, he reached 7,17 official games announced against SoftBank on July 2000.
Distinctive and smooth announcements such as "Saburo~" and "Sasaki, ro~ki~" in the player introduction were popular not only with Lotte fans but also with a wide range of baseball fans.
Mr. Taniyasu had decided to retire after the end of last season for the 33rd season.
In an interview with NHK, Taniyasu said, "I reached 2000,2100 games last season and decided that I had one more year to go.
Since Mr. Taniyasu was in charge of the announcements, Lotte has never won a home championship in the regular season or Japan series, and has said that his dream is to announce "we are the winners" in previous interviews.
Mr. Taniyasu said, "I would like to carry out my work and put down the microphone at ZOZO Marine Stadium, which I love until the end, not only in the regular season, but also in the climax series and beyond, so I hope you will follow my voice until the end."
Mr. Taniyasu is expected to reach <>,<> official games if he announces the final game of the season, but "at the end, we chose the one that will end quietly by watching from inside the broadcast room," and the baseball team will not hold a retirement ceremony out of respect for his wishes.