Hirosaki City announced on January 28 that it will hold a professional baseball 2nd army exchange match between Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Tokyo Yakult Swallows on July 10th and 11th at Hirosaki Haruka Yume Stadium (Toyoda, Hirosaki City).

Hirosaki City renovated Hirosaki Haruka Yume Stadium as a ball park in 2017 (Heisei 29), and was focusing on attracting official baseball games. This is the first time in three years that a two-armed battle has been held at the stadium, and the card has been played at the Aomori Prefectural Sports Park Baseball Stadium (Aomori City) in 1988 (Showa 63). Both teams will have their first match in Aomori prefecture in 33 years.

Following the announcement, the carp fans in Hirosaki are showing excitement. A man in his 40s who attended a university in Hiroshima is said to be a carp fan for the whole family. The man said, "Last night, the whole family was buzzing. Haruka Yume Stadium feels so close to the players that it is incomparable to Mazda and Sendai, so I will never have another chance. I want to go for two days."

Masashi Kamada, who runs "Cafe Bar aj" (Hyakkokumachi, Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-88-6788 ), has been a carp fan for seven years, and when he was lining up carp goods in the store, he likes baseball by word of mouth. It is said that people have come to gather. When the league match begins, fans will gather to make the baseball discussion bloom. Mr. Kamada says, "There are many Carp fans in Aomori. The attraction of Carp is that you can feel close to the players. You will never get tired of watching over the players from the camp. The story is endless."

According to Mr. Kamada, he was planning an expedition to Hiroshima with regular customers in June last year, but due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the match itself disappeared and the expedition was canceled. I was informed that I could prepare a ticket from a friend who would arrange this year, but I declined. “I was surprised to hear that I could watch the game locally the next week,” says Kamada.

It is said that information exchange is already active within the community, such as how to obtain tickets and expectations of participating players. Mr. Kamada smiles, "Carp is interesting in the 2nd army battle, so I'm just looking forward to it from now on."