On August 8th and 9th at "Haruka Yume Stadium" in Hirosaki, "World Baseball Panel Exhibition" was held at the community activity support event "Ale Fes".

This exhibition introduces the baseball promotion activities carried out locally by 16 Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers dispatched to 16 countries around the world. It was planned by Shota Abe, a former Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer who has lived in Aomori City since February this year.

Mr. Abe is from Fukushima and started playing baseball in elementary school. He said he was thinking of becoming a professional player until his fourth year at university, but he was frustrated, and after graduating from university he was active as a wedding planner. It is said that he began to be interested in world affairs after the death of his grandparents, which he encountered about two years later.

It was from 2016 (Heisei 28) to 2018 (Heisei 30) that it was dispatched to Nicaragua as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer. It is said that he was active in promoting women's baseball locally and was also involved as a staff member of the national team.

Mr. Abe said, "I was involved in baseball in Nicaragua as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer, and I was able to get involved in baseball work that I once gave up. There are other people who carry Japanese baseball on their backs and are active in the world. Panel At the exhibition, I hope that you will be interested in foreign countries from the perspective of baseball. "

Mr. Abe is currently conducting educational activities for the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers in Aomori, and is also focusing on a project to teach Aomori's agricultural technology to overseas students.

Mr. Abe says, "Many international students come to learn Japanese agricultural techniques, and many want to play baseball in Japan. I want to increase the chances of playing an active role as a professional baseball player." "We plan to use the panels on display so that they can be used as teaching materials for children in the future."