Kazunari Ninomiya throws the ceremonial first pitch during a baseball game at Tokyo Dome on July 31, 2025. (Mainichi/Kenji Ikai)=Click/tap for more images.
TOKYO — Kazunari Ninomiya, a member of the popular Japanese idol group “Arashi,” appeared at Tokyo Dome on July 31 to throw the ceremonial first pitch of a baseball game between the Chiba Lotte Marines and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
The game was played as part of the “GungHo Special Night” sponsored by GungHo Online Entertainment Inc., a video game development company that serves as Lotte’s uniform sponsor. Ninomiya was invited to throw the ceremonial pitch because he appears in TV ads for GungHo’s popular online game “Puzzle & Dragons.”
The ceremonial pitch reenacted the “Puzzle & Dragons” gacha feature, using a rainbow-colored ball that emerged from a dragon. Ninomiya’s left-handed throw landed directly into the catcher’s mitt without bouncing, earning applause from the crowd.
Ninomiya commented, “My role and the environment were different from normal and I was really nervous, but practicing helped a lot and I was able to throw successfully while recalling my practice.” Asked to rate his performance, he smiled and said, “100 points.”
Arashi paused their activities after a concert in December 2020. They announced a concert tour in 2026, stating they would conclude their activities by May of the same year.
(Japanese original by Daisuke Makino, Sports News Department)
AloJapan.com