Kansai Juniors Fuga Onishi and Kotaro Okazaki co-lead the upcoming stage production “Naibou!” (ナイボー！), which will be performed in Tokyo and Osaka beginning on September 30. This work is a coming-of-age drama about young baseball players and their families as they grow through the sport.
Fuga and Kotaro portray Yosuke and Haruta, respectively, who formed a pitcher-catcher battery on the same middle school baseball team but attended different high schools afterward.
The supporting cast features:
- Yumi Adachi as Yosuke‘s mother.
- Keiya Yamauchi as Yosuke‘s father.
- Miki Mizuno as Akagi, Haruta‘s high school baseball coach.
- Shohei Uno as Saegusa, Yosuke‘s high school baseball coach and his father’s close friend.
The script is written by Takuya Yokoyama, who is known not only for his work with his own theater company iaku, but also for writing numerous original plays for other companies, while the production is directed by Takushi Manabe, a member of the Haiyuza Theatre Company who has earned widespread acclaim in the theater world, including consecutive Yomiuri Theater Awards for Outstanding Director.
Comments from the cast and staff
Q: Sports dramas are somewhat unusual for your work, Yokoyama-san. How did baseball become the theme?
Takuya Yokoyama: “The word ‘baseball’ came up during one of our planning meetings. I’d hardly ever challenged myself to write a sports-themed work before, so I became curious about how I could approach it with my own writing style.
I was also interested in exploring what kinds of social issues I could examine through the lens of baseball. That curiosity, along with my desire to take on something new, made me feel that baseball was a theme worth pursuing.
As I researched the sport, I came across many fascinating topics that I was able to incorporate into the play. Personally, I feel the script got off to a very good start because of that.”
Q: What inspired the idea of making two young men the central protagonists?
Takuya Yokoyama: “Rather than simply portraying them as traditional rivals, I wanted to give them more complex backgrounds. I thought it would be interesting to depict not only how they mature through baseball, but also their relationships with their parents and friends.”
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Q: Manabe-san and the cast, what were your impressions after reading Yokoyama’s script?
Takushi Manabe: “I think Yokoyama’s plays are characterized by complex emotional conflicts between the characters, portraying people struggling with questions like, ‘What should I do?’
In this work, for example, one central question is, ‘Does a son have to inherit his father’s dream?’ That, combined with the protagonist’s own feelings about wanting to play baseball, creates deeply layered emotional conflict.
So while baseball is certainly the theme, I think this play feels very much like a classic Yokoyama work.”
Fuga Onishi: “When I first heard the title, I imagined something like a sports manga. But after reading the script, I realized that although baseball is central, what really stood out was the warmth of watching one person gradually grow through the support of friends and the people around him.
I’ve often felt in my own life that I’ve grown because of the people around me. Different generations may take away different things from the story, but I think it’s such a warm piece that you’ll want to watch it again and again.”
Kotaro Okazaki: “I’ve never experienced anything quite like what happens in this story, but I was surprised by how deeply I could relate to it anyway.
I’d never before had the experience of empathizing so strongly with a situation I’d never personally gone through. It really shocked me.
Whether it was how the characters respond when someone is feeling down, their dialogue, or the way their emotions are portrayed, I kept thinking, ‘Yeah… I might react that way too.'”
Yumi Adachi: “Each character carries their own burdens and struggles, and I was deeply moved by how the play shows them confronting those challenges and overcoming them one by one through baseball.
Whenever I watch sports, I strongly feel that the athletes are carrying their entire lives with them. This play allows us to see each individual’s life through the sport of baseball, and I think that’s both fascinating and beautiful.”
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Q: After reading the script, what impressions did you have of your own characters?
Fuga Onishi: “The character I play, Yosuke, loses his father and distances himself from baseball. He’s the type to shut himself away emotionally, someone who can’t really express what’s truly inside him.
I relate to that a lot.
Apparently, I went through a pretty intense rebellious phase… though I don’t really remember it myself (laughs).
Now that I’ve gone through that stage of life, I feel like I can understand Yosuke better. It makes me realize that I was probably like that too, and I appreciate how much he’s supported by his family and the people around him.
I’m an idol in the Kansai Juniors, and I also feel there’s some overlap between Yosuke and myself because I’ve been supported by my senpai and so many staff members along the way.”
Kotaro Okazaki: “Haruta comes across as a very cheerful character, but he actually thinks carefully about things—like how to approach someone who’s feeling down, or how to call his parents without making them worry.
He’s not simply an upbeat kid; I think he consciously chooses to act cheerful after giving things a lot of thought.
I feel I have that side of myself too, so personally I think we’re somewhat alike.”
Yumi Adachi: “The character I play, Ikumi, loses her husband, while her son Yosuke loses his father.
She can’t simply grieve as a widow because she also has to help her son cope with his overwhelming sense of loss.
Of course she’s grieving too, and she can’t always be strong. But as a parent, she puts her son first. She struggles with that conflict, desperately searches for a way forward, and takes action to try to find one.
As a result, she may appear to be a strong woman, but she’s also forcing herself to keep going. I think she’s a deeply human character who can’t be defined by just one aspect of her personality.”
Performance Details
- Original Title: ナイボー！
- Script: Takuya Yokoyama
- Direction: Takushi Manabe
- Cast: Fuga Onishi, Kotaro Okazaki, Yumi Adachi, Keiya Yamauchi, Miki Mizuno, Shohei Uno
- Tokyo Performances [Pia Theater]:
- September 30 (Wed) – 18:00
- October 1 (Thu) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 3 (Sat) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 4 (Sun) – 13:00
- October 5 (Mon) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 6 (Tue) – 18:00
- October 8 (Thu) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 9 (Fri) – 18:00
- October 10 (Sat) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 11 (Sun) – 13:00
- October 12 (Mon) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 14 (Wed) – 13:00
- October 15 (Thu) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 16 (Fri) – 18:00
- October 17 (Sat) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 18 (Sun) – 13:00
- Osaka Performances [Umeda Arts Theater Drama City]:
- October 22 (Thu) – 18:00
- October 23 (Fri) – 13:00 / 18:00
- October 24 (Sat) – 14:00 / 17:00
- October 25 (Sun) – 12:00
- Tickets: 12,000円
- Official Website: https://niceball-stage.com/
- Official X: https://x.com/niceball_stage
