Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming and 17-year-old all-rounder Charlie Hara-Hinze both think the upcoming one-off T20 against India can be much more than just a historic event.
They hope this game on September 22 really gives cricket a jumpstart in a country that’s all about baseball. For the first time, India’s men’s team is coming to Japan, with the match set to take place in Sano, right before the Asian Games kick off in Aichi-Nagoya.
For Kadowaki-Fleming, hosting India, Afghanistan, and Nepal at the Asian Games just shows how far cricket’s come in Japan—and pretty quickly, too. ‘It’s very exciting. And I think a massive development for cricket in Japan to have countries like Afghanistan and Nepal coming here is something that we probably would have thought was very difficult to manage even a couple of years ago,’ he told PTI Videos.
But as much as this is a big moment, Kadowaki-Fleming says they’re not there just to soak it all in and clap for India.
‘As exciting as the occasion will be of playing India, we’re not there to just celebrate the occasion. We’re there to show what we can do as a men’s team. Obviously, a team like India have all bases covered, whether it’s fast bowling, batting or spin.
‘So it’s just going to be great to be able to watch world-class players and the best team in the world in that format go about it,’ he said.
For Japan, this match means much more than just sharing the field with Indian stars. ‘Hopefully this is the first step in a long history of playing against and competing against full member countries,’ Kadowaki-Fleming said.
Hara-Hinze, who’s 17, knows India’s youth talent well. Japan took on India in the 2024 U19 Asia Cup group stage—facing guys like Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who’ve both earned IPL contracts.
‘That was a game we definitely went into with a lot of excitement. We got a lot out of it in terms of bowling to these guys, seeing first-hand how good they are and the standard at which they played. You had very little margin for error as well,’ Hara-Hinze said.
‘The Indian cricket team was to come to Japan to face us was something that doesn’t sound real to many people and still probably hasn’t quite sunk in,’ he said. He and Kadowaki-Fleming both believe the match—and the Asian Games—could finally give cricket its chance to break into Japan’s sports culture, where baseball rules.
Kadowaki-Fleming points out that baseball and cricket share a lot: hand-eye coordination, discipline, repetition, and teamwork.
Some of the current Japanese team played baseball or softball as kids, and a handful of baseball players have switched over to cricket.
‘We’re obviously a long way from producing cricket’s version of Shohei Ohtani, but someone has to be the first, right?’ he said.
Even a little progress counts. ‘Even if a small amount of the kids that are watching cricket on TV during that time then want to go and pick up a cricket bat or sign up with a cricket club in Japan and play for the first time, then I feel like that’s a success in itself,’ Kadowaki-Fleming said.
But it’s not an easy road. Hara-Hinze admits cricket still struggles with basics: finding grounds, getting gear, and lining up decent coaching—especially in packed cities like Tokyo or Osaka.
With land always in high demand and current facilities mostly dedicated to football and baseball, building cricket grounds is tough. Hara-Hinze says players who live near Tokyo sometimes ride the train for three and a half hours just to get one net session in Sano.
‘Cricket, it is growing, but at a very slow rate,’ Hara-Hinze said. He figures better facilities and more sponsors would speed things up.
Still, he thinks the sport has huge long-term potential. ‘I can’t see a reason why in 20, 30 years we can’t be like Nepal or Afghanistan. I think there’s definitely a potential for a very large cricketing market in Japan,’ he said.
For him, the India match needs to be more than a one-off showcase. He sums it up: ‘The challenge for us is just making sure that it’s not a one-off great day and a great competition, but it leaves a lasting legacy of cricket in Japan,’ said Kadowki-Fleming.
Both players feel an extra connection to these games since they were born in Japan, but moved to Australia as kids.
Kadowaki-Fleming lived in Japan till about age six, so his roots go deeper than cricket. When he got his Japan debut in 2022, it tightened his bond with the country in ways no other experience could.
Same goes for Hara-Hinze. After four years away from Japan during the pandemic, now he comes back often—rediscovering his family, culture, and language.
And with this year’s Asian Games, it gets personal—his uncle and grandmother will watch him represent Japan on home soil for the first time. ‘I think playing for Japan has definitely put more of a focus on my Japanese heritage,’ Hara-Hinze said.