On May 24th, at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, Ambassador Mikio Mori, Consul General of Japan in New York, Mr. Sandy Alderson, President of the New York Mets, and Mr. Koji Sato, President of the Japanese American Association of New York met to discuss the future partnership between the New York Mets and the Japanese community in New York.

President Alderson offered an explanation on the background of the disruption of the First Pitch Ceremony scheduled during the Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field on May 13th and conveyed his sincere apologies. Then Ambassador Mori, President Alderson and President Sato discussed the ways to further strengthen the friendship between Japan and the U.S. through baseball and agreed to work on an event during the 2022 season at Citi Field to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the introduction of baseball to Japan. The date and details of the new event will be announced in due course.