Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� March, 2004

Prime Minister Throws the Ceremonial First Pitch at the Major League Opening Match Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Click photographs to enlarge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attended the opening match of the United States Major League Baseball season which was held in a stadium in Tokyo, and threw the ceremonial first pitch. The game was the opening match between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After singing the national anthem of Japan and the United States, Prime Minister Koizumi and Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, the former Mayor of the City of New York, threw ceremonial first pitches. They each pitched to Hideki Matsui of the Yankees and Tino Martinez of the Devil Rays, respectively. Prior to throwing the ceremonial first pitches at the game, Prime Minister Koizumi held talks with Mr. Giuliani, who was the Mayor of New York City at the time of the series of terrorist attacks on the United States, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, and exchanged opinions on the importance of counterterrorism measures.