Hublot x Masahiro Tanaka: Iron Arms Challenge

Tanaka, who is in the world’s spotlight now, currently plays for US MLB’s New York Yankees. Tanaka’s passion, strong curiosity, and his spirit of charity which is visible through hosting baseball classes for children with his follow baseball players – these are the values that Hublot also cherishes. Hublot, along with Tanaka, will continue to hold charity events aimed at contributing to realizing a bright future for children.

A large number of spectators turned out and cheered on to selected 80 people who participated in the preliminary round of “Iron Arms Challenge” charity event in Roppongi Hills; each participant challenged to outperform Tanaka’s record, 156 kilometers per hour, by shouting their own cheer, then pitching to challenge Tanaka’s record speed. A total of nine contestants, top three players from three groups (elementary school and younger, women, junior high school and older) proceeded to the final round. The nine contestants went up against Tanaka’s record pitch again and the contestant from the “women” group won, setting a record of 139km/h including handicap. The winner was presented with Hublot’s Classic Fusion Chronograph and the runner up was awarded a Hublot alarm clock. In addition, Tanaka presented autographed baseball gloves to the top three, including the winner and the runner up.

The Target Challenge, which was another highlight of the Iron Arms Challenge, was held after the final round. Here, Tanaka pitched and aimed at nine small and large targets labeled with different monetary values. Amid a rousing cheer from the spectators, Tanaka expertly hit 7 targets and won 2.9 million yen. The acquired amount from the Target Challenge by Tanaka was added to the amount raised during the Pitching Speed Challenge. The grand total of approximately 4 million yen will be donated to Living Dreams, a non-profit organization for children that supports 21st century-style learning methods and a new type of lifestyle for children’s welfare facilities in Japan.

Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, who had flown to Japan from Switzerland for this event, officially announced Masahiro Tanaka’s appointment as ambassador during the opening ceremony for the final round. Tanaka conveyed the following words in expressing his joy of becoming a part of the Hublot family; “The thought of having to become a special Hublot aficionado with a title as the first Hublot ambassador from Japan starting today fills my heart with joy. At the same time, I feel proud to be a part of prominent Hublot ambassadors along stars like Pele and Usain Bolt.”

Guadalupe, exchanging a firm handshake with him, commented on the joy of welcoming Tanaka to the Hublot family: “I am extremely honored to welcome Tanaka to the Hublot family, who is thriving with the New York Yankees, as the first ever Hublot ambassador from Japan. He looks amazing with his Hublot watch and we are thrilled to have someone like him to be part of Hublot family. There’ll be much more to come for everyone to witness a “fusion” between Tanaka and Hublot !”

February 10, 2015