OSAKA -- As a rabid Hanshin Tigers fan, Daiwa Research Institute President Koichi Kunisada seems pretty sure of the destiny of this year's Central League pennant -- it is bound for Osaka.
"The team will surely win the pennant," he remarked at his Tigers paraphernalia-crammed office in the city's Chuo Ward. "Who can think of any other destiny for the team that completed the preseason games so successfully?"
As an economic analyst, however, Kunisada is less sure about the impact a Tigers pennant win would have on the local economy.