Kaizen in club format: the german-japanese basketball bridge
The visit of ratiopharm ulm to Japanese top club Chiba Jets marks another significant step in the first strategically designed partnership between a German and a Japanese elite basketball club. An intercontinental bridge of sporting development, economic stability, and joint advancement of basketball.
What began as an exchange is increasingly taking on the contours of a strategic partnership: With the visit of Dr. Thomas Stoll and Thorsten Leibenath to the Chiba Jets, the collaboration between a German and a Japanese top basketball club has further intensified—marking a remarkable step in the internationalization of the sport. It is the first partnership of this depth to be actively lived between two clubs from the easyCredit BBL and Japan’s B.League.
The stay in Funabashi was the return visit following the trip of Managing Director Yuta Ikeuchi and his deputy Kosuke Mizusawa to Ulm several months earlier. This reciprocal exchange at executive level alone underscores both organizations’ ambition to go beyond isolated encounters and to learn from one another—structurally, athletically, and culturally.
Basketball as a social event
Hardly arrived in Japan, the journey led directly to the Chiba Jets’ arena. There it became impressively clear what role basketball now plays in Japan. More than 10,000 spectators filled the ultra-modern venue on a Wednesday evening—a facility whose architecture and presentation meet international standards, right up to NBA level. The emphatic 88:69 home win against the Toshiba Kawasaki Brave Thunders provided merely the sporting framework for an event that resonated far beyond the court.
Dr. Thomas Stoll and Thorsten Leibenath were welcomed on the video cube and took the opportunity for in-depth discussions with club president Masaya Tamura—who is also CEO of the main sponsor—head coach Trevor Gleeson, and other key decision-makers. It became particularly evident how closely economic stability, sporting ambition, and strategic planning are interwoven at the Chiba Jets.
Exchange at eye level
A particularly emotional moment was the reunion with the Jets’ four assistant coaches, who had completed a coaching internship in Ulm just a few weeks earlier. That they came to the arena specifically to express their personal thanks gave the partnership a human foundation—an often underestimated factor for sustainable cooperation.
The following day, the club opened its training facilities and offered insights into its day-to-day work. The subsequent discussions—equally intense and open—made clear that both sides are driven by similar questions: How can talents be developed at an early stage? How can young players gain international experience without jeopardizing their athletic and personal development? And what role can friendly matches, coach exchange programs, or joint youth projects play in this process?
Perspectives beyond the moment
The vision extends well beyond individual visits. Friendly games, structured cooperation formats for coaches and strength and conditioning staff, and, in the longer term, the targeted development and exchange of talent are all conceivable. In an increasingly global basketball world, the connection between Ulm and Chiba could serve as a model: for mutual trust, for the transfer of knowledge—and for the joint development of the sport across continents.
The stay was rounded off by a traditional Japanese dinner that not only impressed on a culinary level, but also symbolized the extraordinary hospitality of the Chiba Jets. With many new impulses, deepened relationships, and an expanded perspective on basketball in Japan, Dr. Thomas Stoll and Thorsten Leibenath finally began their return journey to Germany.
What remains is more than a trip: it is the next step on a shared path—between the Danube River and the Pacific Sea.
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