At least once a year for the past four decades he’s boarded a plane in his native Japan and crossed the Pacific Ocean. When he peers out the window near the end of his long journey, the ground beneath is a sign he’s almost made it — home away from home.
“There’s the red dirt,” Yojiro Uetake Obata says. “Oh boy, I’m back in Oklahoma.”
Uetake will once again make the trip this week for a special occasion. Although he’s spent the majority of his 72 years living in Japan, winning two Olympic gold medals for his country, Uetake will be inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame on Monday.