Viktor Starukhin, nicknamed "the blue-eyed Japanese" , was a Japanese baseball player. While playing in Japan, he became the first professional pitcher in Japan to win 300 games. With 83 career shutouts, he ranks number one all-time in Japanese professional baseball.

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiyama Zoo, the Asahikawa ramen and a Ski resort city. On July 31, 2011, the city had an estimated population of 321,906, with 173,961 households, and a population density of 431 persons per km². The total area is 747.66 km2 (288.67 sq mi).