Ichiro Suzuki completed a workshop on Sunday needed to qualify as an amateur for the purpose of teaching baseball in schools. He joined a group of 125 former ballplayers according to Kyodo News that included former Hiroshima Carp star Tomonori Maeda. Other media reported that former Chunichi Dragons manager Shigekazu Mori also participated in the class.

Participants who then pass a Feb. 7 screening by Japan’s student baseball association will be allowed to teach their trade to school children.

On Sunday, Hall of Famer Isao Harimoto spoke out about Japan’s peculiar situation which is an artifact of the historically frosty relations between Japan’s pros and amateurs.