Big in Japan A tale of two Winnipeggers in the women’s basketball league By: Taylor Allen Posted: 6:15 PM CST Friday, Jan. 23, 2026

Burke Toews wondered what he’d be able to accomplish as a coach if he could use his native tongue.

The Winnipegger — who’s been living and involved with basketball in Japan for more than 30 years — was ready for a new challenge after a decade with the Fujitsu Red Wave, where he helped the pro women’s club win three championships.

“I’ve only coached in Japanese my whole career. I’ve never used an interpreter,” Toews told the Free Press.

“When you think of a head coach, a lot of what he or she does outside of having advanced knowledge in basketball, is about how they communicate with people. And no matter how fluent I get, I’ll never have the same language ability to communicate as I would if I was using English.”

Toews stepped down from the Red Wave at the end of last season, and his representation, Wasserman Basketball — whose client list includes Japanese basketball star and Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura — explored opportunities for him in Europe and at the NCAA Division I women’s level.

Unable to find the ideal fit, Toews was content with taking the year off until he received a call from the Aisin Wings, who also compete in the Women’s Japan Basketball League with the Red Wave, offering him a front-office role.

He accepted and was enjoying the change of pace, but then the Wings opened the season 1–10 under a young head coach.

“The vice-president of the company and the GM asked if I would take over,” said Toews, 59, who played five years at the University of Winnipeg before playing professionally in Japan, Germany, and with the Winnipeg Thunder.

“I really didn’t want to. In the end, I decided somebody’s got to help this team, so I went back in.”

“In the end, I decided somebody’s got to help this team, so I went back in.”

The roster needed reinforcements, though. They needed a piece that fit next to star centre Ramu Tokashiki, a multiple time league MVP, a longtime Japanese national team member, and a former WNBA player with the Seattle Storm.

Toews had the perfect person in mind, and it just so happened they were a fellow Winnipeg product — Niyah Becker.

The 25-year-old daughter of Manitoba basketball legend Dan Becker had just finished playing in the Euro Cup with Latvian powerhouse TTT Riga and was available for hire.

With teams only allowed one import on the floor at a time, a lot is expected out of the non-Japanese players.

“We needed a (power forward) that could be mobile, and Niyah is that,” said Toews. “There isn’t one thing that stands out about Niyah, it’s just her overall ability to play basketball and she was a really good fit. Niyah and I find ourselves talking like we’ve known each other for a long time for some reason. It’s actually her dad that I’ve known for a long time. But I guess that our roots being Winnipeggers just immediately connects us, and not just basketball.”

After graduating from Wake Forest in 2023, Becker kicked off her pro hoops journey with stints in Slovenia and Spain. She also helped the Canadian senior women’s national team score bronze at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup.

“Two Winnipeggers in Japan is very uncommon, let alone on the same team — like, what are the odds? It’s kind of one of those things that’s one in a million,” said Becker.

“But I think it kind of just shows that basketball is worldwide, it doesn’t matter where you come from, it can take you anywhere. And I think it’s a really great representation for Winnipeg and just Basketball Manitoba that two Winnipeggers are out in Japan.”

“Two Winnipeggers in Japan is very uncommon, let alone on the same team – like, what are the odds?

And thanks to Toews and Becker’s best efforts, the Wings have managed to bounce back from their disastrous start to now sit at 7-15 — which includes wins over the top four teams — with six games left in the regular season.

It’s not the first time Toews has had someone from his Prairie province join him in Japan as he also coached the late, great Chad Posthumus with the Shibuya Sun Rockers in the men’s league a decade ago.

“He wants us to be well-rounded and he really motivates us and makes time for us to put in the time to turn our weaknesses into strengths so we can play our best. So far, I’m really liking his coaching and I’m learning a lot from him,” said Becker.

“He’s been pushing for me to shoot the three a lot more. I do like to shoot the three, and I’m consistently working to be better at it to make it a consistent strength, but he’s taken it to another level where he’s really advocating for me to really look for my shot. I appreciate that because it builds confidence within me and it’s showing that he has confidence in me.”

Toews has been offered an extended contract with the Wings but is holding off until the end of the season before he makes a decision on his future.

Although a return to the sidelines with the Wings wasn’t initially what he had in mind, Toews is enjoying the experience.

And as an added bonus, having Becker around has given him a head start on coaching in English.

“You often have to deal with a lot of different players that have a sense of entitlement and, in my experience, it’s always been a bit of a roadblock. I’ve sent lots of players home. People that have come with a great resumé but they couldn’t do the stuff we wanted them to do, they didn’t work hard at it,” said Toews.

“But with Niyah, she’s a good ol’ Winnipeger. Nose to the grindstone, she’s got questions, she’s in the gym early, she’s a hungry player and it’s kind of like something I’m attracted to because as a player growing up in Winnipeg with minimal talent, that was how I approached the game, so, we’ve hit it off pretty well.”

Life in Japan

Coaching overseas was never the grand plan for Toews.

In fact, the first time he left Japan when he was still in the midst of his playing career, he remembers looking out the plane window and thinking to himself that he would never be back.

“I couldn’t read anything. I couldn’t talk to anybody. I was just like, ‘I’m done with this,’” said Toews. “I was asked to sign again. It wasn’t a lot of money at the time, but it was decent for someone with no (prior) pro experience, but I was like, ‘Forget about money, I just don’t want to live here.’ And here I am.”

He eventually returned with a mission to learn Japanese.

“I decided not to do it with formal training. I was in a big city so if you wanted to hang out with expats you could, but I exclusively hung out with people who didn’t speak English and then I did a lot of self studying. I bought a book on grammar usage and I got better quickly,” said Toews.

“And then, the more I could communicate with people, the more my world opened up.”

“And then, the more I could communicate with people, the more my world opened up.”

He then met his wife, had two sons, and was hired as a teacher at an international school with the expectation that he’d take over the boys basketball program. Several championships later, he found himself coaching in the pros.

“Both boys would get free international school tuition (if I accepted the job), so, that was a motivator,” said Toews. “But I was never interested in coaching. Never crossed my mind that I’d be a coach.”

His oldest son Kai played NCAA hoops at UNC Wilmington where he finished second in the nation in assists — behind future NBA lottery pick Ja Morant — and now plays pro in Japan for Alvark Tokyo and represented the country at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Then there’s Luka who also plays guard and is currently a sophomore at Boston College.

“If you’ve got hours to listen, with 30 years of being in Japan, you can imagine there were a lot of ups and downs, and very lucky situations where I was fortunate but then made the most of my chance,” said Toews.

“It’s been a long road, but it’s not over for me. I’ve been asked to write a book on it sometime.”

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