Nagase Kenko

The History of the Baseball Partnership across
the Pacific Ocean:

An Essay by a Public Affairs Officer of the Embassy of Japan

Washington, D.C.

Junya Ishii
Second Secretary, Press and Information Section, Embassy of Japan

Washingtonians will no doubt remember the year 2005 when Americans’ national pastime returns to their city, as the new Washington Nationals will start playing baseball in April.

We should also recall that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the inception of the baseball exchange between Japan and the United States. A team composed of Waseda University students visited the United States in 1905 as the first Japanese baseball team to play in the U.S.

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan and the U.S. It has played an important role in deepening the mutual understanding between the two peoples. 100 years ago, no one could imagine that both Japanese and Americans would become excited by Ichiro Suzuki’s breaking the Major League all-time record for single season hits and by Hideki Matsui’s remarkable performance in post-season games. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the trans-Pacific exchange of baseball, this essay will recount the history of the growing interaction between the two countries through their national sport.

The relationship between Japan and the United States began in 1853, when Admiral Commodore Matthew Perry arrived at Tokyo bay. Baseball was introduced to Japan in the early 1870s. Thus there was only a 20-year baseball gap during our 150-long history of Japan-U.S. relations. The interaction between the two countries through baseball harkens back to the first international game between Ichiko (the First High School) and the American residents of Yokohama in 1896. But the inception of true international exchange occurred when the Waseda University baseball team traveled to the U.S. in 1905. In 1908, the Reach All-American team stopped in Japan during its world tour, giving the Japanese people their first opportunity to see American professionals. The celebrated arrival of the U.S. Major League All-Star Team including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1934 had a huge impact on the Japanese people. In the wake of straight defeats, the Japanese people felt that the establishment of a professional league was indispensable to the improvement of the sport in Japan. It was only one month later that the first professional team, the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, was formed. International exchanges proved a decisive impetus to the development of Japanese professional baseball.

The Pacific War cast a dark shadow on the Japanese baseball. It forced the Japanese people to abandon baseball because of strict governmental control of the national economy and also because baseball was imported from the U.S., Japan’s enemy. Even the usage of English words in baseball was forbidden. The war also took the lives of many Japanese baseball players who had been drafted. Eiji Sawamura, a legendary pitcher who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1934, was among those who were killed. The Japanese people’s love for baseball, however, never weakened. Some Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and many Japanese Americans in U.S interment camps enjoyed playing baseball. The end of the war revived baseball in Japan and international baseball exchanges. The U.S. occupation forces used our mutual passion for baseball to reconcile Japan and the U.S. In 1949, the San Francisco Seals’ goodwill tour to Japan effectively restarted trans-Pacific baseball interaction. Since then, Major League teams have continued to tour Japan. At present, Major League Baseball sends its All-Star Teams to Japan every other year.

Since the establishment of Japanese professional baseball, American players have formed an essential part of Japanese baseball. To date more than 600 Americans have played in Japanese professional baseball leagues. In Japan, a limited number of foreign players (at present, four) are accepted on each team as “suketto,” a person who comes to help when needed. American suketto have significantly contributed to the improvement of Japanese baseball skills and sportsmanship. In particular, they are popular among Japanese kids due to their physical advantage. Some American players have gained legendary respect because of their charismatic performance. For example, Randy Bass, a former Padre and Ranger, won two triple crowns and contributed to the championship victory of the Hanshin Tigers in 1985. Even now, Tigers aficionados pay homage to him, saying “the God or the Buddha or Mr. Bass.” Recently, Carl “Tuffy” Rhodes of the Kintetsu Buffalos and Alex Cabrera of the Seibu Lions tied Sadaharu Oh’s single season home run record of 55, Rhodes in 2001 and Cabrera in 2002. Nowadays, some suketto are also expected to contribute to a Japanese team as coaches, as Bobby Valentine and Trey Hillman are leading the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Nippon Ham Fighters as mangers, respectively.

It had been almost impossible to imagine that Japanese players could become leading players in the Major Leagues, until Hideo “Tornado” Nomo astonished us by winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. Before this feat, the Major Leagues were the stuff of dreams for the Japanese people. In the not-too-distant past, a lot of Japanese cartoons used Major League Baseball to depict something beyond imagination. For instance, one of the most well-known Japanese cartoons, “Kyojin no Hoshi” (The Star of the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants), invented three breaking balls that were obviously impossible to throw, calling them “the Major League Ball Number One (or Two or Three).”

The first Japanese player who was successful in the Major League was Masanori Murakami, a left-handed pitcher of the San Francisco Giants from 1964 through 1965. Since the 1995 breakthrough by Hideo Nomo, many top-level Japanese players have sought the most competitive environment in the world in the Major Leagues. Among them, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees are the most successful figures. These two players exhibited different aspects of baseball art: Suzuki demonstrated his revolutionary hitting technique and sophisticated fielding, while Matsui proved his long-hitting capability to be the rival of American sluggers and displayed strong and amicable leadership. Other Japanese players currently playing in the Major Leagues include: Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Tomokazu Ohka, Kazuhisa Ishii, Kazuo Matsui, Shingo Takatsu, Akinori Otsuka, So Taguchi, Masao Kida, and Kazuhito Tadano. Japanese players played in the past in the U.S. include: Kazuhiro Sasaki, Masato Yoshii, Hideki Irabu, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Satoru Komiyama, Takashi Kashiwada, Takahito Nomura, and Mac Suzuki.

The interaction through baseball between Japan and the U.S. has become deeper in recent years through the active exchange of players. After their experience in Japanese baseball, some players such as Cecil Fielder and Alfonso Soriano have achieved remarkable success in Major League Baseball. Japanese players such as Hideki Irabu and Tsuyoshi Shinjo returned to Japan after playing in the U.S. They provided a good impetus to Japanese professional baseball. Some Japanese such as Mac Suzuki and Kazuhito Tadano even started their career first in the Major Leagues with no experience in the Japanese professional leagues. These unprecedented phenomena show how mutually influenced and deeply intertwined the baseball exchange between the two countries has become. Also, Dave Roberts in the San Diego Padres was born in Okinawa and his mother is Japanese. This exemplifies another aspect of the Japan-America nexus through baseball.

Starting in 2005, we will see promising newcomers such as Tadahito Iguchi, Norihiro Nakamura, Keiichi Yabu, and Denny Tomori coming to the United States. Japanese baseball teams are aggressively looking for talented American players and managers as their suketto. International professional games between Japan and the U.S. will continue and further facilitate an exchange of players. Baseball exchanges, which started in 1905, have grown into a true partnership. This partnership contributes to the prosperity of both countries’ baseball by providing bi-national stimulus across the Pacific Ocean.

When Their Majesties Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun visited the U.S. for the first time in 1975, Mr. and Mrs. Hank Aaron were invited to a dinner hosted by President Ford in honor of Their Majesties. This clearly showed that baseball had become a cornerstone for Japan-U.S. relations. Nowadays, President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi enjoy discussing baseball every time they meet. Both leaders love to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in professional games.

Ambassador Ryozo Kato, a baseball fanatic, stated the following in an interview with Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post on June 25, 2003:

“I was born in1941 and came to understand baseball at the age of 7 or 8, as my two eldest brothers taught me about the game. Baseball was the sport in Japan at that time, even ahead of sumo wrestling, and no other sports were more popular. To me, and many Japanese kids at that time, some Japanese baseball players were like demi-gods. … My two eldest brothers taught me that way beyond the Pacific there were far greater players; Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and others. … Only very occasionally did I have a chance to see a column or two in baseball-related magazines, that Ted Williams had won the batting title, that Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956 or that Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig had visited Japan in 1934. So that is where my dream began.”

Another baseball fan from the Embassy of Japan, Yoshihisa Ishikawa said:

“Japanese and American baseball is attractive for different reasons. Japanese are attracted to Major League Baseball because of: (1) The physical advantage of American players such as power, quickness, strong arm, fastness of balls, etc. (2) the intense competition at various levels from the Major through the Minor Leagues. (3) The emphasis on the importance of fair and aggressive playing centered on fast balls and hard hitting. (4) The sophisticated playing environment around both players and audience. (5) The deep attachment to and admirable insight into baseball by the American people. Some people in Japan are concerned about Japanese professional baseball withering due to the export of players to Major League Baseball. But I believe that international exchange will further improve the quality of Japanese baseball. We should promote this interaction instead of regulating the exchange of players. I am optimistic about the future prospects for baseball both in Japan and the United States.”

Baseball represents only one aspect of the broad range of cooperation between these two most reliable friends, but is certainly solidifying their trans-Pacific partnership.

Junya Ishii joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. He authored this article while working in the Press and Information Section at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.

Katsuki Tsuji and Takahiro Kumagae also contributed to this article.