(l to r) Japanese Baseball Legend Eiichiro Yamamoto with Nagase Kenko Executive Vice President Yasuhiko Nagase

Interview with Japanese Baseball Legend Eiichiro Yamamoto

By Yasuhiko Nagase, Executive Vice President, Nagase Kenko Corporation (NKC)

Born in 1919 in Kyoto, Japan, Eiichiro Yamamoto played baseball until high school in Taiwan, which was Japanese territory at that time. He later played while attending Keio University in Tokyo and after graduation joined several private company baseball leagues. He has also served as an umpire for various amateur leagues and been a commentator on baseball program for Japan’s primary public broadcasting service (NHK) since 1952.

After serving as a colonel in the Japanese Navy, Yamamoto-san formed his own company, which focused on the apparel business. He did, not, however, leave behind his love of baseball and has dedicated his life to the game, earning an amazing list of titles and distinctions including appointment as a Board of Director of the Japan Corporate League Baseball Association (JCLBA) in 1967, President of the Japan Baseball Federation in 1975, Vice President of the Asian Baseball Federation (BFA) in 1981, 3rd Vice President of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) in 1989, Vice Chairman of the JCLBA in 1991, Board member of the Japan Baseball Congress in 1994, Chairman of the BFA in 1995, 1st Vice President of the IBAF in 1997 and Chairman of the JCLBA in 1997. In 1997, recognizing his lifetime achievements, including helping to make baseball an Olympic game, Yamamoto-san was also inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.


Hello Yamamoto-san, it is a pleasure to speak with you. Can you tell our readers a little about your background and how you came to be so involved in baseball?

I started playing baseball when I was in the 4th grade in Taiwan. As a player, I continued to play until 1942 for Corporate Leagues in Japan. After retiring as a baseball player, I wanted to continue my dedication to the game and have since been involved in so many aspects of the game.

You've been playing baseball for a long time. Can you tell us how the game has evolved over the years?

Baseball has always been a domestically-focused sport and most people in the U.S. are not aware of the many people who are playing and enjoying baseball around the world.

In Japan, for example, most people believe Dr. Horace Wilson, an American professor, introduced baseball to Japan in the 1870's. It became popular at Japanese universities, and in the early 1900's, Keio where I attended and other universities were hotbeds of activity. From about 1910 to 1935, several American major league and other teams visited Japan during the and played exhibition games with Japanese teams. One tour took place in 1934 with a team consisting of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and others. Japanese interest in baseball reached a fever pitch.

Japanese Major League baseball began in 1936 and in 1950, two six team leagues the Central League and the Pacific League were formed. This structure has remained to this day.

In my eyes Baseball World Championships and the inclusion of Baseball as an Olympic Sports are two seminal events, which are helping to expand interest in baseball as an international sport. I believe this will expand substantially over time.

As you know, NKC has been involved in the Japanese sport of nankyu baseball for over 70 years. Can you tell us about your experiences with nankyu, why it developed the way it did and how it benefits the game?

I would like to see baseball played all over the world, like soccer. To achieve this goal is it most important to cultivate activity at the grassroots level and to increase the number of people playing the game. That means enlisting greater numbers of young people as well as older people for whom safety and the potential danger of play using a regulation hard ball is a real issue. It is also one of the reasons I strongly support the development of women’s baseball. In many countries baseball has not yet become a national sport and I strongly believe that using safety baseballs provides an opportunities to expand the number of people playing the game around the world. NKC has been actively supporting the development of safety baseball for over 70 years and I think that is one of the reasons the NKC baseball has been so popular among young people in Japan. I also think it is one of the reasons that leagues in Latin America and other locations have been showing so much interest in safety baseball as well.

While most people in the U.S. consider baseball to be a particularly American game. In fact it is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. Can you talk a little about how baseball is played in different countries and on the international aspects of the game?

As far as promoting baseball, the International Baseball Federation has contributed tremendously to expanding the game around the world for last 20 years. Prior to 1980, international baseball was only played within the Americas and since that time international tournaments have been played in Europe and Asia as well.

International interest in the game is growing and a record 81 countries attended the IBAF Ordinary Congress in May 2001 at Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2002, the first ever World University Baseball Championship was held in Messina, Italy and more recently during an IBAF Executive Committee meeting in Moscow, Russia, the IBAF reached a milestone in the history of international Baseball approving the I Women's Baseball World Cup, which will be held in Alberta, Canada this summer.

Recently, we have been seeing Japanese baseball rising in popularity in other countries. Many Japanese athletes now play on U.S. teams and as you know the Yankees and Tampa Bay will play their opening game in Tokyo. Can you tell us why you think this is the case and what this means for baseball in Japan, the U.S. and other countries around the world?

I think this effects the game in several ways. First, it increases technical exchanges between professional baseball leagues in both countries. That will increase the international market for baseball on a commercial level and help to provide new revenue sources. This cross border interest is also helping to further stimulate interest the trends we discussed previously, on an amateur level within the U.S., Japan and other IBAF member countries. In Japan itself, after many years in which demographic trends and the introduction of other sports have served to decrease the relative interest of Japanese children in baseball, it is also stimulating grassroots interest in the game. Finally, these exchanges are also attracting the interest of fans in many countries around the world.

You have also been highly active in baseball in Latin America and other markets. Can you tell us about your activities there?

Yes, I have been fascinated by Latin Baseball ever since I first visited Latin America more than 30 years ago. The way the game is played there is so vibrant and full of life, whereas in Asia it is more formal in nature. I met many baseball leaders who have very strong enthusiasm toward developing international baseball into a world sport. Mr. Garcia from Nicaragua and many leaders from Cuba come to mind. I have since been inducted into Baseball Halls of Fame in three countries -- Japan, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Even now, I am still very involved in Japanese and Cuban baseball.

Thank you so much Yamamoto-san. Before closing is there anything else you would like to say to our readers.

My life work has been to make baseball as the true international sport. I find big opportunities today in Africa as well as some part of Asia.

All amateurs and professionals need to work together to make this happen. The U.S. and Japan both have long baseball traditions and need to join together to expand baseball around the world. That is one of the reasons I am so encouraged by the cooperation we have been seeing among U.S. and Japanese professional baseball leagues.