Baseball—Japan

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Baseball, perhaps the most popular sport in Japan, is played by many schoolboys and college students, and millions of spectators view professional games in ballparks and on television. Brought to Japan by Americans teaching in Tokyo in the 1870s, baseball was at first a recreational activity for college students. However, it became a serious and competitive intercollegiate and interscholastic sport by the close of the nineteenth century.

The first three decades of the twentieth century were the golden age of amateur baseball in Japan, and college and secondary school tournaments became national phenomena. Just as professional baseball began to emerge, government policies aimed at promoting Japanese nationalism placed controls on amateur baseball and played a role in diminishing public support for the professional game. Baseball disappeared during World War II but resumed after the war in schools and colleges.

An expanded professional presence arose in 1948. By the mid-1950s, professional baseball had become the most popular spectator sport in Japan, with two professional leagues, the Central and Pacific Leagues, consisting of six teams each. The 1953 season saw the first televised game, and baseball quickly became a television mainstay.

In a uniquely Japanese feature, almost every team is owned by a major corporation that uses the team for promotional purposes. The most successful and best-known team was the Yomiuri Giants, and the best-known player was that team's home-run hitter, Sadaharu Oh, who played from 1959 to 1980. Even when they were no longer dominant on the field, the Giants remained a symbol of Japanese baseball, just as the New York Yankees have symbolized American baseball for many people.

Throughout the history of Japanese baseball, officials, players, and coaches have maintained contact with the baseball establishment in the United States. Japan was quick to import the latest equipment, techniques, and on a limited basis, American coaches and players. For example, Bobby Valentine, the coach of the New York Mets when that team finished second to the New York Yankees in the 2000 World Series, coached in Japan in 1995, and Charlie Manuel of the Cleveland Indians and Jim Tracy of the Los Angeles Dodgers played there in the 2001 season. The flow of talent in the other direction was slower to develop. Hideo Nomo, who pitched for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, became the first Japanese player in the U.S. major leagues when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. He was followed by several other players, including Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, who was the American League's most valuable player in 2001. American teams employed translators to make the transition easier. In addition, games between American and Japanese teams are now played on a regular basis, and the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs opened their 2000 season in Japan and played their first three games in Tokyo.

One of the questions scholars have asked about Japanese baseball is why the sport, which began in the United States, became so popular in Japan. The answer is unclear, but several factors seem to have been involved. First, baseball appeared in Japan along with other Western sports, such as soccer, rugby, and tennis, at a time when Japan was seeking to strengthen ties to the Western world. Second, the physical, mental, and spiritual battle between pitcher and batter was culturally congruent with Japanese values and indigenous sports, such as sumo. Third, the sport was supported by major corporations, who viewed the teams, their uniforms, the stadiums, and media coverage as significant promotional opportunities. Fourth, the sport was amenable to change to fit Japanese culture, such as the hierarchical organization of player rosters. These factors have combined with Japan's continual involvement in sports at the global level to make baseball popular in Japan. Even though baseball remains one of the most popular sports in Japan, global expansion of mass media, particularly television coverage, and talented players' migrations to the United States have greatly affected Japanese baseball today.

Andrews, David L., and Steve J. Jackson, eds. (2001) Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity. London: Routledge.

Cromartie, Warren. (1991) Slugging It Out in Japan: An American Major Leaguer in the Tokyo Outfield. New York: Kodansha International.

Oh, Sadaharu. (1984) Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way of Baseball. New York: Times Books.

Whiting, Robert. (1989) You Gotta Have Wa. New York: Macmillan.

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