150 Years of Japan-U.S. Baseball History Being Traced in Washington

July 1, 2018

Washington- An exhibition to trace the 150-year history of Japan-U.S. baseball ties has been held at the Japan Information & Culture Center of the Japanese embassy in Washington.

The main purpose of the event, which runs through Aug. 10, is telling fans in the United States how baseball has become a "national sport" in Japan, at a time when performances of Japanese major leaguers, such as Los Angeles Angels pitcher-slugger Shohei Ohtani, are attracting their attention, an official of the center said.

Among items on display are baseball magazines published in Japan under Allied occupation after the end of World War II, a textbook in the Meiji period (1868-1912) that contains a section explaining baseball rules and "menko" Japanese cards depicting San Francisco Seals players who visited Japan for games in 1949.

The magazines are part of University of Maryland Libraries' Gordon Prange Collection, and the textbook is owned by Japanese baseball specialist Adam Berenbak.

Visitors can also see a ball hit last year by another Japanese major leaguer Ichiro Suzuki, currently special assistant to the chairman of the Seattle Mariners, a bat signed by baseball legend Sadaharu Oh, now chairman of the company operating the Japanese professional club SoftBank Hawks, and a uniform worn by Joe Stanka, an American right-hander who brought many victories chiefly to the Nankai Hawks, now the Softbank Hawks, in the 1960s.

Besides the exhibition, the center will host an event on July 20 featuring Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese major leaguer, expecting participation by many U.S. fans in the event, which will be held only three days after the Major League All-Star Game in the capital. Jiji Press