History Focus

This area will focus on the diffusion of an American sport into Japanese culture. The focus will be on the difference between the game of baseball that the Japanese copied from the Americans, American baseball, and the game called besuboru that now exists in Japan. In addition, the Influence of American players in Japan and Japanese players in America on the game of baseball in Japan will be discussed. The cultural differences between Japan and the United states are reflected in the ways that baseball differs in the two countries.

Baseball Exported to Japan

Japan first took to baseball in the late 19th century when it began importing Western technology, methods, and ideas as part of an all out effort to catch up to the U.S. economically. The Japanese approach baseball with their own methods, psychology, and strategy. The result is a game that looks the same and is played with identical rules, but is uniquely Japanese-a mirror of the Japanese soul and mind (Sudo).

The Japanese baseball league limits the number of foreigners on each team because the talents of American players are usually better than those of Japanese players. In addition, the Japanese often excuse American players from participating in rigorous workouts out of respect for their talents.

Baseball in schools

The success of Baseball in Japanese High Schools exhibits one aspect of the diffusion from America to Japan. In Japan baseball was first developed as a club sport in the late 19th century at elite high schools and universities. By the early 20th century baseball spread to the middle schools across the country (Kelly). The whole nation tunes in to the national high school baseball tournament and one of the biggest amateur sporting events in the world (Sudo).

Japan's Two Professional Baseball Leagues

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