Video #22 - Japan: Baseball Slump
Tuesday, January 10, 2006BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Baseball has become so much a part of Japanese culture that it is said to rival only Sumo in its popularity. The first baseball team in Japan began in 1873 at Kaisei Gakko, currently Tokyo University, under the direction of American teacher Horace Wilson. By 1903, an intercollegiate rivalry developed between teams at Waseda University and Keio University (Sokeisen). In 1908, the first American college team visited Japan, and defeated the Japanese college team with a score of 6 to 4 . By the late 1970s there were 253 college teams from each region of the country.
Japan's first professional team was formed in the 1920's. Nihon Undo Kyokai began in Shibaura and baseball was on its way to becoming a national sport. In 1934, an American professional baseball team made up of selected players faced a Japanese amateur team. By 1936, the Japanese Professional Baseball League was formed.
During World War II anything American was shunned by the Japanese. The Tokyo Giants' stadium was used as an ammunition dump. However, after the war General MacArthur promoted the sport and enthusiasm about baseball returned.
According to Tracey Jones of PageWise: "Since 1950, the 12 Japanese professional teams have been divided into two leagues, Central and Pacific, of six teams each. There are also two minor leagues: Western and Eastern, with 6 teams in each as well, which serve as "farm" teams for the major leagues. The Central league is the most popular of the four, mostly due to the Tokyo Giants, whose popularity rivals that of rock stars, movie stars and other celebrities."
The season starts in April and ends in October. The best teams from each league play in the "Nihon Series." Since 1936, over 400 Americans have played for Japanese professional teams. Japanese baseball differs from American baseball when a game is tied: in Japan, a draw is called if no one scores after three extra innings have been played. General play is also less aggressive. There are fewer home runs, the strike zone is larger near the batter but smaller away from the batter, and the ball is slightly smaller and wound tighter.
Recently, Japanese baseball has suffered financially due to a drop in fan interest and stagnation. The Pacific League's Kintetsu Buffaloes lost $36 million last year, while another team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, had an attendance of just 14,804 fans per game. The Central League, composed of teams within the vicinity of Tokyo and its popular Yomiuri Giants, has been buoyed by income from television broadcasts.
The first strike in the history of the Japanese league began on September 18, 2004 to protest a proposed merger between the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes. The merger would create a new team by the beginning of the next season, as part of an attempt to restructure the Pacific and Central Leagues' twelve teams into a single league with ten teams. Besides cutting costs, it is claimed this arrangement would distribute TV royalties more equitably, since the Yomiuri Giants would play the other nine teams.
Critics say Japanese baseball fans want excitement. Fans and players reportedly want more inter-league games to increase rivalries and bring in the fans. Also hurting is the fact that Japan's best players are moving to the US to earn ten times more money.
Old-guard team owners have been criticized for their reluctance to yield to modern competition. When young Internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie bid to purchase the Kintetsu Buffaloes, Tsuneo Watanabe, the 78-year-old Yomiuri Giants owner, dismissed the attempt by saying: "We can't let some unknown person in."
Players have been circulating petitions opposing the change to the single-league system without first holding negotiations with players and listening to the wishes of the fans. Many see the recent strike as indicative of the struggle between old and new which has been thematic to Japan's economic and political climate in recent years.
Fans are reportedly siding with the players. Even Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi seems to be siding with the players and the fans, noting, "there are about 30 teams in the U.S. major leagues, so I think we can have more locally-rooted teams in Japan."
SOURCES
"Baseball In Japan." Niseibaseball.com
"Strike may be last chance to save Japanese baseball." Daily Times (Reuters), October 26, 2004.
Jones, Tracey, "Baseball in Japan." PageWise, Inc, 2002, http://pagewise.com.html Kuehnert, Marty, "Are Tsuneo Watanabe and George Wallace long-lost brothers." The Japan Times, August 12, 2004, www.japantimes.co.jp.
Pesek, William Jr., "Pitching radical ideas to Japan Inc." International Herald Tribune, September 12, 2004 , www.iht.com
Rowley, Ian, "Japanese Baseball: Old and Slow." Business Week, September 27, 2004 www.businessweek.com
LESSON PLAN
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:
10-12 grade Economics, International Relations, World History, Geography, International Baccalaureate Programs (IB), Current Events.
PURPOSE:
To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Malaysian economy and its significance globally.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
- Compare and contrast North American and Japanese baseball.
- Describe the history of Japanese baseball.
- Explain the problems which led to the recent strike.
- Evaluate the possible resolutions to the labor issues in Japanese baseball.
MATERIALS:
- Background information provided.
- Resources on the Japanese baseball available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
- Background information available through Internet "search engines".
ACTIVITIES:
May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.
- Create a timeline showing important events in the history of Japanese baseball.
- Prepare a Venn diagram showing the differences and similarities between North American and Japanese baseball./li>
- Hold a mock negotiation session to try to solve the issues of the strike.
- Write an editorial describing your position on the recent labor problems in Japanese baseball.
EVALUATION:
Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.
Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale: Content 1 = Superior (A) Creativity 2 = Excellent (B) Clarity 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)
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