Nikkei Baseball examines baseball's evolving importance to the Japanese American community and the construction of Japanese American identity. Originally introduced in Japan in the late 1800s, baseball was played in the United States by Japanese immigrants first in Hawaii, then San Francisco and northern California, then in amateur leagues up and down the Pacific Coast. For Japanese American players, baseball was seen as a sport that encouraged healthy competition by imposing rules and standards of ethical behavior for both players and fans. The value of baseball as exercise and amusement quickly expanded into something even more important, a means for strengthening social ties within Japanese American communities and for linking their aspirations to America's pastimes and America's promise. Drawing from archival research, prior scholarship, and personal interviews, this book explores key historical factors such as Meiji-era modernization policies in Japan, American anti-Asian sentiments, internment during World War II, the postwar transition, economic and educational opportunities in the 1960s, the developing concept of a distinct “Asian American” identity, and Japanese Americans' rise to the major leagues with star players including Lenn Sakata and Kurt Suzuki and even managers such as the Seattle Mariners' Don Wakamatsu.
This chapter examines the scope of Nikkei baseball in the aftermath of the Second World War. Re-entry into mainstream society proved challenging for much of the Nikkei community, particularly as anti-Japanese sentiments were still smoldering in the wake of the conflict. For a time Nikkei baseball came to a virtual halt as the Japanese American community attempted to rebuild their lives. Yet both the sport and the Nikkei community would undergo a dramatic shift as the postwar years wore on, such as Jackie Robinson's entry into the Major League as its first black player. Nikkei baseball would soon thrive again, and with its revival came several prominent Nikkei baseball players who would finally build that longed-for bridge between the Japanese American community and the rest of the nation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.