Baseball In Japan Yakyu

Nomo, Ichiro, and Hideki Matsui Nomo left for Major Leagues first Ichiro is the biggest loss – “Ichiro Syndrome” Proved a position player could play Many Japanese players are leaving, or looking to leave Threatens to turn Japanese Baseball into farm system

Conformity Depending on the manager, there are different rules about conformity. Ichiro, when with a certain manager, was forced to change his unique swing. Japanese like team aspect of game, more than the individual performance.

Game field Demeanor The Japanese are more “determined” when they are on the field. The Japanese do not view baseball as a game Baseball is spiritual US taught to have fun

Fans The Japanese crowds are very regimented. Loyalty and Commitment Fans bring musical instruments

Strategy Japanese fans like the time between pitches. Japanese = Defensive American = Offensive Gossip

National High School Tournament National High School Tournament in Spring and Summer Broadcast live on TV and radio “Beauty of Defeat” Tabloids love to print articles about action and players

Competitive Spirit The Japanese have a very competitive spirit Japanese fans are excited Japanese players are having success in the MLB Japanese like fact of success in the Major Leagues American’s for a long time have had the “strongest” everything

The US and Japan Amateur leagues have national tournaments at some levels American Legion is No “tabloid” rumors started about kids Baseball receives 1/4-1/2 of sports viewer-ship in America

Umpire Relations Arguing is quite frequent and readily accepted in Japan Umpires have much less control over the games than they have in MLB Mike Di Muro, an American umpire, worked in Japan