Introduction

This website examines the origins, development, and national influence of baseball in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912). Though baseball is often perceived as the “national pastime” of America and a uniquely American sport, the modern history of Japan is inextricably linked to its parallel development of the Western game. The Meiji period was an era of rapid modernization and Westernization as Japan hurried to progress through a focus on Western-inspired bunmei kaika, or "civilization and enlightenment" (1).  There existed a fascination for all things Western in Japan during the latter half of the 19th century, including Western clothing, social dynamics, and methods of thought. Among all of the new Western elements introduced to Japan in this period, the sport of baseball was notable for its compatibility with traditional Japanese values, a feature that allowed it to be so easily integrated into the culture. Baseball seemed to embody certain national and cultural values central to Japan during its period of modernization, and the Japanese aimed to leverage the sport’s status as a popular Western phenomenon to achieve greater equality with Western nations.