[seanofjapan]

Originally Posted by MacDice

Looking for some cards of Leon Lee. Please let me know if you have any to trade or sell

I`ll let you know if I get any. I have quite a few of his cards from the early 80s, but no doubles at the moment. Let me know which ones you are looking for and I can keep an eye out!

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Welcome to board Sean.

What were the earliest Japanese cards produced? Which ones were considered "The Holy Grail" of Japanese cards? Do you know of any good publications out there that talk about Japanese cards? Are most of the consumers Americans that collect the cards?

Good questions! I`m not sure what constitutes the "first" Japanese card, but they have been around since before the war, mostly in the form of Menko, which are cardboard game cards. There is a pretty good overview of the history of Japanese cards here: http://www.robfitts.com/japanese-baseball-cards.html

The main guide (in English) to vintage Japanese cards is by Gary Engel (here http://www.prestigecollectibles.com/Item.aspx?ID=1102 ). There is also a Japanese language publication called Sports Card Magazine, which is sort of the equivalent of Beckett for Japanese collectors.

There is a pretty big collector market here, not as big as the US. Mostly it is Japanese collectors. It developed a bit later in the US though. Calbee, which is kind of the Japanese version of Topps (well, its way different than any card maker in the US, but at least in terms of the company that has produced annual sets for the longest) put out its first set in 1973, while BBM (which is a bit more like a conventional US card maker) put out its first set in 1991.

Originally Posted by GeorgeBailey2

Thanks for joining and linking your blog.

One of my favorite books is "You Gotta Have Wa."

Thanks! I love You gotta Have Wa, it is by far my favorite book on Japanese baseball. Whiting used to do a regular column in the Japan Times but he hasn`t been writing much recently, I wish he would get back into it!

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Welcome, Sean! Here's an article about Japanese baseball cards that appeared in volume V, issue 5 of The Sport Hobbyist in early 1964. I'm not positive, but I think it's the earliest article about Japanese cards to appear in an American hobby publication.

Wow, that is an amazing find, I had no idea American collector interest in Japanese cards had its origins that far back. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Originally Posted by AustinMike

Konnichiwa Sean-san!

Like some others on the board, I lived in Japan for a few years. I was there from Jan. 1969 to May 1971. My dad was in the Air Force and we were stationed at Itazuke AB. The base was about 20 some odd miles east of Fukuoka. Unfortunately I was in high school then and had stopped collecting baseball cards just prior to moving there, so I have no baseball related items from my time there. I did watch it on TV though. But enough of my reminiscing, welcome to the board!

David - that article caught my eye. The guy who wrote it was from Sasebo. There was (maybe still is, I don't know) a naval base there. We went there for a baseball tournament one weekend. Loads of fun.

Oh interesting. I lived in Fukuoka city for 4 years when I was a student. In fact the university I studied at was actually hit by an F4 Phantom that crashed into it (fortunately the pilots ejected safely) from Itazuke base in the late 60s, maybe while you were there? (way before my time!)

It was a great place to live. There still is a navy base in Sasebo BTW.

Great thread, I have enjoyed seeing the cards and look forward to seeing more of them.

Sean, I tweeted from my blog account a link to your blog. I look forward to checking it out more!

Oh thanks a lot, I will be sure to post more! Thanks for the tweet too!