Help on finding what these are...

[TheNightmanCometh]

Hello all,

About a year ago I purchased some cards on eBay that were titled "1950 Japanese Baseball Card" and then it gave what appeared to be a name of a player. I bought them purely because they looked good and I wanted to frame them, but my curiosity has gotten the best of me and I'm wondering who made these and when. Maybe some of you might know or know where to find out. I attached pics of them and as you can see there's nothing on the back and all of the writing is in Japanese. Help!!!

[Jeff Alcorn]

Hi,

The cards that you have are from the 1949 Yakyu Timu Awase set. Yakyu means baseball in Japanese and there are at least 70 cards in the set. Your cards are:

Giichiro Shiraki P Tokyu Flyers #18
Hiroshi Tsujii 1B Taiyo Robins #12
Fumio Fujimura 3B Hanshin Tigers #10
Akira Noguchi C Chunichi Dragons #6

The 2 symbols underneath the photo are the team's ownership name: ex.: Chunichi
Directly below that is the team nickname in red: ex.: Dragons
Both of these are read left to right. Underneath the nickname is the player's last name and position in black that is read vertically from top to bottom: ex.: Noguchi Catcher
In the bottom right corner is the uniform number in a red circle, and the team's logo flag is under the player's last name and position.

Hope that this information is helpful to you.

Jeff

[TheNightmanCometh]

Hope that information is helpful? Holy smokes, you just hit a grand slam!!!! How do you know that? I looked EVERYWHERE I could online to find out and found nothing.

You, sir, are my hero. Thank you! :-)

[hcv123]

I am a regular here and seeing the response to this post reminds me just how amazing the people who participate in this forum are at connecting answers with questions. Awesome! Proud to be a part of it.

Howard Chasser

[Jeff Alcorn]

Thanks, guys. I am glad it was helpful. I have collected Japanese cards since 1979, and can read the language well enough to translate most cards. If you really want a reference work for questions like this, then get a copy of Gary Engel's Japanese Baseball Checklist and Price Guide. Robert Klevens, who is a member here, deals in Japanese cards and has them for sale on his website: www.prestige collectibles.com.

By The way, Fumio Fujimura of the Tigers is a Hall of Famer, while Akira Noguchi's brother Jiro Noguchi is also a Hall of Fame member. A third brother, Noboru Noguchi played 3B-SS for the Tigers from 1941-43 and was killed in the Philippines in 1945.

Let me know if you need any other information, I would be glad to help.


Jeff

[TheNightmanCometh]

It's funny you should mention that book because I was about to buy it before a friend of mine recommended coming here to ask first. I may still buy it because after re-finding them in my collection I'm pretty fascinated by them and interested in collecting more of them. Right now I just have the 4.

And I have a HOFer?!?!?! Wow!!!

They aren't in like some outstanding shape. After you told me what they were I did some looking and noticed someone had a complete set listed over at PSA, with gpa weighted 8. I doubt these even hit 5, but that's okay cause they still look great!

BTW, both of the links you posted didn't work. That's okay though, you're still me hero. :-)

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alcorn

A third brother, Noboru Noguchi played 3B-SS for the Tigers from 1941-43 and was killed in the Philippines in 1945.
Jeff

Not to stray too far off topic, but I'm glad Douglas MacArthur's boys got him instead of the other way around.

[TheNightmanCometh]

Just a bump for any knowledgeable graders out there. What kind of grades would these cards I've scanned reasonably get? Thanks.

[h2oya311]

Ryan - cool cards! Good luck pursuing the set!

I had a very fun time collecting Japanese HOF cards over several years, but have recently had to redirect funds towards my primary collecting goals (and to help with a down-payment on a house). The large number of different sets and variations is fun to navigate and collect. The book is immensely important to have if you are interested in what sets you have and who the players are.

Anyway, if you are interested in the book, I just listed one on the BST section (cheaper than what you'd find elsewhere).

All the best!

[TheNightmanCometh]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

Ryan - cool cards! Good luck pursuing the set!

I had a very fun time collecting Japanese HOF cards over several years, but have recently had to redirect funds towards my primary collecting goals (and to help with a down-payment on a house). The large number of different sets and variations is fun to navigate and collect. The book is immensely important to have if you are interested in what sets you have and who the players are.

Anyway, if you are interested in the book, I just listed one on the BST section (cheaper than what you'd find elsewhere).

All the best!

I appreciate the response and the good luck. I'm a little strapped at the moment on cash, but one day I'd love to have that book! I am wondering at this point what kind of grade they would garner if I sent them to PSA for grading some time down the line.

[TheNightmanCometh]

So I took the Japanese cards I got, along with some others I bought, and made this...

[Exhibitman]

That's a nice display. They look like pop art.