Identifying Japanese Bromides (Starffin, Kawakami et al)

[Frankish]

Thanks for both of the IDs, Robert!

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

The player pictured here is Tooru Tsuchiya 土屋亨 the 土 character is cutoff. 内墅手 means infielder. 墅 is an older kanji character for 野

And thank you for this. Working through the album is definitely familiarizing me with many more kanji characters and player names, but I don't think I would ever have figured that one out....

[Frankish]

Page 7

The top center and middle right cards look like Jiro Noguchi who may have been the Shohei Ohtani of the 1940s (or vice-versa). He was one of the top pitchers in the league (with a career ERA of 1.96) as well as an excellent hitter. The comparison breaks down there, as Noguchi almost never hit home runs…but his 31 game hitting streak stood as a record in Japan for 25 years. I also love the glasses. I believe both cards show images from 1946 (the season of his hitting streak) and are 1947 bromide issues. A little more research on uniforms is needed, as the 1946 Hankyu Club uniforms should be different than those of the later (1947 on) Hankyu Braves.

Seizo Furukawa (middle row center and bottom left cards) played for 17 seasons (and missed a couple due to the war). Before the war he played for Nagoya and immediately after, though the team became Chubu Nippon/Chunichi Dragons. In 1948 he moved to the Hankyu Braves where he spent his last dozen seasons. I believe both of these photos predate his move and so are probably 1947 issues.

Rounding out the album page is what I believe to be a 1947 bromide of Braves catcher Takeshi Hibino (top left card), Rentaro Imanishi (one of the Braves pitchers, top right), and Junji Nakatani (bottom right) in his 1946 Pacific team uniform (so likely an early 1947 bromide). Hibino played for 18 years, beginning in 1939, and lost an additional three seasons to the war.

The card in middle left doesn’t have any text and I’m not sure who this Braves player is. Does anyone recognize him?

I realize that mid-century Japanese bromides are a very small niche in the hobby. So I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read this thread and especially those who have helped me along with their comments. Heck, I even appreciate that people who skip over the thread don’t feel the need to tell me how niche it really is….

[Frankish]

Page 8

If there are any fans of long-time Braves pitcher Yoshio Tenbo, then you might enjoy this page. Assuming, that is, that I’ve done the identification correctly. Tenbo appears in four of the bromides (top center, middle left and right, bottom left). Interestingly, each of the same images (just with different cropping) are used in two different cards. I believe the darker uniforms are from the 1946 season. The lighter ones need more research.

The top right card has no text, so I’m not really sure. Does anyone recognize this image?

The other cards on the page appear to be a 1947 bromide of Furukawa (top left), Shinji Hamasaki who had a short career as a pitcher for the Braves in the center (someone please correct me if I’ve identified the player incorrectly), and a Braves player that my clumsy attempts with google translate show as Takeshi Akashi (bottom right) though I can find no record of a player with that name.

As always, and help is appreciated.

[Jeff Alcorn]

Hi Frank,

You are doing great work. It is nice to find another collector seriously interested in Japanese baseball!

You have 2 nice cards of Jiro Noguchi. There were 3 Noguchi brothers who played professionally- Jiro, Akira, & Noboru. Noboru was unfortunately killed in 1945 in the Philippines, one of 51 Japanese players killed in WW II.

You have encountered one of the banes of Japanese player research in Akashi- the dreaded name change. Akashi changed his first name to Koichi so that is why you could not find him. Often times it is the last name that is changed like Hawks HOF manager Kazuto Tsuruoka who was formally Kazuto Yamamoto.

I will try to see if I can come up with anything on those unidentified players and keep the photos coming.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alcorn

You have encountered one of the banes of Japanese player research in Akashi- the dreaded name change. Akashi changed his first name to Koichi so that is why you could not find him. Often times it is the last name that is changed like Hawks HOF manager Kazuto Tsuruoka who was formally Kazuto Yamamoto.

Thanks, Jeff! I really appreciate it. And while I knew about the Tsuruoka change, I wasn't aware there were others. Now at least I know to stay open to that possibility.

The next page in the album (Page 9) is largely devoted to right-handed pitcher Juzo Sanada (who I’ve seen referred to elsewhere as Shigeo Sanada). As I work through this album, it is becoming apparent that the vast majority of the cards are 1947 bromide issues and some may be early in that year given that the photos chosen were from the 1946 season. That is the case here with Sanada, as well. The top center, top right, and middle left cards show him in his Pacific uniform from 1946. In the top left bromide, he is wearing the 1947 Robins uniform but the Pacific had from ’46. And in the bottom right, he is in full Robins attire.

If I am identifying them correctly, the bottom left and center cards appear to be first-baseman Isamu Fujii who had a very long playing career from 1936-1958 (several seasons missed for the war). After the war, he joined Pacific and stayed there as they became the Taiyo Robins.

The middle right card looks like Hiroshi Tsujii in his 1947 Robins uniform (with Pacific cap). And, rounding out the page, the center card seems to be of a pitcher named Watanabe. There was a Seitaro Watanabe who pitched for the Robins from 1948-1950, but Stats Crew shows him on the Osaka Tigers roster in 1946 and 1947, so this might be a different player (or a slightly later card…although it might be a little odd for him to be in the old-style cap in a later season).

[Frankish]

I meant to post this closeup of the card I'm least certain about. Does Watanabe seem correct? Or am I totally off base?

[Frankish]

I clearly have too much time on my hands this weekend. Here is Page 10 of the album. A bit of a puzzling page. There are more cards that I cannot clearly identify than cards I can.

Starting at the top left, the bromide shows Shigeyoshi Morishita in his 1946 Pacific season. This would be one of his rookie cards, and he was an outfielder and occasional pitcher for Pacific, then the Robins, and eventually the Kintetsu Pearls. In a bit of a mystery (to me) the left and center cards in the middle row also look like Morishita and the name of the left card reads “Mori” and the name on the center card os taped over. They both look like Flyers players and, even though Pacific would become the Flyers in 1947, I can’t find a record of Morishita (or anyone whose name stars with “Mori”) playing for the flyers in 1947…for that season, Morishita is listed as a Robins player.

The middle right bromide is the great Robins pitcher Juzo Sanada.

The top right picture is an unidentified Robin player. As is the only card on the bottom row. Does anyone recognize either of them?