Pre-War Japanese Cards and Photos

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

Scott, this does not qualify as a photo or image but here's some info on the Taiyo Japanese American semi-pro team (Seattle 1931). Wrote this information after doing research on Jimmy Claxton who pitched for both Roslyn & the Seattle Royal Colored Giants (managed by Powell "Shorty" Barnett) this season;

"For the era, the 1931 Seattle Inter-City League may be one of the most unique leagues in semi-professional baseball. It had ten teams; seven exclusively white ball clubs (Monroe, Queen Anne, Owl Transfers of Seattle, Port of Seattle, Snohomish, Beacon Hill, and Seattle Railway), one integrated team (Roslyn), an African American team (Seattle Royal Colored Giants), and an all-Japanese American team (Taiyo).

The Taiyo team was exclusively Japanese Americans, managed by Fred Hamada. The press was unforgivably racist in their write-ups on the ball club. The team was introduced with such inaccurate “historical factoids” as; “Baseball was unknown in Japan when Commodore Perry broke in there back in 1848, but since that time it has almost succeeded in replacing hari-kari as the national pastime.” (Cle Elum Minor/Echo June 6, 1931) Sadly, many members of the Taiyo team were later interned during World War II, such as the sharp third baseman, Shozo Kiyomuza (1915 – 2011)."

Love to get some more info on pre-war Japanese American semi-pro baseball in the Pacific Northwest. The premier team in the area seems to have been the Tono Union Pacific All-Stars from Tono, Washington (ghost town outside Olympia). Great thread, love to see more!

Ty - that's great stuff. I have anti-Japanese racial slurs, published in newspapers, that will make your hair curl. American writers thought it was all just funny and the Japanese baseball players were unbelievably good sports about it - unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find records of what they were really thinking. Once they started hauling American citizens of Japanese ancestry away from their homes to camps it was a different story. There's an article in today's Seattle Times about an 86-yr old woman whose family was dragged away from their strawberry farm on Vashon island.

All of my research is pre-wwi, as I had to limit scope or I would never get my book finished, but I would love to read anything you have that relates to the Pacific Northwest. Send me a PM with your email and let me know your interests - I would be glad to send you as many images of pre-wwi Japanese baseball-related newspaper clippings as you can stand to read. I also have several good books on Asian-American relations from the 1880-s through WWI.