Pre-War Japanese Cards and Photos

[Runscott]

Anyone collect them?

I didn't realize that I did, but when this one arrived and I went to file it, there were five others

1930"s Silver Gel:

[glchen]

I have a couple of Ruth's

[packs]

I have a Victor Starrfin card somewhere. I think he's the only Japanese League pitcher to win 300 games. He's got a pretty fascinating life story too.

[Exhibitman]

I have this one plus a few other postwar cards [Starffin, Oh, Kaneda, Inao. Nagashima, Harimoto, Nomura]:

[Runscott]

Now I'm wondering if my photo is actually a card. The image is very soft and the kanji appears to be part of the negative.

[Jeff Alcorn]

Hi Scott,

I have been collecting Japanese cards since the late 1970s, and yours is certainly a card, but not pre-war. From the late 1940s through the mid-1950s black & white photo cards like these were issued in many, many varieties and are known under the general name of "bromides". Some of the bromide cards feel and look more like old photos than cards that we might be used to, but they are collectible cards. They were generally sold at small shops or stands in bundles and came in a wide range of sizes, from postage stamp to 8" x 10" or so.

I cannot quite make out the player's name on the scan, but that hat is the Nishitetsu Lions and was worn from 1951 to about 1954. With a closer scan I can tell you who you have. Most bromides had the player and team info. printed right on the photo, rather than the border of the card. For example, on Adam's Lefty O'Doul card, the right hand column says "Frank", and the left hand column says "O'Doul kantoku". Kantoku means "manager" in Japanese, and both columns are read from top to bottom.

Also, regarding Victor Starffin, he was the first pitcher to win 300 career games in Japan, but not the only one. Six pitchers have won over 300 games, and Masaichi Kaneda won 400 games and struck out over 4,000 batters.

I hope this information helps, and thanks for reading.

Jeff

[TexasLeaguer]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alcorn

...Masaichi Kaneda won 400 games and struck out over 4,000 batters.
Jeff

Here are my three Masaichi Kaneda cards, not pre-war but not too far after.

[joeadcock]

Thanks for the info Jeff

[novakjr]

It's not pre-war, but the only Japanese card I currently have is a Meiji Milk playing card of Sadaharu Oh from the 60's or 70's...

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alcorn

Hi Scott,

I have been collecting Japanese cards since the late 1970s, and yours is certainly a card, but not pre-war. From the late 1940s through the mid-1950s black & white photo cards like these were issued in many, many varieties and are known under the general name of "bromides". Some of the bromide cards feel and look more like old photos than cards that we might be used to, but they are collectible cards. They were generally sold at small shops or stands in bundles and came in a wide range of sizes, from postage stamp to 8" x 10" or so.

I cannot quite make out the player's name on the scan, but that hat is the Nishitetsu Lions and was worn from 1951 to about 1954. With a closer scan I can tell you who you have. Most bromides had the player and team info. printed right on the photo, rather than the border of the card. For example, on Adam's Lefty O'Doul card, the right hand column says "Frank", and the left hand column says "O'Doul kantoku". Kantoku means "manager" in Japanese, and both columns are read from top to bottom.

Also, regarding Victor Starffin, he was the first pitcher to win 300 career games in Japan, but not the only one. Six pitchers have won over 300 games, and Masaichi Kaneda won 400 games and struck out over 4,000 batters.

I hope this information helps, and thanks for reading.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff!

[baseballart]

I can't offer a pre-war Japanese card, but here's a Japanese edition of Babe Ruth's How to Play Baseball, English edition 1931



I can almost make it pre-war with cards of Yoshie, who is interesting because he was born in Vancouver and moved to Japan I believe in his early teens, playing in the Japanese major leagues post-war.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by baseballart

I can't offer a pre-war Japanese card, but here's a Japanese edition of Babe Ruth's How to Play Baseball, English edition 1931

Don't worry, Max - I couldn't either! Here's a better attempt - early 1900's postcard of Wisconsin player from one of their early tours, playing Keio and Waseda teams. I have a bunch of research on the 1911 tour when these two teams returned the favor, at U of W's invite.

[Exhibitman]

JCM 29 1958 Inao



JG 2 1964 Morinaga Nagashima



JG 2 1964 Morinaga Nomura



JG 2 1964 Morinaga Oh

[Runscott]

Here's a guy I bet no one can identify :

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!

[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.

[baseballart]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

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!

Pat Adachi wrote a beautiful book on the Vancouver Asahi, which played in the Vancouver senior leagues. It is normally available on the used book sites, and has wonderful sepia photos

Here's a copy of the book cover




Here's a photo of Tom Makoba, who I believe was identified as a bat boy.



Finally, the Nikeii Museum here in Burnaby BC has had a wonderful Asahi display. I'll dig up the links and post some of the photos from that.

Max