Baseball in Japan is more than a game. The Japanese stars in MLB carry that pressure everywhere they go
It’s meant as a measure of respect- to your teammates, to your opponents, to the umpires, to the fans in the crowd- but it can also be seen as a nod to what the sport means to the culture of a nation that has embraced the American pastime as something more that just a game.
She’s been coaching kids in the sport for years out of Osaka and emphasizes that what she’s teaching is not just how to field a ground ball or how to swing a bat effectively; Tanahara is teaching life.
I teach them that they need to be polite, greet people properly,” she said of the kids she coaches for Yamadanishi Little Wolf in Osaka, Japan, in the new
Japan baseball
“I tell them that they need to grow up in a way that doesn’t bring shame to those people that raised them. It should never be about self-centered desires or egos.” In Japan, baseball is a life lesson. And the professionals who have gone to North America to chase success in Major League Baseball carry the weight of being living, breathing examples of that life lesson to a nation of more that 120 million people.
In the documentary, which begins streaming Friday on the CNN app, the pressure on the stars who played in last year’s season-opening series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago cubs is laid bare.
Five Japanese players-Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki of the Dodgers and Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs-played in the series, etching new legacies for Japanese stars that are clear across Japan’s baseball world.
Baseball as life
Jason Coskrey is an American sportswriter who began working in Japan in 2007 covering baseball, giving him a unique insight into what the sport means to both nations.
the five stars on the Dodgers and Cubs are among some of the most accomplished players in the game. Ohtani is a two-wat star who is a unicorn in the game today as both one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers in the sport.
Yamamoto world go on to essentially win the Dodgers the world series at the end of the season. Sasaki and Imanaga are some of the game’s most exciting up-and-coming pitchers. Suzuki is one of Chicago’s most powerful hitters.
Going to American and representing Japan
The 2025 season marked the sixth time MLB held its opening series in Japan, but this one was unlike any other. the five stars on the Dongers and Cubs are among some of the most accomplished players in the game. Ohtani is a two-way star who is a unicorn in the game today as both one of the sport.
Yamamoto would go on to essentially win the Dodgers the world Series at the and of the season. Sasaki and Imanaga are some of the game’s most exciting up-coming pitchers. Suzuki is one of Chicago’s most powerful hitters.
History
Baseball was introduced into Japan in 1859 after the opening of the treaty ports, having been played alongside cricket by American and British expatriates in the foreign settlement until the 20th century. it was introduced as a school sport in 1872 by American Horace Wilson, an English professor at the Kaisei Academy in Tokyo. the first organized adult baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, was established in 1878.
the Japanese government appointed American oyatoi in order to start a state-inspired modernization process. this involved the education ministry, which made baseball accessible to children by integrating the sport into the physical education curriculum.
Japanese students, who returned from studying in the United states captivated by the sport, took government positions. Clubs and private teams such as the Shinbashi Athltic Club, along with high school and college teams, commenced the baseball infrastructure.