Is the MLB destroying Japan's national pastime?

You all know how I hate the "doom and gloom" "mass exodus" articles that have been floating around the English press since Nomo went to the Majors in 1995. Well, it hasn't happened yet, and I still don't see it happening any time soon. However, Whiting-san is an author I respect, and he brings up a number of good points that I've been milling over in my own mind recently.

Read the article, then come back.

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Back already? Well, then, let's go off on a tangent and also read up on what the Finance Minister is comlaining about [Mainichi Daily News - in English].

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What do these have in common? The media is giving more exposer to MLB than to the domestic game. Whiting pointed out:

It is an indication of the sorry state of affairs in the NPB that Matsuzaka will get more TV exposure in Japan by being in a Boston Red Sox uniform than he ever got playing for the Seibu Lions.

Why is that? Is there more interest in MLB because the public is demanding it, or because the press is pushing it? Whiting noted how the press was mainly interested in the personal lives of Matsuzaka and Ichiro when they became big stars in Japan, but have been more focused on their play after moving to the Majors. The extremes that the press went to to get a story of Ichiro after he broke the 200 hit barrier in 1994 turned me completely off of any story with his name in the headline. I'm equally turned off of anything with Matsuzaka in the headline now (as you may have noticed in the news feeds). In their pursuit to capture "the public interest," the press is turning off true fans like me.

So the push to hype MLB further is now being taken on by NHK. Public funds are, through NHK, going to MLB so that they may purchase further Japanese stars so that NHK will pay more for the broadcasting rights so that the public will watch more MLB, and the cycle goes on. Neither Whiting nor the Finance Minister may have said that, but this is what I'm taking away from these articles.

Now, with NHK paying so much to MLB for the broadcast rights, what about the newspapers? Are they paying for this new "Catch the Majors" slogan? (Or is that just a Nikkan Sports thing? I don't see the trademarked traditional MLB logo mark anywhere in Nikkan Sports.) I know that the press has to pay for that NPB! logo and for access to NPB-BIS. Also that individual teams will not issue press passes to reporters they don't like. But is MLB news for the daily newspapers a relatively cheep commodity compared to domestic baseball?

The NHK problem aside, what Whiting-san says about how NPB is totally out-done on their own turf is where the real problem is. The respective ball clubs aren't run as a sports team, but as a branch of a larger corporation. Each of these corporations have their own interest in mind, and will not do anything to better promote NPB as a whole. (Actually, Softbank has a number of ideas to bring all the teams together and provide better fan services to all, but they're facing a lot of resistance by the entrenched teams who want to continue on their sorry, solitary, old paths.)

This is the first part of a four part series by Whiting-san. I look forward to the remaining parts.

Hi Michael,

It certainly was a very thought provoking article. I am not convinced that there is a desire for more MLB in Japan, but that there is a desire for Japanese sports people to do well on a world stage. If we look at sports coverage overall we find that MLB is only a portion of the coverage and that success brings enormous press attention. If we look at the female skaters I think this is clear. So in that respect I would suggest that the MLB coverage is not so significant.

MLB coverage is also mostly on the NHK BS free service which is limited to those with a BS television, and a lot of people don't have this service either. Games are not shown on the pay per view channels or the terrestrial channels either. Furthermore, mostly the games relating to Japanese baseball players are shown. No one really seems to care for any U.S. players outside the Yankees.

Matsuzaka is nowhere near as popular as Ichiro or Matsui, but will catch up given his talent. However, I believe it will be because he is a talented Japanese player succeeding on the world stage. Look at Kaz Matsui - no success so he almost drops off the radar screen.

I am interested in how the Climax Series works out. I like the idea of the separation of the Japan Series and the league. It moves NPB away from the American model. Part of the problem, as I see it, has been an attempt to ape the American model and so NPB has been seen as a poor cousin. We can see this most in the Pacific League's slavish copying of MLB practices down to the national anthem before games. More differentiation would help NPB counter the MLB hype.

Most of what I see in the papers and on NHK strikes me as hype. But if it continues it has the potential to turn into reality. I do not, though, see MLB supplanting NPB in the loyalty of the Japanese public. The real threat here is soccer which has developed an international aspect which Japanese fans want. If baseball were able to develop this beyond the WBC then interest in MLB would, I think, rapidly fade.

I'd also like to add that Japanese people love Japanese baseball. MLB is a nice distraction every once in a while, but yakyu is a completely different sport. There's more of a focus on loyalty, all personalities on the team, fundamentals, strategy, etc. As a fan of yakyu, the constant trading and free agent signings in MLB is a major turn off for me. I just don't ever see Japanese people abandoning yakyu for MLB.

I was thinking about the players who move on to MLB earlier today after looking at stats for NPB.

Bottom line is that young stars are born whenever old stars leave. Look at Kishi with the Lions. He's doing amazing right now and he's just a rookie. Hiroyuki Nakajima replaced Kaz Matsui with 27 homers in his first season as a starter. When Atsunori Inaba signed with the Fighters, Norichika Aoki replaced him and is well on his way to becoming the second coming of Ichiro.

Baseball is like anything in life. A negative will be replaced with a positive in order to create balance. Especially in such a baseball loving country like Japan, there are going to be some stars waiting to be born when given the opportunity.

It's still early in the season, but I'm seeing a lot of new stars being made this year. More so than any other year I've been a fan.

- Games are not shown on the pay per view channels or the terrestrial channels either.

Just a slight correction, I subscribe to the "MLB Live" package on Sky Perfect and get 3 live MLB games a day! Love it!

My mistake. I should have said NHK pay-per-view channels. Apologies.

Wow, what an engrossing and thought-provoking article by Whiting-san. (Perhaps Westbay-san can copy out the complete four-part article as a separate link when it's all been printed?).

Last winter I was staggered by the huge posting fees for Matsuzaka and Igawa - almost unbelievable how much cash MLB is taking in - and I had a gut defensive response, like "geez this is bad for NPB." But my Japanese friends speak of their pride in the success of Ichiro, Matsui, et al. And I have enjoyed being able to share a more international sense of baseball with fellow American fans, too. From my own experience I try not to think about all this in simple B&W terms.

Are there any similar debates going on in Taiwan, China, Korea, etc. with the fear of talented players making an exodus to North America in the future? One reads of the Yankees scouting all over China now, and other teams dispatching coaches to Australia, Russia, etc. In the long run I can't imagine this issue being confined solely to Japan.

- Are there any similar debates going on in Taiwan, China, Korea, etc. with the fear of talented players making an exodus to North America in the future?

There's a big problem in Taiwan, with gambling problems that continue to plague the league. Most of the top talent in the league continues to go to NPB and a lot of the youngsters (high school and college players) are leaving for MLB.

I have to agree that article by Whiting-san is very thoughtful and provides a possible future for NPB and other Asian leagues.

However I have a question. Given the recent exodus of Japanese stars and nice financial and living attraction of America, does anyone think young high school and college stars (ex: Saitoh from Waseda, Nakata from high school, etc.) may ditch the NPB and jump to an American farm team and work their way up to MLB if given an invitation / opportunity?

- Given the recent exodus of Japanese stars and nice financial and living attraction of America, does anyone think young high school and college stars (ex: Saitoh from Waseda, Nakata from high school, etc.) may ditch the NPB and jump to an American farm team and work their way up to MLB if given an invitation / opportunity?

The main question is, do Japanese youngsters want to be in an unfamiliar environment that early?

As pointed out in a USA Today article, do people like Sho Nakata want to end up playing in small towns like Midland, Texas where they will be in the minors for maybe 2-4 years, or with teams like Rakuten and Orix where they can most likely make an impact with right away? As Ito-san pointed out in the USA Today story:

They're like teenagers anywhere else. Girls see Nakata here, they go crazy. He can play in the top leagues in Japan when he's 20. He'll be famous. If he goes to the U.S. he'll be in places like Midland, Texas. The food will be a big problem. He won't have friends, especially girls. It's not the physical and technical talent that will hold him back.

I agree with you Jbroks86 - I've been saying this for years. Having met some of these guys over the years, while playing in the majors may be their ultimate goal, not many of them are going to risk everything to work their way through the American minor league system. Not only are language, food, and culture major stumbling blocks, they've also got the pressure from parents, teachers, coaches, and sempai to make their name in NPB first. In Japanese society, particularly in the traditional world of yakyu, one doesn't ignore the advice of these people lightly.