The Yeddo Royal Japanese acrobatic troupe toured America between 1871 and 1877. During their stops in the greater Washington D.C./Baltimore area in June 1872, they learned the finer points of the National Pastime from a professional baseball player and competed in an exhibition game against a major league team. This is their story.
Note: The research behind this story was shared with Japanese sports reporter Koichi Ito of Kyodo News, who eventually published news of this discovery in Japan. Prior to publication, all of the facts were verified by the Kyodo News editorial team through officials with the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (JBHOF) in Tokyo. Takahiro Sekiguchi, Chief Curator of the JBHOF called it, "... an amazing discovery ... without a doubt, it's the oldest record of Japanese playing the game."
Note: The research behind this story was shared with Japanese sports reporter Koichi Ito of Kyodo News, who eventually published news of this discovery in Japan. Prior to publication, all of the facts were verified by the Kyodo News editorial team through officials with the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (JBHOF) in Tokyo. Takahiro Sekiguchi, Chief Curator of the JBHOF called it, "... an amazing discovery ... without a doubt, it's the oldest record of Japanese playing the game."
***
Tsutsumi’s Discovery
Harue
Tsutsumi (b. 1950) is a Japanese researcher who specializes in kabuki (a
classical Japanese dance-drama) in the Meiji Era (1868-1912). She earned her
master’s in theater history at Osaka University and a doctorate in East Asian
languages at Indiana University (IU). In 2004, she concluded her studies at IU with
the 331-page doctoral thesis titled “Kabuki Encounters the West: Morita
Kan’ya’s Shintomi-za Productions, 1878-79.”
Because her
area of expertise is theater, I doubt that she knows she made an important research
discovery in her doctoral thesis that potentially rewrites the timeline of early
Japanese baseball history.
I stumbled upon Tsutsumi’s work during my ongoing research efforts to corroborate reports of major league teams scouting Japanese ballplayers in both 1897 (Sorakichi Matsuda’s half-brother and the Cleveland Spiders) and 1905 (Sugimoto and the New York Giants). In doing so, I found the following on page 104 of her thesis:
In June
(1872) … a troupe called the Royal Yeddo Japs was visiting the National Theater
in Washington … The leader of the troupe, “Professor Gangero” was actually
Hayakawa Genjiro (Gaimusho 5: 56), who left Japan in 1871 with thirteen other
members of his troupe (Kurata, Kaigai koen kotohajime 94).
She continued
with a description of the other troupe members and their act, and concluded with
a simple footnote. It was here (footnote #16, buried deep on page 271) where I
located her Japanese baseball research discovery. She wrote:
In
Washington, several members of this troupe, along with their agent and an
interpreter, played a baseball game with selected members of the Olympic and
National Base Ball Clubs. The names of the Japanese troupe members who
participated in the game were Yannanowah (first b.), Professor Gangero (s.s.),
Kingero (third b.), Yoshi-Taro (l.fi), and Chonosuki (r.f.) Base Ball.” Daily Morning Chronicle
[Washington] 6 June 1872: 4. Besides
Genjiro, at least one likely member of Genjiro’s original troupe, “Yoshi-Taro,”
who was probably Takamori Yoshitaro, the boy who performed on the top of the
pole (Kurata, Kaigai koen kotohajime 94), appears on the list.
Tsutsumi’s discovery
is significant because this game played in June 1872 in Washington, DC, marks what
might be one of the earliest documented encounters
between Japanese people and the National Pastime.
To be clear,
there are tales of other individuals from Japan playing baseball in America
around this same time. For example, a few Japanese students educated in the
U.S. were introduced to the game in the early 1870s, such as Kido Takamasa, Okubo Toshikazu, and Makino Nobuaki.[1]
In fact, Hiroshi Hiraoka, the man
recognized as the "father of baseball in Japan,” who later formed the
first baseball team in Japan (the Shimbashi Athletic Club), is reported to have
played the game in the U.S. between 1871 and 1877. However, to date, there is
no documentation of these four
individuals on a ballfield during their time in the U.S.
That said, the
articles about the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe just might be the earliest
documented encounter of Japanese with the game of baseball in America.
Furthermore,
the Yeddo Royal game potentially pre-dates the introduction of baseball to
Japan by schoolteacher Horace Wilson
(although the exact date of Wilson introducing baseball to his students is
unknown at this time); and clearly pre-dates the first known game in Japan, organized
by schoolteacher Albert G. Bates in
1873.[2]
So, why are
baseball historians late to discover the game involving the Yeddo Royal troupe?
I suspect it is because of two reasons: 1) Everyone has assumed that the
Japanese did not play baseball prior to Wilson and Bates arriving in Japan, so
no one bothered to look; and 2) the Daily
Morning Chronicle (Washington, DC) has yet to be digitized and made
accessible via online newspaper services such as Chronicling America and
Newspapers.com. This source is only available via traditional microfiche, and
it appears that Tsutsumi is the first person to discover the Yeddo Royal’s game
and to have it published—which she did over 15 years ago. (Note: A search on Google books for Yeddo Royal Japanese
Troupe "Daily Morning Chronicle" reveals that she is indeed the only person
to reference the Daily Morning Chronicle when researching the Japanese troupe.)
The 1872 Yeddo
Royal game is now featured in a digitized archive of several
Washington-Baltimore area newspapers, but those sources do not contain the
Yeddo troupe lineup and other game details like those featured in the Daily Morning Chronicle. I’ll address
that and other related research findings as I take a deeper dive into the game and
backstory of all of the people and places involved in this historic encounter.
Analysis & Color Commentary
Pre-game context
As
previously mentioned, Horace Wilson is the person credited with “planting a big
seed in promoting baseball and popularizing baseball in Japan.”[3]
Wilson was a teacher of English and
mathematics at the Tokyo’s Kaisei Gakko (now Tokyo University), who introduced the
sport to his students in 1872.[4]
When he introduced baseball, he did so as
a form of physical activity and not as an organized team sport. For his efforts, Wilson was enshrined in the Japanese Baseball Hall
of Fame in Tokyo
in 2003.
According to
the San Francisco Bulletin, Wilson
sailed from San Francisco on the S.S. Japan
for Yokohama on September 1, 1871.[5]
Article: Horace Wilson Leaves for Japan
Image: Horace Wilson’s Plaque in
the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Albert G. Bates,
an American teacher at Kaitaku University in Tokyo, organized the first formal
baseball game in Japan. Below is a copy of Bates’ passport, dated October 16,
1872.[6]
Image: Passport of Albert G. Bates
The dates of
early Japanese students in the U.S. (1871-1878) and the Yeddo Royal Japanese
Troupe (1872) in the U.S., and Wilson (1872) and Bates (1873) in Japan are
important because they demonstrate that the phenomenon of “multiple discovery” occurred
with regards to the introduction of baseball to the Japanese.
American
sociologist Robert K. Merton defines “multiple discovery” as an instance of similar
discoveries being made at the same time by individuals working independently of
each other. For example, both Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev and Julius Lothar
Meyer published versions of the periodic table of chemical elements a year
apart (1869 and 1870). In 1876, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both filed
patents on the same day for inventing the telephone.[7]
Given the rate
of cross-cultural exchanges that occurred between Japan and the U.S. with the
start of the Meiji period (1868), it is little surprise that baseball was introduced
in Japan at roughly the same time that Japanese tourists first played the game
in America.
Coming to America
The Yeddo
Royal Japanese Troupe departed Yokohama on July 22, 1871, on the S.S. Japan, operated by the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company (listed as P.M.S.S. Co. in the article below).[8]
The S.S. Japan is the same ship that
carried Horace Wilson to Yokohama three months later.
The reports
of their arrival in San Francisco on August 13, 1871, are inconsistent on the number of members in
the troupe—some list 13 members, while others list 14 members. Additionally, it
is not revealed until the advertising begins on August 30, 1871, that the
managers of the troupe are two British entrepreneurs, only known as R. Mitchell
and H. W. Welton (incorrectly spelled Wetton in some advertisements).[9]
Article: Mitchell, Welton and Japanese Troupe
Arrive in San Francisco, CA
Advertisement: Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe First
Performance in the U.S.
The nationalities
of managers Mitchell and Welton are never discussed in the press, but their
British citizenship is confirmed a year later when their wives and infant children
leave Yokohama and return home to Southampton, England in January 1872.[10]
For
reasons not disclosed publicly, Welton removed himself from the spotlight and
the act is promoted as “Mitchell’s Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe.” Mitchell later
told the press how he brought the Japanese performers to America. He lived in
Asia (Japan, China, and Hong Kong) for eight years (estimated as
1863 to 1871). After seeing the troupe perform in Hong Kong, he encouraged
Gangero and the others to leave Japan for the West. Below is the full article
from the National Republican
(Washington, DC).[11]
Article:
Mitchell Shares the Origin Story of the Yeddo Royal Troupe Tour
The name of
the troupe, Yeddo (sometimes spelled as Yedo and Jeddo) are Anglicizations
referring to the town and port of Edo, Japan. Edo means (“bay-entrance" or "estuary"),
and is the former name of the Japanese capital city now known as Tokyo.
The San Francisco Examiner reviewed their first
performance in the U.S., and declared it a “decided success” and “the very best
troupe that has ever visited the city.”[12]
In her
dissertation, Tsutsumi shares additional details of the Royal Yeddo act:
… Genjiro performed the traditional
Japanese acrobatic stunt of putting a bamboo pole on his shoulder, then playing
the shamisen while a boy balanced himself on the top of the pole. An acrobat
called “Sunikechi” walked barefoot
on a ladder of sharp-edged swords. The troupe also presented a tightrope walker
called “Belle of Japan” (“Amusements” Daily Morning Chronicle [Washington] 5 June 1872), who was actually a man who specialized in walking
on a tightrope in a woman’s costume, a type of performance that was common in nineteenth-century
Japan (Kodama 157). In his memoir, Kume recorded that a (male) troupe member
called “Musume-san (girl)” walked the tightrope wearing woman’s makeup and a
fancy woman’s kimono (Kume, Kume hakase 1: 251). According to Kurata, a
tightrope walker called Yamamoto Kinjiro appears in a list of the members of Genjiro’s
original troupe (Kurata, Kaigai koen kotohajime 94). Although the original name
of the “Belle of Japan” tightrope walker never appeared in newspaper articles,
it is likely that he was Kinjiro.[13]
Image: Photo of Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe
Above: The
13 members of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe, several of whom played baseball
in America in June 1872. Image source, The Thanatos Archive.
The Journey across America
The troupe
performed throughout California for two months, after which they ventured east with
stops in Utah (Oct), Colorado (Nov), and Kansas (Dec). They kicked off the New Year
in the Midwest with Illinois (Jan), Indiana (Feb and March), and witnessed
their first spring in America with performances in West Virginia and Maryland
(April).
By all
measures, the American tour by the Japanese performers was a success. However,
their good fortune changed when they reached Pennsylvania in May. The Daily
State Journal (VA) reported the unexpected tragedy—Madam Congero died in
Philadelphia from “injuries received by a fall while performing on a wire.”[15]
Given that
the main tightrope walker in the troupe was actually a male dressed as a female,
it is unclear if the death of “Madam Congero” was indeed a woman, or the cross-dressing
tightrope walker named Yamamoto Kinjiro (or Kingero). The answer to this
question would be revealed once the troupe reached the east coast and the
Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. Yamamoto Kinjiro would later appear
alive and well, and ready to play in his first game of baseball in America.
The Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe Play Ball
In
Baltimore, the troupe performed at Ford’s Grand Opera House, a venue founded by
John T. Ford, owner of the infamous Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. where
President Lincoln was assassinated seven years earlier.[16]
The town was also abuzz with excitement, as the championship game between the
Red Stockings of Boston and the Baltimores was scheduled for the same weekend.[17]
It was an election year in 1872 as well. The Democratic National Convention was
held at Ford's Grand Opera House on July 9 and 10, roughly a month after the
performances of the Royal Yeddo Japanese Troupe.
Advertisement: Promotion of Royal Yeddo Japanese
Troupe, Baltimore, June 5, 1872
Advertisements: Promotion of Royal Yeddo Japanese
Troupe adjacent to Base Ball Championship Game, Baltimore, June 7, 1872
(Note: The
price of admission of $.25 per ticket in 1872 is the equivalent of $5.30 in
2018.) [18]
GAME 1: Washington, D.C.
Play Ball
As previously discussed, on Friday, June 7, 1872, several members of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe, along with their agent and an interpreter, played a baseball game with select members of the Olympic and National Base Ball Clubs at Olympic Grounds.
The Daily Morning Chronicle heavily promoted the game between the Yeddo Troupe and the major leaguers. According to research conducted by Cameron Penwell, Japan Reference Librarian, with the Asian Division of the Library of Congress, a June 5th article titled “Japan Against America,” stated that the Japanese began two days of practice to prepare for the game. The Chronicle reporter wrote, “This is to be a grand international game … the Japs are not novices with the "willow," and some Americans are not without apprehension that the West will meet with a crushing defeat from the East.” [20]
The Daily Morning Chronicle heavily promoted the game between the Yeddo Troupe and the major leaguers. According to research conducted by Cameron Penwell, Japan Reference Librarian, with the Asian Division of the Library of Congress, a June 5th article titled “Japan Against America,” stated that the Japanese began two days of practice to prepare for the game. The Chronicle reporter wrote, “This is to be a grand international game … the Japs are not novices with the "willow," and some Americans are not without apprehension that the West will meet with a crushing defeat from the East.” [20]
Article:
Japan Against America, Daily Morning
Chronicle, June 5, 1872.
This closing statement of “not novices with the
‘willow’” suggests that the Royal Yeddo Japanese Troupe members were already
familiar with the National Pastime before this game. If that is indeed the
case, this means that they were introduced to baseball sometime after they
arrived in San Francisco in August 1871 and before they arrived in Washington,
D.C. in June 1872.
Advertisements:
Royal Yeddo Japanese vs. Olympics, Daily
Morning Chronicle, June 6, 1872.
For the
game itself, several local newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun, the Daily Morning Chronicle (Washington, DC) and
the Daily National Republican
(Washington, DC), were in attendance and reported the details of the
contest.
Judging
from the differing opinions and details shared in each article, it’s hard to
tell if they all witnessed the same game. Some indicated that the game was
a blowout, while others described it as a close contest.
For
example, the Baltimore Sun reported
that the game was not competitive at all. In fact, “… the game was a complete fizzle. The Japs did not know the
first principle in the game … (which) tired at the end of the second inning.”
Article: Game Summary, not competitive (Baltimore Sun)
According to an article from the Chicago Evening Post shared by baseball historian Gary Ashwill, the
Daily Morning Chronicle article was distributed
via a national news wire service and contained a mixed review of the game. On
one hand, it was critical of the Japanese acrobats’ skill level as ballplayers, yet
it also praised their effort and potential. According to the Chicago Evening Post, the Royal Yeddo
Troupe scored 17 runs in five innings of play. They also received personal coaching from
a star pitcher in the early major leagues. The game details are shared in the
article below.
Article: Game
Summary, mixed review (Chicago Evening
Post)
The above Daily Morning
Chronicle article was distributed nationally by a news wire service, and also
appeared in:
- Chicago Evening Post (Chicago, IL), Jun 14, 1872 pg. 4.
- Cleveland Leader Saturday (Cleveland, OH), Jun 15, 1872 pg. 3.
- The Daily Commonwealth (Topeka, KS), Jun 18, 1872, pg. 2.
- Times-Picayune Saturday (New Orleans, LA), Jun 22, 1872 pg. 2.
- Marshall County Republican (Plymouth, IN), Jun 27, 1872 Vol: 16, pg. 8.
- The Jasper Weekly Courier (Jasper, IN), Jun 28, 1872, pg. 3.
- True Northerner (Paw Paw, MI), Jun 28, 1872 Vol: 17, pg. 4.
The Republican listed the final score of 18
to 17, with a breakdown of runs by each inning.[21]
It reveals that the score was tied 15-15 going into the fifth inning, making
for an exciting and entertaining finish.
Article: Game Summary, Competitive (Daily National Republican, Washington, DC)
The following morning, the Daily Morning Chronicle
described the game as “most interesting,” and reported the same 18-17 score.
Article:
Game Summary, Neutral (Daily Morning
Chronicle, Washington, DC), June 8, 1872
The Royal
Yeddo Troupe practiced for two days to prepare for the game “under the guidance
of Professor Brainard.”[22]
This “professor” for the Japanese was, most likely, Asa Brainard, a pitcher for
the Washington Olympics during the 1871-72 seasons.
Born in 1839
in Albany, New York, Brainard was a star pitcher in early baseball who was a member
of the first professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. In addition
to his stellar performances on the field, he had a reputation for quirky
behavior and late night gallivanting off the field. His nickname was the
“Count” and he was called “Ace” or “Acey” by the media. He died at the age of
47 in Denver, Colorado, where he operated a pool hall.[23]
To learn more about Brainard’s life and career, visit the SABR BioProject.[24]
Image: Asa Brainard
The location of the game, Olympics Grounds, was also historically
significant, as it was considered a big league ballpark by those who count the
National Association as a major league. It was home to the Washington Olympics
of the National Association in 1871–1872, and was located at 16th Street NW (east); 17thStreet NW (west); and S Street NW (south). Today, that
location is now a neighborhood of residences and commercial businesses.
Aside from Brainard, it is unknown which players from the
Washington Olympics (and the
Washington Nationals, if any) participated in the June 7 game. It is worth
noting though that the Olympics played their last regular season game on May
24. The Nationals played their last game on June 26, but did not have a
scheduled game on June 7, indicating that their roster players were available
to suit up against the Japanese tourists.[25]
GAME 2: Baltimore, MD
“Let’s Play Two!” Another Game for the Japanese
A week after
the first game at Olympic Grounds in Washington, D.C., the troupe scheduled a
second contest in Baltimore. The Baltimore
Sun announced that the “celebrated Royal Yeddo Japs … will play a game of
base ball with a club of nine well-known Baltimoreans, at Newington Park, on
Friday, June 14, at 3:30 p.m.[26]
Advertisement: “Comic Base Ball. Orient vs.
Occident, June 13, 1872[27]
Advertisement: Dual Ad Promoting both the Royal
Yeddo Japanese Troupe Performances and “Comic Ball Game,” June 14, 1872
Knowing that
Horace Wilson is in Japan and potentially introducing the game to his students around
the same time makes the troupe’s expressed desire to take the game back to
Japan a fascinating statement. There is no documentation of Wilson traveling to
Asia with an expressed desire or intent to introduce baseball “to the ancient
empire of Japan.”
On the morning
of Friday, June 14, the Baltimore Sun
reported that the Lord Baltimore’s defeated the Atlantics, 17 to 7, at
Newington Grounds. Following the game recap was a brief article highlighting the
game between the Royal Yeddo Japanese Troupe and an opposing team of nine
Baltimoreans.[28]
Article:
Baltimore vs Atlantics Game Recap; Royal Yeddo Japanese Game Promo, June 14,
1872
The details of
the Royal Yeddo game were published the following day.[29]
According to the Baltimore Sun, the
opposing Baltimoreans were replaced by a local nine known as the Dolly Varden
Club. In this game, six innings were played and when it was over the Dolly
Varden Club scored outscored the Japanese, either 27 to 23, or 32 to 21. With
either score, the Japanese came out on the losing end.[30]
Article: Game Summary (Baltimore Sun), Japanese vs. Dolly Varden, Newington Grounds, Score:
27-23, June 14, 1872
The above
article indicates that the troupe “had engaged in only two or three games
before” the contest against the Dolly Varden nine. (Note: this comment, coupled
with the discrepancy of a two-inning game against a picked nine, and
five-inning game against the Olympics, suggests that maybe the two-inning
contest was indeed a separate game that occurred before the June 7 game against
the Olympics. This possibility will be investigated further at a later date.)
Below is an
additional article from the Alexandria
Gazette that recaps the game against the Dolly Varden Club.[31]
Roughly 300
fans witnessed the game at Newington Grounds, the home ballpark to the major league
Lord Baltimore baseball club of the National Association for three seasons,
1872 to 1874. The venue seated up to 5,000, was located in northwest Baltimore
and covered an area that extended two blocks from Pennsylvania Avenue (NE),Baker Street (NW), North Calhoun Street (SW), and Bloom Street (SE). Today it
is the site of several apartment buildings, businesses and churches.[32]
Also, 1872 was
the inaugural season for Newington Park. It opened on April 22, roughly eight
weeks prior to the game between the Yeddo Royal Japanese and the Dolly Varden
Club.[33]
Readers should
also keep in mind that when the Royal Yeddo Japanese were introduced to the
National pastime, it was known as “base ball” (two words) and played under different
rules than the game we know today. For example, the pitcher was called a
hurler; fielders did not wear gloves; and a ball caught after a bounce was considered
an out. To see what the game looked like back in 1870s, take a trip back in
time with this video on Vintage Base Ball.
It’s also
worth mentioning that the act of playing “base ball” in the 1870s was not considered
a respectable activity by some members of society. This negative sentiment is reflected
in a job posting in the Baltimore Sun
that reads, “Young bloods that smoke cigars and play base ball need not apply.”
[34]
Advertisement: Baseball players “need not apply,”
Baltimore, 1872
Based on the known lineup listed for the first game, couple with the other players mentioned in subsequent articles, below is the possible roster of Yeddo Royal Troupe players who competed against the Dolly Varden Club:
Pos. Name
1B Yannanowah
SS Professor Gangero (Genjiro Hayakawa,
troupe leader)
3B Kingero (Kinjiro Yamamoto, tightrope
walker)
LF Yoshi-Taro (Yoshitaro Takamori, boy who
performed on the top of the pole)
RF Chonosuki
UNK Quietaro (“best pop of the bunch”)
UNK Astaro (extraordinary batter)
UNK Buchuhami (10 year old boy)
UNK R. Mitchell (Troupe manager, British)
UNK Interpreter, identity unknown
Image: Mitchell and Welton with the Yeddo Royal
Troupe, 1872
Image courtesy of Robert H. Sayers. Described as “very rare view from
the Stereoscopic Views of Chicago and Vicinity Series by Copelin & Son,
Photographers … titled #345 Royal Yeddo Japanese Troupe and pictures seven
adults and five children in native costume with what appears to be their three
American promoters … One of the three gentlemen in the middle row looks like he
could be part Japanese. The other two gentlemen appear to be classic American
entrepreneurs.” [35]
The only
known fact about the American participants in this second game is the umpire, Charles
Adolphus Hadel (1847-1880). At the time of the game, he was age 25, worked as a
clerk, and held the title of secretary for the Baltimore Base Ball Club.
The opposing
team’s name, Dolly Varden, is inspired by a woman's outfit fashionable during
the 1860s-70s in Britain and the U.S. The name comes from a character in
Charles Dickens's 1839 historical novel Barnaby
Rudge, and the term was used at the time to describe anything that was
fashionable.[36]
GAME 3: Wilmington, Delaware
After the
Yeddo Royal Troupe left Baltimore, they headed east to perform at the Grand
Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware. The troupe members must have been feeling
confident about their newly developed ball playing skills, as they challenged
the Diamond State Base Ball Club of the same city to a contest.[37]
Article: Extraordinary Base Ball; Royal Yeddo
Challenge Diamond State (Delaware), June 17, 1872
Advertisement: “Comic Base Ball,” Wilmington,
Delaware[38]
Article: Japanese “Will not play,” Wilmington,
Delaware[39]
When the
Japanese acrobats arrived in Minneapolis on August 17, Mitchell appeared for
the last time in the press as the manager for the troupe. [40]
By the end of August, Mitchell was no longer in the picture, and James Duncan,
an employee of the S.Q. Stokes company from Chicago assumed management responsibilities
for the troupe. [41]
Advertisement: Mitchell’s Royal Yeddo Japanese
Troupe, Minnesota, Aug 1872
In May 1875, the Troupe visited the baseball ball
grounds of the St. Louis club. It was not specified if they visited the home of
the St. Louis Red Stockings (Red Stocking Base Ball Park) or the St. Louis
Brown Stockings (Grand Avenue Park). Their continued interest in the “national
pastime” was noted though.
Article:
Royal Yeddo Troupe visit the Ballpark in St. Louis
After New
York, the troupe journeyed south to the Caribbean and performed in Cuba in late
1877, and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1878.[42],[43]
After that, there
is no record of Gangero in the west. Perhaps he and the other members of the Yeddo
Royal troupe returned to Japan in 1878? Not sure. Interestingly though, an
acrobatic troupe using the same name began touring America a decade later (in
1888).
Conclusion: 9 Reasons Why the Yeddo Royal Games are
Important
The Yeddo
Royal Japanese Troupe playing base ball in the U.S. in 1872 is important
because it:
- Re-writes the accepted narrative on the earliest introduction of baseball to Japanese people.
- Predates the first baseball game in Japan, organized by Albert G. Bates in 1873.
- Provides an early example of Japanese intent on taking the game back to Japan. (Ex: “The Japanese [Genjiro Hayakawa and the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe] have a great desire to learn the ‘national game,’ in order, they say, that they may introduce it into their native country.”
- Suggests that had Horace Wilson and other Americans NOT introduced baseball to Japan in the early 1870s, that the Japanese people would have eventually encountered it in America, adopted it themselves, and introduced it back in Japan, similar to the efforts of Hiroshi Hiraoka and others;
- Introduces the phenomenon of “multiple discovery,” the concept of inventions or discoveries occurring in multiple places at the same time (i.e. the Japanese encountered baseball on their own in America before or at the same time that baseball was introduced in Japan.)
- Adds a dimension of “entertainment” to early Japanese baseball. Professional baseball players are both athletes and entertainers. In Japan, baseball was first introduced for athletic purposes (to encourage physical activity among Wilson’s students). We now know that early Japanese in America adopted baseball for entertainment purposes (to sell tickets and delight fans).
- Adds a connection between major league baseball and Japanese baseball much earlier than previously thought (the 1908 tour of major leaguers and Pacific Coast League players was believed to be the first).
- Shines an unexpected spotlight on major league pitcher Asa Brainard as an early figure in teaching Japanese visitors in America how to play the game of baseball.
- Challenges our thinking about the first professional Japanese ballplayers in America. Over 300 fans purchased tickets to watch the Yeddo Royal Japanese play baseball in June 1872 in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. Does this qualify the members of this team to be considered semi-professional or professional baseball players? As historian Gary Ashwill states, at a minimum, they were “professionally playing” base ball.
I think the concept of "vocational intent" is an important factor. If you are pursuing an endeavor for a job/vocation, then that is your profession, and you are a professional. But if you "dabble" in something and get paid for it, you are not a professional in that field. Likewise, it was not the intent of the Royal Yeddo troupe to pursue baseball as a full-time profession. They are simply entertainers/performers who were paid to appear in a baseball game. I think that the 1906 Green Japanese baseball team holds the distinction as the first professional Japanese baseball players in the U.S. (Baseball historian Rob Fitts’ next book on Issei Baseball details this team).
As with most research projects, for every question a piece of new evidence helps answer, it generates more questions. This is definitely the case when it comes to the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe. But those additional questions will have to wait for another day.
In closing,
on behalf of all historians with an interest in the early development of Japanese
baseball, I extend a special thank you to researcher, Harue Tsutsumi for
her important discovery of the Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe and their historic
efforts to “play ball” in America way back in 1872.
##
Notes
[1] For Love of the Game: Baseball in Early
U.S.-Japanese Encounters and the Rise of a Transnational Sporting Fraternity,
Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu, Diplomatic History, Volume 28, Issue 5, November 2004,
Pages 637–662, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7709.2004.00445.x. Published: 14
October 2004
[2] SABR Japanese Baseball timeline, http://research.sabr.org/asianbb/japanese/timeline
[3] Horace Wilson, Japanese Baseball Hall of
Fame, Tokyo, Japan, http://english.baseball-museum.or.jp/baseball_hallo/detail/detail_148.html
[4] SABR Japanese Baseball timeline, http://research.sabr.org/asianbb/japanese/timeline
[5] American Teachers for Japan, Springville Journal, Springville, New
York, 07 Oct 1871, pg. 4.
[6] U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for
Albert G Bates; Passport Applications, 1795-1905 1867-1873 Roll 188 - 01 Oct
1872-31 Oct 1872.
[7] Multiple discovery, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery
[8] Daily
Alta California, Volume 23, Number 7814, 14 August 1871
[9] San
Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, 30 Aug 1871, pg. 4.
[10] The
Hampshire Advertiser, Southampton, Hampshire, England, 17 Jan 1872, pg. 3.
[11] Japanese Performers, National Republican,
Washington, District of Columbia, 31 May 1872, pg. 4.
[12] Yeddo Royal Japanese Troupe gives first
performance in The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) 22 Aug
1871, pg. 3.
[13] Harue Tsutsumi, Kabuki Encounters the
West: Morita Kan'ya's Shintomi-za Productions, 1878-79, Indiana University,
2004.
[14] “Extremely Rare c1870 CDV Photo Troupe of Japanese Performers in the US,” The Thanatos Archive, https://www.thanatos.net/archive.
[15] Daily
State Journal, Volume 4, Number 178, 20 May 1872
[16] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 05 Jun 1872, pg. 2.
[17] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 07 Jun 1872, pg. 1.
[18] The Inflation Calculator,
https://westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi
[19] “Base Ball.” Daily Morning Chronicle (Washington), 6 July 1872: pg. 4.
[20] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 08 Jun 1872, pg. 4
[21] Daily
National Republican, Saturday, Jun 08, 1872 Washington (DC), DC Page: 4
[22] BASE BALL FUN., Chicago Evening Post, June
14, 1872, pg. 4
[23] Asa Brainard, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19533414
[25] Baseball-Reference.com,
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NAT/1872-schedule-scores.shtml
[26] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 14 Jun 1872, pg. 1.
[27] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 13 Jun 1872, pg. 2.
[28] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, Jun 14, 1872 · pg. 1.
[29] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 14 Jun 1872, pg. 1.
[30] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, Jun 15, 1872, pg. 1.
[31] Alexandria
Gazette, Alexandria, Virginia, 15 Jun 1872, pg. 2.
[32] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 09 Apr 1981, pg. 52
[33] The
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 22 Apr 1872, pg. 1.
[36] Dolly Varden,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Varden_(costume)
[37] Wilmington
Daily Commercial (Wilmington, DE), Jun 17, 1872 Vol: 7, pg. 5.
[38] The
News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) 17 Jun 1872, pg. 2.
[39] The
News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), Jun 18, 1872, pg. 3.
[40] Star
Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 18 Aug 1872, pg. 2.
[41] Star
Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 21 Sep 1872, pg. 4.
[41a] St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, 11 May 1875, pg. 4.
[41a] St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, 11 May 1875, pg. 4.
[42] Japoneses y Americanos, Boletín mercantil de Puerto Rico., (San
Juan, P.R.) April 14, 1878, pg. 3.
[43] Japoneses en Torrecillas, Diario de la Marina (Havana, Cuba),
November 25, 1877, pg. 3.