Yakyu | Baseball Exhibit Will Celebrate Shared Culture of Baseball in Japan, U.S.

COOPERSTOWN—The multifaceted impact of the cultural exchange of baseball between Japan and the United States will be celebrated in a new exhibit opening at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum this summer.

“Yakyu | Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” will explore the longstanding exchange of teams and players in the more than 150 years since baseball was introduced to Japan. The exhibit, which is scheduled to open in July, will feature artifacts and stories about a game that became the most popular sport in Japan fewer than 50 years after the United States and Japan established diplomatic relations.

The exhibit is made possible by Guggenheim Partners, a global investment and advisory firm managing over $335 billion in assets, with additional support from Peter O’Malley, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner and son of Hall of Fame executive Walter O’Malley. The exhibit will be housed in the newly created Guggenheim Gallery.

The exhibit will open during a year when Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Among the many legends highlighted in the exhibit, Ichiro is one of three players—along with current and former Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani and Hideo Nomo—who will be centerpieces of stories that will explore how the countries have connected through their shared love of baseball.

Artifacts representing Ichiro scheduled to be included in the exhibit include his batting gloves, wristbands, and elbow guards from his record-setting 261st and 262nd hits in 2004; his Team Japan batting helmet from the 2006 World Baseball Classic; his Mariners jersey from 2009 when he recorded his 200th hit for a record-breaking ninth consecutive season; and his spikes from the 500th stolen base of his MLB career in 2016. Ichiro has generously donated dozens of artifacts, many of which are on display throughout the museum, to the Hall of Fame throughout his illustrious career.

An exhibit dedicated to members of the Class of 2025, including Ichiro, will open this spring on the museum’s second floor. The plaques for the newest Hall of Famers will be installed in the museum following the July 27 Induction Ceremony here in Cooperstown.

“Yakyu | Baseball will look at how baseball has served as a cultural bridge between two nations that have long been uniquely connected to baseball,” said Josh Rawitch, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “The exhibit will explore the players who opened doors on both sides of the Pacific as well as fan interaction and historic perspective. We are grateful to Guggenheim Partners and Peter O’Malley for their support of this exhibit as we prepare to celebrate a memorable year in Cooperstown.”

The exhibit will cover more than 1,800 square feet of space on the museum’s third floor and feature four aspects of the transpacific exchange of baseball:

• Japanese teams touring America, including tours by the Waseda University Baseball Club and Keio University Baseball Club in the early 1900s
• American teams touring Japan, including the first trip in 1907 and the massively popular tour featuring Babe Ruth in 1934
• Players born in the United States playing in Japan, including Wally Yonamine, Leron and Leon Lee, Matt Murton, and many more
• Players born in Japan playing in the United States, including Kenichi Zenimura, Masanori Murakami, Hideo Nomo and the new wave of rising stars

From Japanese stars like Sadaharu Oh and Eiji Sawamura to United States emissaries like Lefty O’Doul to some of today’s biggest superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki, the United States and Japan’s shared love of baseball has spawned thousands of individual friendships and helped bring the nations together during times of peace, conflict, and reconciliation.

For more information on the exhibit, visit baseballhall.org/yakyu. Information is also available in Japanese at baseballhall.org/jp/yakyu.