Nationalism and National Identity in Taiwanese Baseball

Abstract

Nationalism and National Identity in Taiwanese Baseball Yu Junwei (bio) and Dan Gordon (bio) When the Taiwanese first saw the Japanese tossing and hitting baseballs, they were fearful and perplexed. The ball was so hard and solid they dubbed the game bangqiu (baseball) as caiqiu (wooden-ball), thinking the activity might cause a fatality.1 Heavily influenced by Confucianism, which valued academic study and shunned physicality or martial prowess, Taiwanese people had little regard for physical exercise. The Japanese occupiers were amazed that the Taiwanese had no folk dancing, which seemed to exist in every other nation in the world. Nor did they have modern sports.2 In nearly a century since baseball's introduction on the island, nationalism has played a major role in the development of Taiwanese baseball. The ruling class has used baseball to implement their own political agendas, including Japanization, Sinification and, most recently, Taiwanization. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, international triumphs rescued professional baseball from extinction. This chapter traces how the sport changed when different regimes ruled the island and how it evolved into a unique local culture. Japanese Occupation China ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 as a concession for losing the First Sino-Japanese War. As soon as local authorities heard that the motherland had jettisoned their subjects, they decided to create the Taiwan Democratic Republic, hoping to drive out the Japanese. The Japanese, armed with modern equipment, quelled the revolts one by one from north to south. Over the next seven years, 32,000 Taiwanese were killed, over 1 percent of the island's total population. In these tumultuous early years baseball was introduced in Taiwan, though only the Japanese themselves played it. In 1906 three Japanese high schools in Taipei formed baseball teams and competed with one another. The seed spread to the south in 1910, when Japanese staff working in a post office in [End Page 27] Tainan formed a team and Japanese soldiers followed suit; they were the first adult baseball teams in Taiwanese history. By the time the Japanese founded the Taiwanese Baseball Federation in 1915, the sport was being played throughout the island. In October 1919 Den Kenjiro was appointed by the Japanese cabinet; he became the first civil governor in Taiwanese history to propagate "incremental assimilationism" and drop racially biased colonization. The biased attitudes of the Japanese were set aside; instead, they opened educational opportunities to Taiwanese youth and used sports as a tool to socialize the Taiwanese into Japanese culture and weaken their armed resistance. Starting in 1919 baseball was systematically introduced into the schools. Student participation was robust, and antisporting sentiment among the population faded as students discovered the pleasure of playing baseball and as parents learned that playing sports helped build physical strength. Nenggao (Noko) was the first Taiwanese (or aboriginal) team that successfully challenged Japanese hegemony on the field.3 Formed originally in Gaosha by a group of aboriginal children, the team was co-opted by the Japanese government as it offered players the opportunity to attend Hualian Agricultural School. The intent was obvious. No voluntary organization was allowed to exist at that time lest it become a place for spreading anticolonial ideas. The aborigines especially had a long history of armed resistance against Japan. Hualian Governor Saburo Eguchi, who had assisted in forming the team, pointed out: Teaching barbarians to play baseball is an astonishing thing. However, barbarians are still human, and also accept Japanization and education. By letting them get in touch with civilization, maybe some of them will become famous scientists or statesmen one day . . . . I want to correct these barbarians born with violent blood and let them feel the true spirit of the sport. In addition, this will demonstrate to the world extensively that we had the positive effect of teaching and civilizing barbarians.4 In 1924 Nenggao toured the island to test their strength. The result was satisfactory with 5 wins and 4 losses. They made a lasting impression in Taipei by attracting over 12,000 locals, who watched these "barbarians" with curiosity. The most touching moment came when the president of the Tainan Baseball Association cried as Nenggao finished the tour by waving...