The Creation of Professional Sports Leagues in Japan: A Cultural History of Human Networks

Abstract

In this paper, the author researches the origins of Japanese baseball culture from the viewpoint of human social networks – focusing on Ichizo Kobayashi and Matsutaro Shoriki – that were used in order to establish and to build the financial support for Japan's first baseball organizations. The establishment of the pre-war professional baseball league in Japan was closely related to city planning strategies that took advantage of developing industries, such as railways, department stores and newspapers. The key persons associated with those strategies, Kobayashi and Shoriki, attracted people to baseball, by planning and implementing various events that stimulated public interest. A look at their life histories and networks of social contacts reveals that Japan's professional baseball league was established by virtue of their personal and professional connections which extended across economic, political and governmental circles. A brief assessment of the parallel development of professional football in Japan, the J-League, will also be addressed.