Transpacific Field of Dreams: How Baseball Linked the United States and Japan in Peace and War

Abstract

Transpacific Field of Dreams is a book with definitive strengths and weaknesses, simultaneously enlightening and disappointing in its delivery of the story of how baseball has linked the United States and Japan. The most impressive aspects of the book are its research scope and its weaving of cultural histories from several countries into a coherent narrative. The source material is outstanding, and it is clear that the author put a great deal of effort into gathering evidence. The endnotes are highlighted by hundreds of Japanese-language primary sources to which the average American scholar would not have access if not for Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu's work. The book hints at the advantages of writing history from a transnational perspective. Our understanding of the United States is increased when we learn how our history is intertwined with the histories of other countries. This book suggests not only that American culture influenced Japan but also that Japanese culture influenced the United States, even within baseball, which might seem to be a purely American site.