You Gotta Have Wa

Description

From the author of Tokyo Junkie, "the definitive book on Japanese baseball and one of the best-written sports books ever" (San Francisco Chronicle).One might expect the sport of baseball in Japan to be a culture clash—a collision of American individualism with the Japanese focus on wa, or harmony. Instead, it has turned into a winning symbiosis. Imported American sluggers—some past their primes—have found new life in the East and have given credibility to the Japanese game. A succession of Japanese stars like Hideo Nomo left their teams to find success in the US major leagues, enabling MLB International to make hundreds of millions of dollars selling TV and licensing rights to its games in Japan.While philosophical differences remain, You Gotta Have Wa guides you through the strange and fascinating world of besuboru, or baseball. With a history of the game in Japan and an overview of the...