As the regular season quickly approaches (Opening Day is March 26!), we have been made aware of a few opportunities you have to get involved in. First and most appealing (to me) is a film viewing and panel discussion being sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). As a non-member (which I…
As seen in Daily Sports Online (Japanese) / トレバーの虎場（デイリースポーツ）から I’ll admit it. I have a ton of ambition. But along with that, I also have to admit one more thing. I have a ton of hesitancy to chase after that ambition. You see, a lot of times, the things we want the most are also…
If “You Gotta Have Wa” is the ultimate book to shed light on the American’s experience playing baseball in Japan, then “Cherry Blossoms Over the Stars and Stripes” is the opposite. Though likely not intended to be so, this book, written by Robert Whiting (of “Wa” fame) gives the Japanese audience a look into the…
It is hard to believe Robert Whiting waited 15 years after publishing the groundbreaking You Gotta Have Wa (1989), but with all the changes in professional baseball, The Meaning of Ichiro presents several new angles on the Japanese-American relationship as seen on and around the baseball field. Instead of looking at how Americans adjusted (or didn’t) to Japanese…
It is often said that the second part of trilogies is the hardest to write as an author and the least enjoyable for the viewer. Although not formally part of a trilogy, You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting is the second of three major books he wrote on the subject of Japanese baseball. The…
“I was a big baseball fan in Japan and found that looking at the different way the Japanese approached the game provided a window into the Japanese culture as a whole. Friends encouraged me to write a book about it and so I did. Took a year to write 100,000 words. The result was The…
Here’s an event you won’t want to miss out on if you are passionate about baseball, particularly in Japan! On Tuesday, March 24, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Kansai Chapter) will be hosting an evening with Hanshin Tigers all-star left fielder Matt Murton and renowned author Robert Whiting (writer of The Chrysanthemum and…