The Meaning of Ichiro (56 page)

Ichiko won their first encounter with the American squad on May 23, 1896, in Yokohama by an astonishing score of 29-4, in
what is known as the first formal game between Japan and the U.S. When the recently retired school principal Hiroji Kinoshita
was telegraphed the news that day, he exhorted Ichiko to “demonstrate the true spirit of Japanese
Bushido”
by not boasting about their triumph. The victory was reported on page 1 of the
Hochi Shimbun,
May 23, 1896, and page 2 of the
Yomiuri Shimbun,
May 25, 1896. Ichiko went on to win two rematches later that year by scores of 35-9 and 22-6. See the encyclopedic collection
of material that is Ichiko’s history entitled
“Koryoshi,”
pp. 799-810, published by the
Dai-Ichi Koto Gakk
Kishukuryo,
September 10,1930.

An account of Ichiko’s games versus the Americans appears in two installments of a series entitled
Yaky
-bun-nan Shiwa,
by Saburo Saito, the first appearing in the
Yomiuri Sup
tsu,
Vol. 5, No. 8, July 1952, pp. 71-73, continued in the Vol. 6, No. 9 edition of August 1952, pp. 64—66. A good general description
of how Ichiko provided a catalyst in turning baseball into a martial art appears in Masaru Ikei’s book,
Hakkyu Taiheiyo wo Wataru,
Chuko Shinsho, Tokyo, 1976. See pp. 38—46 for an account of Ichiko victories over Yokohama in 1896 and their impact on the
country as a whole. Also see
“Kindai Puro Sup
tsu” no Rekishi Shakiagaku,
by Koichi Kiku, Tokyo, Fumaido, 1993, pp. 88-122, as well as the chronological chart on pp. 52-53. Also see
Gekan B
sub
ru,
January 10, 2001, for a good summary of the development of Ichiko baseball. Moriyama’s practice routine was described in
“Yaky
Nenpo,”
published by
Mimatsu Shoten Nai Yakyu Nenpo Henshu-bu,
in 1912. Tokyo, pp. 309-17. The article was written by Suishu Tobita. Also see
Zuihitsu to Tsuiso,
Suishu Tobita,
B
sub
ru Magajin,
1960, p. 229. For another article dealing with Moriyama’s mound exploits, also written by Tobita, see
Undokai,
No. 47, April 1912. Also
Yakyu Hyakunen,
by Kyushi Yamato, Jiji, 1976. A photograph of the brick wall bearing the hole Moriyama put in it appears in
Nihon Sup
tsu Reikishi,
by Ki Kimura,
Besuboru Magazine sha.,
1978, p. 103. An excellent description of Moriyama’s Ichiko career, as well as the early years of baseball in Japan, appears
in
Chapter 4
of Joseph Reaves’s fine book
“Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia,”
published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2001. The
Yaky
buka
appears in
Schooldays in Imperial Japan,
p. 125, by Donald Roden, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980, which also features a thorough and fascinating history
of Ichiko. An interesting, if incomplete, account of games between the Ichiko ball club and the Yokohama Country and Athletic
Club nine is on pp. 124—26. Ichiko baseball alumni published accounts of their experiences in a series entitled
Ichiko Yaky
Bushi,
published in the turn-of-the-century magazine
Undokai.
The spread of
Bushido B
sub
ru