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You Gotta Have Wa
An important element in Japanese baseball is wa--group harmony--embodied in the proverb "The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down". But what if the nail is a visiting American player? Here's a look at Japanese baseball, as seen by baffled Americans
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
86 people are currently reading
1078 people want to read
About the author
Robert Whiting
35 books53 followersRobert Whiting is a best-selling author and journalist who has written several successful books on contemporary Japanese culture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W...
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
June 5, 2025
Robert Whiting - image from The Japan Times
You Gotta Have Wa is a wonderful baseball book. It has mucho information about the history and practice of besuboru in Japan. Some of the differences to the Western approach are stark. Whiting offers interesting bits on MLB players trying to survive in a very different sports culture. this is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in baseball. Whiting has written six other books on Japanese baseball. Domo arigato.
You can find a lovely profile of Whiting and his work on Wiki, and his Substack here.
https://substack.com/@robertwhiting
October 12, 2023
Are you interested in Japan? Do cultural differences fascinate you? Do you know anything about baseball? If you answered "yes" to at least two of those questions, you gotta get You Gotta Have Wa, a detailed history of Japanese Baseball.
Robert Whiting, the book's author, writes with skill and elegance, capable of witticism but also of serving as a reporter who lets the facts do the talking. And there is a lot to report on in You Gotta Have Wa. From the foreign players who loved japan to those that hated it (often both at once); from reverential home run king Sadaharu Oh to rebellious pitcher 'dirty' Egawa; from the intense passion of the fans to the pressure on the players to practice to exhaustion.
You Gotta Have Wa is entertainment that goes into extra innings. Its got character, personality, and authenticity to spare. And when you're done reading, you will likely understand another culture a little bit better. Its a perfect game of a story, a grand slam, and probably several more overused baseball metaphors all at once.
Edited 10-12-23
Robert Whiting, the book's author, writes with skill and elegance, capable of witticism but also of serving as a reporter who lets the facts do the talking. And there is a lot to report on in You Gotta Have Wa. From the foreign players who loved japan to those that hated it (often both at once); from reverential home run king Sadaharu Oh to rebellious pitcher 'dirty' Egawa; from the intense passion of the fans to the pressure on the players to practice to exhaustion.
You Gotta Have Wa is entertainment that goes into extra innings. Its got character, personality, and authenticity to spare. And when you're done reading, you will likely understand another culture a little bit better. Its a perfect game of a story, a grand slam, and probably several more overused baseball metaphors all at once.
Edited 10-12-23
June 24, 2017
I feel like I have been very conflicted about many of the books I have read recently, but here we are again, I am VERY conflicted about this book. I like baseball and I like the way they talk about baseball in this book. I like way they talk about the culture clash of American vs Japanese baseball in this book. I find it all very interesting and as a life long Mets fan I very much appreciate the long section at the end that's all about Bobby V.
What I do not appreciate is the blatant misogyny displayed by the author almost every time he talks about women. It would be one thing if this only occurred in quotations. People say sexist things, and you can quote that, that's not necessarily the author's opinion. I get that. (Though I could argue that there were many times in the book where the author seemed not to notice that any of the quotes were horribly sexist or racist but thats another story). But there are moments where the text is directly from the author that were so sexist that I had to put down the book. When talking about High School baseball, you don't need half a page on how disgusting men (though he never says they're disgusting) take pictures up young girls' skirts and sell them. Also, when talking about pre teen girls who are fans of a certain player, you don't need to describe their cheers as "orgasmic". They are 12 year old girls, they are not screaming in orgasm, you are unnecessarily sexualizing them. Also, what in the world does it mean to say that Japanese women have a softer kind of femininity than American women? That's a ridiculous statement that just seems like you are playing into the racist stereotype that Asian women are somehow submissive. On a less serious, but still incredibly annoying note, when talking about a general baseball fan, why do you always assume its a man? How hard is it to say they instead of he? Not hard at all.
So I loved learning about Japanese baseball. I really did. I just couldn't get past the rest of it. I am a life long female sports fan so I have experienced much of the sexism that goes with it, but seeing it so blatantly in print was too much to handle.
What I do not appreciate is the blatant misogyny displayed by the author almost every time he talks about women. It would be one thing if this only occurred in quotations. People say sexist things, and you can quote that, that's not necessarily the author's opinion. I get that. (Though I could argue that there were many times in the book where the author seemed not to notice that any of the quotes were horribly sexist or racist but thats another story). But there are moments where the text is directly from the author that were so sexist that I had to put down the book. When talking about High School baseball, you don't need half a page on how disgusting men (though he never says they're disgusting) take pictures up young girls' skirts and sell them. Also, when talking about pre teen girls who are fans of a certain player, you don't need to describe their cheers as "orgasmic". They are 12 year old girls, they are not screaming in orgasm, you are unnecessarily sexualizing them. Also, what in the world does it mean to say that Japanese women have a softer kind of femininity than American women? That's a ridiculous statement that just seems like you are playing into the racist stereotype that Asian women are somehow submissive. On a less serious, but still incredibly annoying note, when talking about a general baseball fan, why do you always assume its a man? How hard is it to say they instead of he? Not hard at all.
So I loved learning about Japanese baseball. I really did. I just couldn't get past the rest of it. I am a life long female sports fan so I have experienced much of the sexism that goes with it, but seeing it so blatantly in print was too much to handle.
March 18, 2015
"This isn't baseball - it only looks like it," Reggie Smith said after his after his first year with the Yomiuri Giants in 1983. Reggie was right.
Legendary Japanese coach, Suishu Tobita (1886-1965) said much the same thing, though in loftier tones:
Baseball fans will love this rollicking road trip through the world of besuboru. Whiting has spent much of his life in Japan and clearly loves the game and the country; the insights he shares into Japanese culture and character are as interesting and entertaining as the baseball tales.
Said Warren Cromartie about his Japanese baseball experience, “It makes boot camp look like a church social.”
Leron Lee played for over 10 years in Japan and holds the Japanese career batting average record (.320) for players with a minimum of 4,000 at-bats. Lee credits the Japanese training regimen with honing his skills:
You Gotta Have Wa was written in 1988, a point at which the US-Japanese trade frictions were at a peak, the Japanese economy was booming, and there was plenty of money and national pride to go around.
Since then much has changed. Japan has been in a prolonged economic slump and baseball has suffered economically. More players in Japan are opting to play in America—some even right out of college. These days the best ballplayers from Japan, like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Hideo Nomo, are as good as any players in the MBL.
Even this Red Sox fan has to marvel at these Ichiro moments.
The enthusiasm with which America has welcomed Japanese stars like Ichiro has been something of a balm to Japanese pride and there are encouraging signs that the xenophobia and outright racism described by Whiting in You Gotta Have Wa is less overt these days.
But the tough, even grueling training hasn’t altered and probably never will—and for some American transplants, that’s a lesson well worth learning.
Content rating PG for crude language--both Japanese and English, and for racial epithets.
Legendary Japanese coach, Suishu Tobita (1886-1965) said much the same thing, though in loftier tones:
"The purpose of [baseball] training is not health but the forging of the soul, and a strong soul is only born from strong practice.
To hit like a shooting star, to catch a ball beyond one’s capabilities….Such beautiful plays are not the result of technique but the result of good deeds. For all these are made possible by a strong spiritual power.
Student baseball must be the baseball of self-discipline, or trying to attain truth, just as in Zen Buddhism…In many cases it must be a baseball of pain and a baseball practice of savage treatment. Only with the constant cultivation of tears, sweat and bleeding can a player secure his position."
Baseball fans will love this rollicking road trip through the world of besuboru. Whiting has spent much of his life in Japan and clearly loves the game and the country; the insights he shares into Japanese culture and character are as interesting and entertaining as the baseball tales.
Americans played ball. Japanese worked at it. There was nothing mellow or laid back about [Jim Horner's] host. They were unremittingly formal, disciplined, cerebral, and incredibly uptight (at least when they were sober). The standard look was Military Grim. Only in Japan, he discovered, did both company workers and kindergarten students alike take medicine for stress.The Japanese system builds players with a near-superhuman ability to endure pain, which can do more harm than good. Choji Murata was among the many pitchers who subscribed to the Japanese notion that you should pitch till your arm fell off--a hundred pitches in practice, and then even more in the game. He continued to pitch with a ruptured ligament in his elbow for a year and a half!
In Japan surrendering the first run in a game was considered so psychologically damaging to team mood that defeat was almost inevitable...They talked about pressure as if it were a disease: the pressure of falling behind; the pressure of a one-run lead...
They played the game as if there were no tomorrow, using starting pitchers in relief, pinch-hitting in early innings, and sacrificing bunting at every conceivable opportunity.
Said Warren Cromartie about his Japanese baseball experience, “It makes boot camp look like a church social.”
Leron Lee played for over 10 years in Japan and holds the Japanese career batting average record (.320) for players with a minimum of 4,000 at-bats. Lee credits the Japanese training regimen with honing his skills:
“I did a lot of (batting practice) when I was in the States--a couple of hundred balls a day. But in Japan we were hitting 500 to 700 balls a day,” Lee said. “… Over the years, all the practice turned out to be a blessing. It made me a more consistent hitter because my swing was fixed. As the years went by, I realized that kind of spring training was exactly what I should have been doing here in the States.”Lee would go on share his knowledge with the Oakland A’s as batting coach in 1989--the year the A’s claimed their wildly improbable World Series title.
You Gotta Have Wa was written in 1988, a point at which the US-Japanese trade frictions were at a peak, the Japanese economy was booming, and there was plenty of money and national pride to go around.
Since then much has changed. Japan has been in a prolonged economic slump and baseball has suffered economically. More players in Japan are opting to play in America—some even right out of college. These days the best ballplayers from Japan, like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Hideo Nomo, are as good as any players in the MBL.
Even this Red Sox fan has to marvel at these Ichiro moments.
The enthusiasm with which America has welcomed Japanese stars like Ichiro has been something of a balm to Japanese pride and there are encouraging signs that the xenophobia and outright racism described by Whiting in You Gotta Have Wa is less overt these days.
But the tough, even grueling training hasn’t altered and probably never will—and for some American transplants, that’s a lesson well worth learning.
Content rating PG for crude language--both Japanese and English, and for racial epithets.
February 9, 2018
I wanted a book about baseball in Japan and that is what I got.
May 18, 2022
Whiting's masterpiece. This book takes the story of the NPB up to the late 80s, then into the 2000s via material added for the expanded edition. Whiting was all over this sport, interviewing the critical Japanese stars and gaijin players, and his expertise is reflected in one of the most readable baseball books (and cultural histories) ever put to paper. Years ago, a Japanese history professor (Dick Smethurst) I worked with at Pitt called this the best "outsider book" on the country's sporting culture and perhaps even about its culture in general, so there's that as well, I suppose.
September 14, 2018
Whiting conveys a fascinating story of national identity through baseball. Perhaps the most interesting societal idea is to see how besuboru lives as an invented national sense of identity more than a complete reflection of true Japanese society. Of course what a society chooses to project can be as important as how it actually lives, because it hints at where it would like to go. In some ways the same type of struggle can be seen in the outsized patriotism of today’s NFL.
But beyond the larger social constructs the book is simply a fun look at a crazy world of baseball crossed with ultra-marathons. Though I also admit the focus on practice reminds me of my college rowing career which consisted of an extreme ratio of practice time to race time. While we would consider it insane not to think the former served the latter, the shaping of one’s approach to life may be similar.
Additionally the book provides an entertaining time capsule of 1980’s baseball that was just before my time. It was amusing to read stories of men I think of as wrinkly old managers depicted as home run smashing barbarian gaijin, particularly Charlie Manuel who apparently went by Chuck in those days. It seems like the stories that lead to Americans going ballistic are the funniest, because the sense of losing your mind bashing your head against some of the silly rules is so wonderfully told - and brings to mind 1984 mashed up with Ball Four.
On a side note, I would love to see an afterword on how Japan has dealt with the Sabermetric revolution.
But beyond the larger social constructs the book is simply a fun look at a crazy world of baseball crossed with ultra-marathons. Though I also admit the focus on practice reminds me of my college rowing career which consisted of an extreme ratio of practice time to race time. While we would consider it insane not to think the former served the latter, the shaping of one’s approach to life may be similar.
Additionally the book provides an entertaining time capsule of 1980’s baseball that was just before my time. It was amusing to read stories of men I think of as wrinkly old managers depicted as home run smashing barbarian gaijin, particularly Charlie Manuel who apparently went by Chuck in those days. It seems like the stories that lead to Americans going ballistic are the funniest, because the sense of losing your mind bashing your head against some of the silly rules is so wonderfully told - and brings to mind 1984 mashed up with Ball Four.
On a side note, I would love to see an afterword on how Japan has dealt with the Sabermetric revolution.
September 26, 2017
A fantastically well-researched book about the idiosyncrasies of besuboru in Japan, particularly from the perspective of American baseball players and fans. I know a hundred times more about Japanese baseball than I did before: good work, book! I felt, however, that Whiting could have written half as much as he did and I'd still know just as much. Perhaps he felt that every single thing he researched belonged in writing. So it got boring in the middle. But the 2009 updates (preface and epilogue) were fascinating bookends, with modern names that I recognized and updated context and developments in the system.
Ironically, it appears that the cookie-cutter approach and fabled "team spirit" philosophy that helped make Japan a flawless manufacturing, money-making machine may not really suit baseball. Japanese-style quality control means that everyone has to do everything the same way. No one is allowed to think for himself. Nothing is left to chance, or individual need. Managers and coaches demand blind obedience to traditional methods, and the players who don't go along are weeded off the assembly line. The result is a passive approach to playing baseball, or as Reggie Smith once said, "They play as if they are punching a clock."
October 25, 2021
Lots of interesting information, if you love baseball in general. Or Japanese baseball, specifically. Or Americans playing baseball in Japan. I'm peripherally interested, so this felt like the longest book I'd ever read. But it's well researched and full of interesting stories about "Japan's favorite pastime."
April 18, 2022
Interminable! Lacking any kind of structure or storytelling philosophy, Robert Whiting’s book ends up being a collection of anecdotes - in fairness, entertaining ones. Which would be fine, if Whiting could exercise any kind of QC: he seems to be unwilling to part with even the scraps that he gleaned from his admittedly impressive research. This means that the book - having successfully made its point within the first hundred pages that “boy Japanese baseball sure is different from American baseball” - has worn out its welcome long before it comes to an end. Whiting spends the first half of the book telling variations on the same story about Japanese treating Americans badly before jumping for no particular reason to unrelated vignettes about fan sections and high school baseball. And then seemingly unable to bring himself to lose even a single story he’d heard, he condenses about a dozen more into a chapter called “Foreign Devils” near the end. It gives the book the feeling of a chatty drunk who’s wildly entertaining for about twenty minutes before he starts to repeat himself.
The biggest issue is a lack of clarity in terms of the book’s remit: is it a book about Japanese baseball writ large? Or is it a book about Americans playing in Japan? If it’s the latter, Whiting needed to narrow his scope - which would mean losing the chapter on high school baseball, one of the more entertaining ones. And if it’s the former, Whiting does a poor job of currying sympathy for the Japanese perspective. He presents what sound to outsiders like barbaric routines, but fails to compellingly make the point from the Japanese side about why they’re necessary. To me, it feels like a book written from an outsider’s perspective. Which is fine! But that’s not the approach Whiting took.
Either way the book needed a main character, a Zelig to navigate us through the tricksy world of Japanese baseball - like Michael Lewis used Billy Beane in Moneyball to tell the story of the sea change in analytics. Without that, the book feels unmoored, like a Wikipedia page more than a coherent story.
A tremendously disappointing book. I am absolutely the ideal audience for this book, and by the end I was audibly groaning as I picked it up to finish yet another anecdote about how Japanese baseball is different from American baseball.
We get it!
The biggest issue is a lack of clarity in terms of the book’s remit: is it a book about Japanese baseball writ large? Or is it a book about Americans playing in Japan? If it’s the latter, Whiting needed to narrow his scope - which would mean losing the chapter on high school baseball, one of the more entertaining ones. And if it’s the former, Whiting does a poor job of currying sympathy for the Japanese perspective. He presents what sound to outsiders like barbaric routines, but fails to compellingly make the point from the Japanese side about why they’re necessary. To me, it feels like a book written from an outsider’s perspective. Which is fine! But that’s not the approach Whiting took.
Either way the book needed a main character, a Zelig to navigate us through the tricksy world of Japanese baseball - like Michael Lewis used Billy Beane in Moneyball to tell the story of the sea change in analytics. Without that, the book feels unmoored, like a Wikipedia page more than a coherent story.
A tremendously disappointing book. I am absolutely the ideal audience for this book, and by the end I was audibly groaning as I picked it up to finish yet another anecdote about how Japanese baseball is different from American baseball.
We get it!
July 23, 2023
Mystery Box book #20!
I'm very interested in both baseball and Japan, so this should have been a home run. *ducks* And I enjoyed the history of the sport's development in Japan, and the initial chapters about how the cultural differences between Japan and America alter the game. But then the book gets very bogged down in stories about how various American players fared on the rosters of Japanese teams (mostly: poorly).
I'm very interested in both baseball and Japan, so this should have been a home run. *ducks* And I enjoyed the history of the sport's development in Japan, and the initial chapters about how the cultural differences between Japan and America alter the game. But then the book gets very bogged down in stories about how various American players fared on the rosters of Japanese teams (mostly: poorly).
April 6, 2025
Overall entertaining and enlightening read about Japanese culture, but also a bit repetitive in making its point. I'm sure it wouldn't have been easy to do as a non-Japanese author, but I would have enjoyed more historical anecdotes about Japanese baseball and fewer stories about how imported American players struggled with and upset the wa (most of which were very similar experiences).
May 4, 2010
This book surprised me in a good way. Recommended to me, a baseball fan of only about two years, by a good friend who loves baseball and has been following it for most of his life, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get as much out of the book as he did. That being said, I am extremely glad I've read this book. In fact, now that I am writing this review, I am changing my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars because I recall the strong emotions (shock, anger, intrigue and more) this book made me feel at different times. That is the mark of a good book as far as I am concerned.
This book should not be treated as a book about baseball so much as a book about Japanese culture and the way Japanese cultural values affect the way they play the game.
Group conformity and emotion take precedence over personal needs. The player who asks for more money or less practice is accused of disturbing the team's 'wa', or unity. Rules are upheld subjectively based on an umpire's sense of fairness (targeted mainly towards former MLB players) and victory may not always be identified by a win, but instead by a tie or, in some odd cases, a loss.
Most teams are treated more like a military group or dojo. Team managers go as far as calling their methodology "death training". Players are not allowed to miss games for important family events, whether celebration or tragedy.
This is a great book that anyone can enjoy. The medium of baseball is an excellent way to add entertainment into a book containing material that could easily be found in a college foreign studies course. I encourage anyone interested in Japanese culture to read this book as it provides a fairly well rounded view of Japanese society. It may surprise you just how different another group's values can be from your own.
This book should not be treated as a book about baseball so much as a book about Japanese culture and the way Japanese cultural values affect the way they play the game.
Group conformity and emotion take precedence over personal needs. The player who asks for more money or less practice is accused of disturbing the team's 'wa', or unity. Rules are upheld subjectively based on an umpire's sense of fairness (targeted mainly towards former MLB players) and victory may not always be identified by a win, but instead by a tie or, in some odd cases, a loss.
Most teams are treated more like a military group or dojo. Team managers go as far as calling their methodology "death training". Players are not allowed to miss games for important family events, whether celebration or tragedy.
This is a great book that anyone can enjoy. The medium of baseball is an excellent way to add entertainment into a book containing material that could easily be found in a college foreign studies course. I encourage anyone interested in Japanese culture to read this book as it provides a fairly well rounded view of Japanese society. It may surprise you just how different another group's values can be from your own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2016
An enjoyable read for all of the interesting information about the differences between the American and Japanese approaches to baseball, but oddly organized at time and it seemed really repetitive (mostly in the second half of the book). Not many memorable quotes, but at the same time I will never be able to think about team unity and not think of the Japanese concept of wa.
If you are into baseball, I would still recommend it.
Funnest fact from the book: Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 HRs in his career, practiced his swing by slicing tiny pieces of paper suspended by string from the ceiling with a katana. Cool.
If you are into baseball, I would still recommend it.
Funnest fact from the book: Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 HRs in his career, practiced his swing by slicing tiny pieces of paper suspended by string from the ceiling with a katana. Cool.
April 11, 2021
A low review seems to be a rarity on this page, and I don’t understand why. I had to read this book as an assignment, and it took me two months to read because I could not put myself through reading more than a few pages a day. The book was extremely boring, even though I went into it interested in the topic. Far too many small details and facts and names- I would come into a new chapter and keep having to flip back to find out who that person was. I also agree with a previous reviewer that this book is very dated in its descriptions of women and even the Japanese people. Perhaps the authors later books are better, but I don’t think I will be trying them out.
February 2, 2014
Interesting profiles of the American major league baseball players who chose to play in Japan through the years. Clash of cultures, to say the least. I'd be interested to know if Whiting or anyone else picked up where this book left off to describe the experience of the Japanese players who have come to play major league ball here in the states. As a more than casual baseball fan, I'd say Japanese players have been accepted and even embraced by fans and the baseball establishment here in vivid contrast to the experience of American players in Japan as described in this book.
August 15, 2023
An enjoyable history of the inextricable connection between the American and Japanese game. perhaps relies too heavily on anecdotes from the 80s that follow identical notes, page after page: Buck Bronson of the Royals quit the Hanshin Tigers after six weeks because he was forced to do 1,000 grounders with a broken toe in an April blizzard (x100)
Except for the one guy who kept having his private parts yanked in the shower by the players and coaches. Poor guy.
But the afterward on the changing game in the 2000s and the chapter on the development on the Japanese game are worth reading.
Except for the one guy who kept having his private parts yanked in the shower by the players and coaches. Poor guy.
But the afterward on the changing game in the 2000s and the chapter on the development on the Japanese game are worth reading.
March 15, 2013
Every year before the MLB season, I read * at least one * baseball book. This year, I finally read YOU GOTTA HAVE WA and was not disappointed. This is a great, insightful look at the difference between the Japanese and American baseball cultures. The profiles on American players like Bob Horner and Randy Bass are full of humor and charm. Play ball!
May 1, 2015
Interesting exploration of the history of baseball in Japan and the ways in which Japanese culture has created a game in many ways very different from the game played in the US. It is also a fascinating exploration of the ways in which American and Japanese cultures collide. Highly recommended to fans of good sports writing and Japanese culture.
March 13, 2023
This book is super interesting even if you're not particularly interested in baseball, and even though most of the action is in the late 80s it's much less dated than one would think.
August 18, 2019
A must-read for any baseball fan, the book opens with a chapter on Bob Horner, the erstwhile superstar of the Atlanta Braves who found national recognition playing on TBS in the early 1980s. As his career with the Braves came to a close, he accepted a lucrative opportunity to continue his career in Japan. When he arrived, he found that although the game was same and the rules were no different, it was the culture of the game that presented quite a challenge.
The book goes on to detail the discrimination in the Japanese game toward "gaijin" (foreigners). From umpires with wider strike zones to managers who routinely benched American players to make an example and establish authority, non-Japanese players were expected to assimilate quickly to a culture that was much more conservative and oppressive than the Western customs from which they came.
The history of the Japanese game is fascinating, as is the serious way in which the sport is viewed. Professional baseball players in Japan have an intense 2-3 hour practice before a game begins, and pitchers there throw 100-150 pitches per day, whether they are scheduled to pitch in a game that day or not. Even the fans (oendan) are more serious and some selected fans can become cheerleaders and are required to go through training to be approved to come to the games and sit in certain portions of the stadium and are expected to travel with the team on the road and scream loudly and make noise and show passion consistently throughout the game.
The history and culture of the Tokyo Giants franchise is also remarkable. It is estimated that 60% of the country (including executives of some of the Giants' Nippon League opponents) passionately follow the Giants as their favorite team. Their practice regiment (including required "voluntary" off-season workouts) is stunning. Players are not expected to leave the team for things such as maternity leave, death of a parent, or surgery of a child. Many of the gaijin who have come from America to play in Japan have been shunned by the team and the fans for placing more importance on their own personal families than to the baseball team they are contractually obligated to support. All players are expected to have "wa" (team spirit and unity), and anyone who disrupts the wa of the team is not respected, regardless of their circumstances or the impressiveness of their statistics upon returning to the team.
Overall, the tone of the book is very serious and informative, properly conveying the regard in which baseball is esteemed in Japan. On a light-hearted note, one of the coolest things that happens in Japan each year, however, is the annual tournament that takes place to determine a national champion in high school baseball. Beginning regionally each year with over 4,000 teams, a single-elimination tournament takes place that pares the teams down to 49. At that point, the teams meet and play games in Koshien stadium, which was built in 1924 specifically for this event and sounds a lot like the NCAA basketball tournament (March Madness) in the USA. Some of the high school coaches that are consistently successful in this tournament command six figure salaries, drive expensive cars, and write books detailing the secrets of their programs.
Overall, this is a very thorough book that will answer most of the questions you may have about the Japanese game including its history, culture, major stars, successful teams, all-time records, American stars who have played in Japan, as well as perspectives from both Japanese and Americans.
The interaction between Japanese and Americans is the heart and soul of this book and that alone will keep your interest whether you are a baseball fan or not.
I've always wanted to see a baseball game in Japan, and maybe that will happen someday. In the mean time, this book serves as a preview of what that culture is like and what I might experience if I am ever able to make the trip.
The book goes on to detail the discrimination in the Japanese game toward "gaijin" (foreigners). From umpires with wider strike zones to managers who routinely benched American players to make an example and establish authority, non-Japanese players were expected to assimilate quickly to a culture that was much more conservative and oppressive than the Western customs from which they came.
The history of the Japanese game is fascinating, as is the serious way in which the sport is viewed. Professional baseball players in Japan have an intense 2-3 hour practice before a game begins, and pitchers there throw 100-150 pitches per day, whether they are scheduled to pitch in a game that day or not. Even the fans (oendan) are more serious and some selected fans can become cheerleaders and are required to go through training to be approved to come to the games and sit in certain portions of the stadium and are expected to travel with the team on the road and scream loudly and make noise and show passion consistently throughout the game.
The history and culture of the Tokyo Giants franchise is also remarkable. It is estimated that 60% of the country (including executives of some of the Giants' Nippon League opponents) passionately follow the Giants as their favorite team. Their practice regiment (including required "voluntary" off-season workouts) is stunning. Players are not expected to leave the team for things such as maternity leave, death of a parent, or surgery of a child. Many of the gaijin who have come from America to play in Japan have been shunned by the team and the fans for placing more importance on their own personal families than to the baseball team they are contractually obligated to support. All players are expected to have "wa" (team spirit and unity), and anyone who disrupts the wa of the team is not respected, regardless of their circumstances or the impressiveness of their statistics upon returning to the team.
Overall, the tone of the book is very serious and informative, properly conveying the regard in which baseball is esteemed in Japan. On a light-hearted note, one of the coolest things that happens in Japan each year, however, is the annual tournament that takes place to determine a national champion in high school baseball. Beginning regionally each year with over 4,000 teams, a single-elimination tournament takes place that pares the teams down to 49. At that point, the teams meet and play games in Koshien stadium, which was built in 1924 specifically for this event and sounds a lot like the NCAA basketball tournament (March Madness) in the USA. Some of the high school coaches that are consistently successful in this tournament command six figure salaries, drive expensive cars, and write books detailing the secrets of their programs.
Overall, this is a very thorough book that will answer most of the questions you may have about the Japanese game including its history, culture, major stars, successful teams, all-time records, American stars who have played in Japan, as well as perspectives from both Japanese and Americans.
The interaction between Japanese and Americans is the heart and soul of this book and that alone will keep your interest whether you are a baseball fan or not.
I've always wanted to see a baseball game in Japan, and maybe that will happen someday. In the mean time, this book serves as a preview of what that culture is like and what I might experience if I am ever able to make the trip.
November 14, 2020
Wa represents a Japanese word that translates, probably badly, as team harmony. American baseball players who join Japanese teams often have considerably greater baseball skills than their Japanese teammates. But they're hell on wa.
In Japanese culture, conformity is highly valued. A common adage is, "The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down." An American baseball player--six feet tall, light-haired, blue-eyed--well, if ever there was a nail that needed hammering down, he's it.
To the Japanese, continuous improvement is gospel. (See Edwards Deming.) They don't buy the American idea that too much practice degrades game performance. But if it does, so be it, because having fighting spirit and maximum effort is more important than winning a game.
To achieve continuous improvement, baseball players continuously practice, hour after hour, day after day. There are no rest days. They practice for 3 hours, then play a game. The expectation is that players will practice until they collapse. Literally. One drill is for players to field 1000 ground balls.
Pitchers throw until their arms fall off. Okay, not literally. But on some teams, pitchers were required to throw 400 pitches with full effort on every pitch. Every day! In practice! (By contrast, in the U.S. major leagues, pitchers are often pulled after throwing 100 pitches in a game, then rest for 4-5 days.)
Managers are totalitarian despots who rule their players' lives on and off the field. Coaches and managers publicly berate and embarrass their players over errors, mistakes, or not showing enough fighting spirit or effort. That includes hitting and kicking players.
Most teams are nothing more than one advertising channel for a huge, non-baseball corporation. They're run by corporate executives who know little about baseball. Winning or losing is important to the company only if it affects revenue. Therefore, almost all Japanese players are poorly paid. Their stadiums, practice facilities, travel lodging and meals are mostly substandard.
Now take an American major leaguer who signs onto a Japanese team. He is accustomed to the wealth, fame, adoration and indulgence that he has purchased with his athletic skills. He speaks no Japanese and knows nothing about the country, its culture and customs. He has negotiated a contract that provides reduced practice time, better housing, and of course, a lot more money than his Japanese teammates. When it comes to wa, that's going to leave a mark.
This book is mostly a collection of anecdotes illustrating the culture clash that occurs when American players join Japanese teams. The examples are jaw-dropping and often funny, but I lost my fighting spirit before the end of this 362 page book.
In Japanese culture, conformity is highly valued. A common adage is, "The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down." An American baseball player--six feet tall, light-haired, blue-eyed--well, if ever there was a nail that needed hammering down, he's it.
To the Japanese, continuous improvement is gospel. (See Edwards Deming.) They don't buy the American idea that too much practice degrades game performance. But if it does, so be it, because having fighting spirit and maximum effort is more important than winning a game.
To achieve continuous improvement, baseball players continuously practice, hour after hour, day after day. There are no rest days. They practice for 3 hours, then play a game. The expectation is that players will practice until they collapse. Literally. One drill is for players to field 1000 ground balls.
Pitchers throw until their arms fall off. Okay, not literally. But on some teams, pitchers were required to throw 400 pitches with full effort on every pitch. Every day! In practice! (By contrast, in the U.S. major leagues, pitchers are often pulled after throwing 100 pitches in a game, then rest for 4-5 days.)
Managers are totalitarian despots who rule their players' lives on and off the field. Coaches and managers publicly berate and embarrass their players over errors, mistakes, or not showing enough fighting spirit or effort. That includes hitting and kicking players.
Most teams are nothing more than one advertising channel for a huge, non-baseball corporation. They're run by corporate executives who know little about baseball. Winning or losing is important to the company only if it affects revenue. Therefore, almost all Japanese players are poorly paid. Their stadiums, practice facilities, travel lodging and meals are mostly substandard.
Now take an American major leaguer who signs onto a Japanese team. He is accustomed to the wealth, fame, adoration and indulgence that he has purchased with his athletic skills. He speaks no Japanese and knows nothing about the country, its culture and customs. He has negotiated a contract that provides reduced practice time, better housing, and of course, a lot more money than his Japanese teammates. When it comes to wa, that's going to leave a mark.
This book is mostly a collection of anecdotes illustrating the culture clash that occurs when American players join Japanese teams. The examples are jaw-dropping and often funny, but I lost my fighting spirit before the end of this 362 page book.
January 8, 2025
You Gotta Have Wa and Tokyo Vice have largely impressed upon me how bizarre Japanese society truly is. For all their cultural exports, despite the influence America has had on them following the end of the second World War, the Japanese are a largely superstitious, bigoted, and isolationist people.
During the day, the Japanese are egregiously hard working pencil pushers. The salarymen literally slave away for their corporate overlords, afraid of leaving the office on time, should they appear non conforming to the expectations of their CEOs. Once off work, they pack into bullet trains like sardines and commute sometimes for hours, just to do it all again the next day, ad infinitum. Vacations? Akin to treason. Seeking better employment/furthering your own goals? Slanderous. Despite this seemingly awful balance of living and working, escapism exists in the country’s national past-time. Baseball.
Now this book is definitely older, pre dating Shohei Ohtani’s rise to fame and his historic run in the MLB, but it probably does still reflect the large culture surrounding baseball in Japan. A system where high schoolers are expected to destroy their bodies with nauseating hours of practices before games. A system that expects its players to shut their mouths and listen to their coaches and management without question. A militaristic game of manners on the field, void of emotion or real stakes when the Giants are playing. More strangely than anything else, a game that has professional cheer squads of men and women with megaphones, memorized chants, and an understanding that if your team loses, you will be crying bloody murder and tearing up until tomorrow’s game for the chance to do it all again. In essence, a goddamn cult with teams contracting indentured servants. They OWN their players in every conceivable manner.
This book did a great job of highlighting the differences between the US and Japan, using baseball as its vehicle. My gripe with it is that Robert Whiting punched home the message so clearly early on, that much of the book felt redundant and unnecessary with its 3724 examples of foreigners being treated badly. Case study after case study when I got his point after maybe the first three. That made the book drag and difficult to finish.
If nothing else, the Japanese are a strange people, and this book helped me sober up to that idea. Thank you Robert Whiting and Jake Adelstein.
During the day, the Japanese are egregiously hard working pencil pushers. The salarymen literally slave away for their corporate overlords, afraid of leaving the office on time, should they appear non conforming to the expectations of their CEOs. Once off work, they pack into bullet trains like sardines and commute sometimes for hours, just to do it all again the next day, ad infinitum. Vacations? Akin to treason. Seeking better employment/furthering your own goals? Slanderous. Despite this seemingly awful balance of living and working, escapism exists in the country’s national past-time. Baseball.
Now this book is definitely older, pre dating Shohei Ohtani’s rise to fame and his historic run in the MLB, but it probably does still reflect the large culture surrounding baseball in Japan. A system where high schoolers are expected to destroy their bodies with nauseating hours of practices before games. A system that expects its players to shut their mouths and listen to their coaches and management without question. A militaristic game of manners on the field, void of emotion or real stakes when the Giants are playing. More strangely than anything else, a game that has professional cheer squads of men and women with megaphones, memorized chants, and an understanding that if your team loses, you will be crying bloody murder and tearing up until tomorrow’s game for the chance to do it all again. In essence, a goddamn cult with teams contracting indentured servants. They OWN their players in every conceivable manner.
This book did a great job of highlighting the differences between the US and Japan, using baseball as its vehicle. My gripe with it is that Robert Whiting punched home the message so clearly early on, that much of the book felt redundant and unnecessary with its 3724 examples of foreigners being treated badly. Case study after case study when I got his point after maybe the first three. That made the book drag and difficult to finish.
If nothing else, the Japanese are a strange people, and this book helped me sober up to that idea. Thank you Robert Whiting and Jake Adelstein.
August 19, 2019
Growing up a big baseball fan, I always knew the sport was popular in Japan. I also always knew it was played differently but I didn’t know why. Not necessarily played differently rules-wise (though there is some of that, like ties for example), but culturally, there were different expectations of the players and the clubs.
Robert Whiting smoothly lays the differences out in this book. I worry sometimes that westerners don’t always have a sensitivity to the nuanced differences in respective eastern cultures but he does. Despite things that made my eyes pop out of my head, there was no condescension towards the Japanese for their strict training regimens and outdated way of playing the sport base-to-base. He talks about the history of the game, the way it grew, the significance it eventually took in Japanese society, and the protective nature many in Japan feel towards it.
Whiting doesn’t shy away from criticizing the prejudicial nature Japanese teams and fans have towards “gaijin”, aka foreigners. This is apparently goes double for the many black American players who played in Japan, as well as Japanese who are of African descent. However, there’s never a sense of self-righteousness (God knows, America has plenty of racism). He clearly lays out the different ways Japanese and Americans view the game and manage it, while passing no judgments. It’s a respectful take on the game and the people of the country.
There’s an updated version that came out in 2009 and I wish I read it. My copy is from 1989 and no doubt many of the references (and likely practices) are dated thirty years later. Japan was economically dominant in the 80s in a way it is not today and that plays a factor in some of the analyses. But I appreciated what Whiting did with this subject and I feel far more knowledgeable as a result.
Robert Whiting smoothly lays the differences out in this book. I worry sometimes that westerners don’t always have a sensitivity to the nuanced differences in respective eastern cultures but he does. Despite things that made my eyes pop out of my head, there was no condescension towards the Japanese for their strict training regimens and outdated way of playing the sport base-to-base. He talks about the history of the game, the way it grew, the significance it eventually took in Japanese society, and the protective nature many in Japan feel towards it.
Whiting doesn’t shy away from criticizing the prejudicial nature Japanese teams and fans have towards “gaijin”, aka foreigners. This is apparently goes double for the many black American players who played in Japan, as well as Japanese who are of African descent. However, there’s never a sense of self-righteousness (God knows, America has plenty of racism). He clearly lays out the different ways Japanese and Americans view the game and manage it, while passing no judgments. It’s a respectful take on the game and the people of the country.
There’s an updated version that came out in 2009 and I wish I read it. My copy is from 1989 and no doubt many of the references (and likely practices) are dated thirty years later. Japan was economically dominant in the 80s in a way it is not today and that plays a factor in some of the analyses. But I appreciated what Whiting did with this subject and I feel far more knowledgeable as a result.
May 16, 2019
You Gotta Have Wa is a comparative study of the cultural differences between American and Japanese baseball. These differences are just in the style of play but also the role baseball plays in the wider culture of these 2 countries.
There’s lots of history about when these 2 cultures inevitably meet on the field. A lot of the book though is delivered by explaining an element of the Japanese game, the history around such an element and the lengths Japanese baseball goes to venerate the practice. Then the author goes into interview material from MLB players who played in Japan. It’s an interesting method but by the last few chapters you get the point - the Japanese like to practice baseball to death - often to the detriment of their player’s health and always against the advice of MLB players who’s opinions are dismissed out of hand by Japanese baseball management.
One of the most interesting elements in the book is the degree to which Japanese baseball culture plays a role in enforcing Japanese nationalism. There are a lot of sour grapes about MLB players ability to smash records in Japan as well as scapegoating of American players when the overall team doesn’t too well. This was really interesting stuff but stopped short of calling out what was clearly a racial element in this discussion. As the book progresses you can only eye roll as yet another black baseball player is shat upon by his team for ‘disrupting team Wa’. I don’t know why the author skirts around this. It seems very obvious by the time the book is over and if anything, this unaddressed notion kind of encroaches on your reading as you get to the last 2 chapters.
A good book though - would be perfect for any baseball fan going to Japan and thinking about taking in a game.
There’s lots of history about when these 2 cultures inevitably meet on the field. A lot of the book though is delivered by explaining an element of the Japanese game, the history around such an element and the lengths Japanese baseball goes to venerate the practice. Then the author goes into interview material from MLB players who played in Japan. It’s an interesting method but by the last few chapters you get the point - the Japanese like to practice baseball to death - often to the detriment of their player’s health and always against the advice of MLB players who’s opinions are dismissed out of hand by Japanese baseball management.
One of the most interesting elements in the book is the degree to which Japanese baseball culture plays a role in enforcing Japanese nationalism. There are a lot of sour grapes about MLB players ability to smash records in Japan as well as scapegoating of American players when the overall team doesn’t too well. This was really interesting stuff but stopped short of calling out what was clearly a racial element in this discussion. As the book progresses you can only eye roll as yet another black baseball player is shat upon by his team for ‘disrupting team Wa’. I don’t know why the author skirts around this. It seems very obvious by the time the book is over and if anything, this unaddressed notion kind of encroaches on your reading as you get to the last 2 chapters.
A good book though - would be perfect for any baseball fan going to Japan and thinking about taking in a game.
December 24, 2019
Read this book several years after seeing the movie, MR. BASEBALL, starring Tom Selleck as an American baseball player who continues his playing career in Japan while struggling to adjust to the differences in culture. It is notable that several scenes in the movie (of which Whiting was a consultant), come from experiences in this book about American players who have chosen to play in Japan.
The differences in culture make for the biggest hurdles to most American players, and there is a collection of funny and touching moments as former major leaguers find themselves in varying positions of having to humble themselves to fit into the Japanese way of baseball. Some like Deron and Leon Lee make the necessary changes and go on to have remarkable careers. Others like Bob Horner are not as flexible and cannot wait to get out of Japan.
Whiting's writing is solid, but sometimes would benefit from a 'less is more' approach. The subject matter is a little dated, but the natural conflict of athletes adapting to cultural differences still makes these stories relevant to readers of a particular age or interest.
For those interested in Japanese baseball, pair this up with Robert K. Fitts' REMEMBERING JAPANESE BASEBALL: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GAME to get a fuller picture of the way the game changed when players like Wally Yonamine or Sadaharu Oh became part of it.
The differences in culture make for the biggest hurdles to most American players, and there is a collection of funny and touching moments as former major leaguers find themselves in varying positions of having to humble themselves to fit into the Japanese way of baseball. Some like Deron and Leon Lee make the necessary changes and go on to have remarkable careers. Others like Bob Horner are not as flexible and cannot wait to get out of Japan.
Whiting's writing is solid, but sometimes would benefit from a 'less is more' approach. The subject matter is a little dated, but the natural conflict of athletes adapting to cultural differences still makes these stories relevant to readers of a particular age or interest.
For those interested in Japanese baseball, pair this up with Robert K. Fitts' REMEMBERING JAPANESE BASEBALL: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GAME to get a fuller picture of the way the game changed when players like Wally Yonamine or Sadaharu Oh became part of it.
March 28, 2024
This was a fun book club choice at the start of baseball season. It was a little dry and full of stats, but the overarching story of American players joining Japanese baseball was a fascinating clash (not intentionally) of cultures, ideologies, and values.
You would think that baseball is baseball, wherever you play, but nothing could be further from reality. From bunting, to fielding, to pregame, to off-season training, America and Japan approach the sport from polar opposite starting points. When you put players from both camps on the same team, what could possibly go wrong?
Even though this is a story of baseball, it is really a commentary on history and humanity—how do we handle differences? How do we adapt? Who adapts—the host or the guest? How do we evaluate differing philosophies? How do we create criteria for that? Not to mention personal and spiritual applications connected to effort, discipline, and kindness. In particular, the role of suffering in life and in discipline is a central spiritual application, along with the goal of “wa,” Harmony within a group. Some things are only achievable in the Kingdom of God.
This is what the shining examples of both Japanese and Americans show when they were willing to meet in the middle. When that happened, everyone flourished—and so did baseball.
You would think that baseball is baseball, wherever you play, but nothing could be further from reality. From bunting, to fielding, to pregame, to off-season training, America and Japan approach the sport from polar opposite starting points. When you put players from both camps on the same team, what could possibly go wrong?
Even though this is a story of baseball, it is really a commentary on history and humanity—how do we handle differences? How do we adapt? Who adapts—the host or the guest? How do we evaluate differing philosophies? How do we create criteria for that? Not to mention personal and spiritual applications connected to effort, discipline, and kindness. In particular, the role of suffering in life and in discipline is a central spiritual application, along with the goal of “wa,” Harmony within a group. Some things are only achievable in the Kingdom of God.
This is what the shining examples of both Japanese and Americans show when they were willing to meet in the middle. When that happened, everyone flourished—and so did baseball.
May 28, 2024
Anyone who says this book isn’t worth 5 stars is full of shit, but I guess that is my American directness that has sprung out in the first line of my review. You Gotta Have Wa is superb for its research (probably mostly done in Japanese) and insight. Robert Whiting has lived in Japan (splitting time between LA and Tokyo) since 1961. That’s around the time my own dad was in Japan, showing Whiting’s age and the age of this book. And yet, as much as you would think the baseball culture would have changed since the book was first published in 1989, there is something persistent, niggling even, about Japanese culture. As Drucker said, “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast.” Reading You Gotta Have Wa is not just for the baseball-obsessed. It is for those who are fascinated by the clash of cultures, who want to understand what makes an entire group of people, a whole nation tick and how their way of ticking really has a way of ticking off the American players and managers and coaches who spend time in Japan. Having spent over a third of my life in Japan, myself, it is about time I read Robert Whiting — just in time for his visit to my school and not too late to reap the benefits of my deepened understanding of the culture of the place I call home.
This was my first Robert Whiting, but I will be back. He is too good of a writer (and researcher) to stop at just one!
This was my first Robert Whiting, but I will be back. He is too good of a writer (and researcher) to stop at just one!
January 30, 2018
I picked this book up on a whim from the Newark Public Library, and I'm mostly glad that I did so.
I admit I was hoping for more analysis of the Japanese form of baseball. I found the stories of Japanese greats, their training regimens, their views of practice, their careers, and their philosophies to be fascinating. It's the complete opposite of American individualism, to the point it's almost a foreign language to us. I wanted more of that. I felt I learned a great deal about life from the Japanese players' musings.
Instead, the book spends chapter after chapter dishing up stories of American stars facing strife in the Japanese major leagues.
While this was entertaining in its own right, I did feel Whiting sold himself short. He has masterful passages in this book, which are often cut off by fun reporting.
Then again, my edition of the book discussed the culture shock extensively in the subtitle, so it's my fault for expecting something different. I just felt this was close to one of the greatest books on baseball ever written. Instead, it was an exhilarating foreign exchange trip.
I admit I was hoping for more analysis of the Japanese form of baseball. I found the stories of Japanese greats, their training regimens, their views of practice, their careers, and their philosophies to be fascinating. It's the complete opposite of American individualism, to the point it's almost a foreign language to us. I wanted more of that. I felt I learned a great deal about life from the Japanese players' musings.
Instead, the book spends chapter after chapter dishing up stories of American stars facing strife in the Japanese major leagues.
While this was entertaining in its own right, I did feel Whiting sold himself short. He has masterful passages in this book, which are often cut off by fun reporting.
Then again, my edition of the book discussed the culture shock extensively in the subtitle, so it's my fault for expecting something different. I just felt this was close to one of the greatest books on baseball ever written. Instead, it was an exhilarating foreign exchange trip.
December 21, 2018
Intriguing book and a must for baseball fans. American gaijin-underappreciated or privileged crybabies? Japanese-protectors, nurturers of wa or dictatorial one size fits all tyrants. You'll find a little bit of everything in Whiting's book. This was published almost thirty years ago, and I don't know what may have changed. But for me a nostalgic look at players I remember who you just read they suddenly playing in Japan without the slightest idea what that really entailed. Language barrier is one thing; though I love the "creative" translations to preserve wa. But the cultural differences were much more formidable. Japanese training and practice methods were more foreign to Americans than even the language. Some aspects of Japanese baseball seem arrogant, hideous even, designed to grind the players into the dirt or into automatons. But some characteristics would improve the American version of baseball. What does seem odd to me is that the teams signing Americans didn't seem to prepare the players for the Japanese way, nor did the players seem too interested in doing any due diligence. But a really fun, and funny book.
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