You Gotta Have Wa, Robert Whiting, Vintage, 416 pages, ISBN: 978-0307455970
Examining the Clash Between American and Japanese Baseball Cultures
It’s long been considered America’s pastime, but baseball has a far-reaching global influence. The sport is wildly popular in Japan, where it has evolved into a representation of Japanese cultural values. The complexities of Japanese baseball are explored in Robert Whiting’s acclaimed book You Gotta Have Wa. The book not only discusses the history of baseball in Japan, but also the key differences between the Japanese game and its American counterpart.
You Gotta Have Wa is an addictive text that combines colorful baseball anecdotes with probing sociological analysis. Several chapters center around American players who continued their careers in Japan, only to find that their approach to the game clashed with the traditional Japanese belief system. Whereas American baseball allows for a certain degree of individualism, the Japanese believe that “the nail that sticks up shall be hammered down.”
Defining the Japanese Concept of Wa
At the heart of Japanese baseball is the concept of wa, or group harmony. Wa is considered an essential ingredient for building a winning team, and it is achieved by enforcing conformity within a group. Whiting delves into this concept by showing how foreign players, called “gaijin”, often struggle to adopt Japanese baseball philosophies. The stories of former major leaguers feeling uneasy in their new surroundings are often humorous, but they also highlight the severity of the cultural divide.
Understanding the Japanese Worldview Through a Baseball Lens
The beauty of Whiting’s work is that it demonstrates how baseball reflects Japan’s unique worldview. For instance, we learn that the Japanese gravitate toward the game because its drawn out, leisurely pace allows for more thorough contemplation and wiser decision making. The game is also appealing to the Japanese because it reinforces the notion that perfection can be attained through rigorous practice and continuous refinement.
Like Japanese society, the Japanese version of baseball is dependent upon elders sharing their acquired wisdom with younger, less experienced generations. The more we learn about how Japanese baseball functions, the more we understand Japanese culture as a whole.
You Gotta Have Wa is a wonderfully layered text that immerses the reader in the Japanese way of life. It is a delight for baseball fans, who will revel in the vivid descriptions of raucous cheering sections and idiosyncratic ballparks.
The book also provides historical perspective on the strained relations between the United States and Japan, especially in the aftermath of World War II. The first edition was published in 1989, but the 2009 reprint includes a new introduction and afterword that discuss how Japanese baseball has changed in recent years.
If the book suffers in any area, it’s that it does not present the perspective of Japanese players who played in the major leagues. When the book was first published thirty years ago, only one Japanese player had made the transition successfully. But in the ensuing years, Japanese imports like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Shohei Ohtani have become stars in Major League Baseball.
Thus, a sequel that covers the recent influx of Japanese talent in MLB would make a perfect companion piece. Until then, however, You Gotta Have Wa is the definitive guide to Japanese baseball and its customs.
With the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo coming up soon, now is a great time to learn more about Japanese baseball culture! Pick up your copy of You Gotta Have Wa today!
