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Back in 1990, I happened to read several books on Japanese baseball. I became fascinated by the long history of Japan¹s love of the game and the exciting players and experiences of Americans who had played on Japanese teams. Another aspect I found interesting was the on-going interaction between the United States and Japan through the game of baseball. My interest grew to the point that I began publishing a bi-monthly newsletter The Japanese Baseball Enthusiast in May of 1993. The newsletter contained research on Japanese baseball history, as well as on cards and memorabilia, and featured interviews with former players and other enthusiasts.

Two months later, on July 31, 1993, I traveled from my home in San Jose to San Diego to attend the World Children¹s Baseball Fair. This event took place at Jack Murphy Stadium and was hosted by Japanese and American home run champions Sadaharu Oh and Hank Aaron. As I sat in the stands watching the day¹s activities, I passed out copies of my newsletter to others sitting in my section. One fellow who sat quietly next to me reading the newsletter, eventually turned to me and said, ³You know, my grandfather once got a hit off of Victor Starffin of the Tokyo Giants.² I was rather surprised and asked when his grandfather had gone to Japan. He said that his grandfather hadn¹t gone to Japan, but had played against the Tokyo Giants in San Jose in 1935 and 1936. I was dumbfounded and asked, ³The Tokyo Giants played in San Jose?²

The fellow next to me was Jeff Hayamizu, and his grandfather was the Asahi¹s outstanding lead-off man and left-fielder, Joe Jio, who was said to have had a batting stance like the great Joe DiMaggio. Several weeks later back in San Jose, Jeff introduced me to his grandfather, and I learned all about the dramatic games the Asahi played against the Tokyo Giants. I also learned that many of the old Asahi players were still around. Joe Jio soon began introducing me to many of the former Asahi players. The eldest of these players was 94 year old, Harry ³Jiggs² Yamada. Jiggs had a remarkable memory. He described how he formed the second Asahi team in 1918, and shared the adventures the Asahi had on a tour of Japan in 1925.

After I finished my interview with Jiggs, I shelved the project for several months. I realized that with many surviving players, I had a rare opportunity to document the history of a Nisei baseball team largely in their own words. I also realized that the project would take a tremendous amount of work, so I decided to ask the advice of Dr. Steven Fugita of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj). Dr. Fugita encouraged me to continue the project and has been supportive at each and every turn. Coincidentally, filmmaker Kerry Yo Nakagawa had recently begun the Nisei Baseball Research Project. Bringing his traveling exhibit (Diamonds in the Rough) through San Jose, Kerry helped stimulate local interest in the Asahi¹s history.

With the assistance of JAMsj and my friend Joe Jio, I continued the interviews which were mostly completed by the end of 1996. The interviews were conducted with players, their family members and members of the community who all contributed to the story of the Asahi from their origin around 1913 through the relocation camp years of the early 1940¹s (where the Asahis were reborn as the San Jose Zebras), to the team¹s demise in 1961. Also included are brief histories of the post-war San Jose Asahi Cardinals, San Jose Youth Club and San Jose Royals baseball teams.

In 1997, I helped create an Asahi exhibit for JAMsj. Working with Dr. Fugita and Ken Iwagaki, we began mounting enlargements of original photos which had been borrowed and creating displays of donated artifacts such as uniforms, trophies and a signed baseball and other equipment. The display has been a popular point of interest to museum guests who include visitors from all parts of the world.

Following the creation of the exhibit, the project was once again put on hold. Then in December 2003, I received an appointment to a position in the California Room of the San Jose Public Library. Working with our large collection of local history publications, I was inspired to contact JAMsj about the possibility of sponsoring a book about the San Jose Asahi Baseball team. JAMsj accepted my proposal and with their support as publishers, a generous grant from the Sourisseau Academy and the kind cooperation of the Nichi Bei Times, I was finally able to complete the amazing story of the San Jose Asahi Baseball team. With editing and production by Bonnie Montgomery of Bay & Valley Publishers and a cover by Cathleen Fortune of Fortune2 Design, From Asahi to Zebras: Japanese American Baseball in San Jose, California contains a total of 132 pages with over 40 photographs and index in an affordable quality paperback format.

Ralph Pearce San Jose, California

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