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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2011
Even casual American baseball fans are aware that they play what we call "our national pastime" in Japan. We see players such as Ichiro, Dice-K, Godzilla (Hideki Matsui) and Kosuke Fukudome join the rosters of some of the best-known MLB teams and, especially in the case of Ichiro, do well. Casual fans also know of the great Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh, who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (but they are aware of the differences in the level of play and the dimensions of the ballparks). White Sox fans will never forget the contributions made by second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to the White Sox's 2005 World Series championship. And most casual fans are also aware that occasionally middle-of-the-road American ballplayers, or older players on the downside of their careers, decide to play in Japan for whatever reason. This creates curiosity about the state of baseball in Japan: what is the game like there? How does it compare to the American game? What is it like to play baseball in Japan? "You Gotta Have Wa" does an admirable job of answering these questions and more.
As portrayed in "You Gotta Have Wa", there are some very significant differences in baseball as played in the United States and Japan. Japanese baseball apparently draws upon the martial arts and samurai warrior tradition in Japan. The culture and work ethic of a Japanese baseball team, whether at the high school, college or professional level, is a product of the hard-working, self-sacrificing, master/pupil culture of the Japanese people. The most interesting aspect of "You Gotta Have Wa" is how it uses Japanese baseball to illustrate aspects of Japanese culture. "You Gotta Have Wa" should appeal to more than just baseball fans - it also should appeal to readers interested in modern-day Japanese culture.
My only complaint about "You Gotta Have Wa" is that I was hoping the book would be a bit more in-depth and slightly less sensational. The chapters read like a series of magazine articles, and I have a hard time believing that the Japanese fans are quite as fanatical as portrayed in the book, or the coaches as demanding. I suspect Robert Whiting exaggerated a bit for maximum effect. The book also could have benefited from an index, as the chapters are organized by topic, and many players and story lines appear in multiple chapters - hence an index would have helped the reader chase down everything about a particular player or incident.
Those minor flaws aside, "You Gotta Have Wa" is definitely worth reading if you at all interested in Japanese baseball or Japanese culture.
As portrayed in "You Gotta Have Wa", there are some very significant differences in baseball as played in the United States and Japan. Japanese baseball apparently draws upon the martial arts and samurai warrior tradition in Japan. The culture and work ethic of a Japanese baseball team, whether at the high school, college or professional level, is a product of the hard-working, self-sacrificing, master/pupil culture of the Japanese people. The most interesting aspect of "You Gotta Have Wa" is how it uses Japanese baseball to illustrate aspects of Japanese culture. "You Gotta Have Wa" should appeal to more than just baseball fans - it also should appeal to readers interested in modern-day Japanese culture.
My only complaint about "You Gotta Have Wa" is that I was hoping the book would be a bit more in-depth and slightly less sensational. The chapters read like a series of magazine articles, and I have a hard time believing that the Japanese fans are quite as fanatical as portrayed in the book, or the coaches as demanding. I suspect Robert Whiting exaggerated a bit for maximum effect. The book also could have benefited from an index, as the chapters are organized by topic, and many players and story lines appear in multiple chapters - hence an index would have helped the reader chase down everything about a particular player or incident.
Those minor flaws aside, "You Gotta Have Wa" is definitely worth reading if you at all interested in Japanese baseball or Japanese culture.
