Yakyu | Baseball Exhibit Debuts at Museum

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) –  The passion for America’s national pastime knows no boundaries. The story of that excitement – and the cultural link between the baseball-loving countries of the United States and Japan – is now told in Cooperstown through a groundbreaking exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Yakyu | Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game officially opened on Thursday to rave reviews from visitors and invited guests in town for the annual Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. The exhibit, located on the Museum’s third floor in the Guggenheim Gallery, explores the longstanding exchange of teams and players in the more than 150 years since baseball was introduced to Japan and features artifacts and stories about a game that became the most popular sport in Japan less than 50 years after the United States and Japan established diplomatic relations.

The exhibit is made possible by Guggenheim Partners, a global investment and advisory firm, with additional support from Peter O’Malley, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner and son of Hall of Fame executive Walter O’Malley. Additional support comes from Ito En, and the Kalafer Family, owners of the Somerset Patriots, JTB, Soichiro Minami with Visonal and High Voltage Entertainment. The exhibit is also being supported by the Japanese American Association of New York, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MINT Sports Cards & Card Games, Orient Corporation of America, the Scriven Foundation and the Wasserman Foundation, as well as numerous individual donors and community partners.

The exhibit opens during a year when Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Among the many legends highlighted in the exhibit, Ichiro is one of three players – along with current and former Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani and Hideo Nomo – who are the centerpieces of stories that explore how the countries have connected through their shared love of baseball.

“Yakyu | Baseball is the culmination of years of dedication and effort and features a new dynamic for exhibits at the Museum,” said Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “The exhibit tells the story of the exchange of ideas and talent that have made baseball so popular on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. We are proud to welcome guests to an experience that will highlight stories and elements never before seen in Cooperstown. This has been a tremendous institution-wide effort between our own dedicated staff and the exhibit’s design partner, Solid Light.”

In addition to three-dimensional artifacts such as Ichiro’s Team Japan batting helmet from the 2006 World Baseball Classic, his Mariners jersey from 2009 when he recorded his 200th hit for a record-breaking ninth consecutive season and balls used during Nomo’s two career no-hitters, the exhibit features interactive elements never before seen in the Museum.

Nomo, who attended the exhibit’s celebratory opening, is featured significantly for his role. His display features Manga-inspired graphics, videos from his record-setting career and allows visitors to try out his pitch grips on bronze baseballs. The Ichiro display includes a video element that projects highlights from his career related to artifacts displayed on a life-sized figure of the 2025 Hall of Fame electee. The Ohtani display includes a lenticular element depicting photos from his time as a two-way player with the Angels, Dodgers and Team Japan and a social media history of his career.

Yakyu | Baseball also includes the Museum’s first-ever video game element with the Winnie the Pooh Home Run Derby, courtesy of Walt Disney Games. Debuting in Japan in 2006, the game lets visitors test their skills in a home run contest – batting as Pooh against pitcher characters from the beloved children’s story.

The exhibit, which is presented in both Japanese and English, also features Make Your Own Print stations inspired by wood block prints and an immersive ballpark theater depicting the fan experience in both the United States and Japan.

The exhibit covers more than 1,800 square feet of space on the Museum’s third floor and features four aspects of the transpacific exchange of baseball:

• Japanese teams touring America, including tours by the Waseda University Baseball Club and Keio University Baseball Club in the early 1900s
• American teams touring Japan, including the first trip in 1907 and the massively popular tour featuring Babe Ruth in 1934
• Players born in the United States playing in Japan, including Wally Yonamine, LeRon and Leon Lee, Matt Murton, Warren Cromartie, Tuffy Rhodes and many more
• Players born in Japan playing in the United States, including Hideki Matsui, Kenichi Zenimura, Dave Roberts and Masanori Murakami and the new wave of rising stars

From Japanese stars like Sadaharu Oh and Eiji Sawamura to United States emissaries like Lefty O’Doul to some of today’s biggest superstars, the United States and Japan’s shared love of baseball has spawned thousands of individual friendships and helped bring the nations together during times of peace, conflict and reconciliation.

For more information on the exhibit, please visit baseballhall.org/yakyu. Information is also available in Japanese at baseballhall.org/jp/yakyu.

The Class of 2025 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. The Induction Ceremony will be carried live on MLB Network.