Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Anyone knowledgeable about Japanese baseball (particularly vintage)

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,444
160
I picked up a lot of signed pictures from the 1931 US Tour of Japan. Most had American players (Grove, Simmons etc) but a few were signed by Japanese players including a number of players in the Japanese HOF. I know in the US market, HOF autographs are a very popular category to collect (especially those that died decades ago) but I wasn't sure whether that was the case with Japanese players, and if the items I won are particularly valuable.

Anyone knowledgeable about Japanese baseball (or maybe people who speak Japanese and can check out info on Japanese websites) would be greatly appreciated!
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
I mainly focus on Japanese players who come to the MLB. But I can read Japanese and have also visited card shops in Japan. If you have scans I can try to identify the autos and lookup their prices.
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,444
160
madbull34, any help would be really appreciated.

Scans are below.

All I've got on them (from asking around and doing my own research:

Atsushi Kono - Japanese HOF - Died 1946 - Kono was a star pitcher at Waseda University.
Hisashi Koshimoto - Japanese HOF - Died 1935 - Koshimoto was the manager at Keio University, Waseda's big rival.
T. Oshi-ta - Don't know who he is
Takizo Matsumoto Japanese HOF - Died 1958 - Matsumoto helped re-establish Japanese baseball after the war.
Jiro Ito - Ito played briefly in Japanese pro ball. He was terrible as a pro, but he had been a star at Hosei University in the early 30s
? - Someone else signed a few of the cards and is not identified on the PSA/DNA label and I haven't been able to find out any more

The rest of the signers on these are American...


scan0015.jpg
scan0008.jpg
scan0007.jpg
scan0006.jpg
scan0005.jpg
 
Last edited:

gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,617
3,198
Near Philly
Not really related but can anyone help me with about 200 vintage Japanese matchbooks.

I know NOTHING about them, and lot prices are all over the place...
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
madbull34, any help would be really appreciated.

Scans are below.

All I've got on them (from asking around and doing my own research:

Atsushi Kono - Japanese HOF - Died 1946 - Kono was a star pitcher at Waseda University.
Hisashi Koshimoto - Japanese HOF - Died 1935 - Koshimoto was the manager at Keio University, Waseda's big rival.
T. O****a - Don't know who he is
Takizo Matsumoto Japanese HOF - Died 1958 - Matsumoto helped re-establish Japanese baseball after the war.
Jiro Ito - Ito played briefly in Japanese pro ball. He was terrible as a pro, but he had been a star at Hosei University in the early 30s
? - Someone else signed a few of the cards and is not identified on the PSA/DNA label and I haven't been able to find out any more

The rest of the signers on these are American...


View attachment 80466
View attachment 80467
View attachment 80468
View attachment 80469
View attachment 80470

I'll take s stab at it tonight after I get home from work.
 

WizardofOz1982

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2017
1,733
1,498
Oklahoma
I can't help you with values or even info about the players but these are amazing. I've been fascinated with early Japanese baseball since I read "No-Hitter" (Chip Hilton book) as a kid.
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
The only Japanese baseball player with Oh****a T. would be Oh****a Tsuyoshi (大下剛史). But he was born in 1944 so he wouldn't match the 1931 inscription. The only other player with the surname Oh****a would be Oh****a Hiroshi (大下弘) 1922 - 1979 but he would've been 9 years old in 1931. So not him either. Must be a coach or official.
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
Looking up Koshien November 28 1931 brings up the Herb Hunter / Fred Lieb led all-stars that toured Japan. That would match the H. Hunter part. I looked up the Japanese all star team roster but didn't see a player named O****a.
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,444
160
madbull34

This is a huge help, thank you!

If you have any thoughts on the value of these, or know anything about the market for vintage Japanese HOF autographs, I'd really appreciate it. I'm really lost on trying to value them.

The pictures are all tied to the 1931 series (I probably should have said that). The lot had 21 pictures, though only a few had Japanese players (I added a few of the American players below)


View attachment 80547View attachment 80548View attachment 80549
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
I'll do some more digging around tomorrow but these are all super tough autographs with some of them deceased as early as the 1940s. It's certainly been fun researching these players I never knew anything about.
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,444
160
I'll do some more digging around tomorrow but these are all super tough autographs with some of them deceased as early as the 1940s. It's certainly been fun researching these players I never knew anything about.

Awesome, appreciate it!

[MENTION=1758]Ty Hope[/MENTION] ?

You still around pal?

Thanks!
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
Did some more digging around and figured out who T. O****a was. The PSA/DNA certification listed him as Tsunekichi O****a (大下常吉) 1898-1972. He was a star pitcher for Waseda then later became their manager. After the war he returned to his high school in Hachinohe to coach their baseball team. Here's a short article about him on the Hachinohe city website (It's in Japanese so you'll need to use Google translate).

http://www.city.hachinohe.aomori.jp/index.cfm/12,48060,43,265,html
 

madbull34

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2009
1,081
425
San Diego, CA
Here's the final breakdown of all 6 players. I've included their names in kanji in case anyone wants to do further digging around.

Atsushi Kono
河野安通志 1884ー1946 61yo
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/河野安通志

Tsunekichi O****a
大下常吉 1898-1972 73yo
http://www.city.hachinohe.aomori.jp/index.cfm/12,48060,43,265,html

Takizo Matsumoto
松本瀧藏 1901-1958 57yo
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/松本瀧藏

Jiro Ito
伊藤次郎 1910ー???
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/伊藤次郎

Hisashi Koshimoto
腰本寿 1894-1935 40yo
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/腰本寿

Takeji Nakano
中野武二 1884-1947 62yo
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/中野武二

I did simple searches around Yahoo auction Japan, Rakuten Japan and Mint Mall but all returned nothing. Couldn't even find sample images of their autographs using Google. So in conclusion I have no idea what to price them at. You'll most likely need to get a hold of some baseball historian/expert in Japan to get a ballpark figure.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Top