The Crisis in Pro Baseball and Japan’s Lost Decade

“Dr. Paul Dunscomb expertly shows that Japan's pro baseball is both a national sport and a barometer of national change. Accessibly written with remarkable detail, Japan's Pro Baseball Crisis of 2004 challenges prevailing views of Heisei-period Japan through the story of an industry in crisis, its major players, and the larger lessons it teaches about society, economics and resilience.” Alisa Freedman, Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture, University of Oregon, USA. “Baseball may be Japan’s national pastime, but in 2004 the financial struggles of the Japanese professional leagues erupted onto the headlines as a full-fledged spectator sport. In a fast-paced narrative that takes readers into the boardroom (as well as the locker room), Paul Dunscomb tells the engrossing story of a pivotal moment in the evolution of Japanese baseball, when elite club owners, players and their unions, maverick tech entrepreneurs, a sensationalistic sports media, and loyal (but often marginalized) fans jockeyed for the future of the game. Adeptly contextualizing professional baseball within the sweeping changes in society, politics, and business during Japan’s millennial “Lost Decade,” this volume is an essential addition to the scholarly literature on Japanese sports and a major contribution to the history of contemporary Japan.” William M. Tsutsui, Professor of Japanese History and President, Ottawa University (Ottawa, KS), Canada.