Ink signatures in Japanese of 29 members of the 1934 All-Japan team on an off-white 9.5 x 10.5 cardstock sheet of ‘shikishi’ paper, including Usaburo Shintomi, Tokue Ihara, Gohito Eguchi, Isamu Fuma, Daisuke Miyake, Kumeyasu Yajima, Eiichiro Yamamoto, Victor Starffin, Yoshio Asanuma, Toyoo Sawa, Toshio Sakurai, Tokio Tominaga, Shinji Hamazaki, Jiro Kuji, Osamu Mihara, Yoshikazu Takeda, Shigeru Mizuhara, Eiji Sawamura, Nobuo Kura, Rokuro Kojima, Tadao Ichioka, Haruyasu Nakajima, Fujio Nagasawa, Tsukasa Asakura, Minoru Yamashita, Hasanori Karita, Yutaka Ikeda, and Kenichi Aoshiba. In very good to fine condition, with scattered creases and a small stain to one edge. Pre-certified by Japanese baseball expert Gary Engel.
In 1934 a selection of America's greatest ballplayers—the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx—went on a remarkably successful barnstorming tour of Japan, solidifying the popularity of baseball in the country. A team of the best Japanese players was assembled to face off against their American counterparts, touring the nation for a series of exhibition matches. Despite the talent on the All-Japan team, the Americans—rife with accomplished Hall of Famers—won all 15 games. The highlight on the Japanese side of the diamond was the performance of Eiji Sawamura, a 17-year-old flamethrower who struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, and Charlie Gehringer, in succession; Sawamura is also an incredibly rare signature, as he was killed just a decade later when his his ship was torpedoed in during World War II. This is an exceptionally historic piece—this team-signed sheet is of the utmost rarity and full of Japanese Hall of Famers and icons that laid the foundation for the success of baseball in Japan. Pre-certified Steve Grad/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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