150 Years of US-Japan Baseball Diplomacy

Our project explores the important role baseball has played in shaping US-Japan relations over the past 150 years. In the Fall of 2023, we hosted a symposium at William & Mary with former players, coaches, scholars, and experts. In the Summer of 2024, we will hold a youth baseball exchange between US and Japanese little league teams in Japan.

This website serves as a resource for students of baseball diplomacy and US-Japan relations. In it you will find a historical timeline of baseball exchanges, an oral history database of players and coaches who speak to their experiences, and a data set of notable Japanese players who have played in the MLB (Major League Baseball) as well as notable American players who have played in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball league).

Professor Marcus Holmes, Ph.D.
Professor of Government and Government Department Chair at William & Mary

Professor Hiroshi Kitamura, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History and Director of International Relations at William & Mary

Professor Paul Manna, Ph.D.
Hyman Professor of Government and Director of the Public Policy Program at William & Mary

Meet the Students

A team of undergraduate students from the College of William & Mary support the Baseball Diplomacy 150 project through academic research, public outreach, and development initiatives. Working under the lead professors, these students have interests ranging from diplomacy, trade policy, cultural exchange through sports, and (of course) baseball.

Beatrice Ladrón de Guevara

International Relations | 2026

Team: Social Outreach, Trivia

Chabeli Yumang

International Relations | 2025

Team: Website-Database Development

Aggie Augustine

International Relations (German Minor) | 2026

Team: Social Outreach

Joe Shaklik

History | 2025

Team: Research

Ari Pearlstein

Government and American Studies | 2025

Team: Research

Samuel Huff

International Relations – Joint Degree Program | 2026

Team: Trivia, Research

“I work on a comparative study between Japanese-American Baseball Diplomacy and Sino-American Ping Pong Diplomacy from 1970 to 2011 with another student researcher, Jiexi. The goal of our research is to investigate the relationship between dynamic economic, cultural, and political contexts and how they transform sports diplomacy preferences of Japan and China regarding the United States during this period. Through process tracing, we are synthesizing and validating a more comprehensive model to shed light on the decision-making process of state’s sports diplomacy strategies.“
– Felix Tian

Bailey Nicholson

Public Policy | 2026

Team: Research

Mark Rindone

Government | 2025

Team: Website-Database Development, Research

Spencer Krivo

International Relations | 2026

Team: Research

Theodore Geis

Government and Accounting | 2025

Team: Trivia

Jackie Velotas

International Relations | 2026

Team: Website-Database Development

Sofia LoBue

International Relations | 2026

Team: Research

“The East Asian economic development model, exemplified by China and Japan, has historically incorporated sports diplomacy as an instrumental component in diverse scenarios. These nations, despite their shared cultural sympathies, economic evolution, and a shared competitive history with the United States, manifest divergent trajectories in their implementation of sports diplomacy. Japan has consistently underscored baseball diplomacy with the United States, forming an integral part of its sports diplomacy initiatives, leading to an expansive portfolio of sports communication programs.“
– Jiexi Lin