Militarism and Pressure on Baseball
Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Japanese society rapidly militarized, and professional baseball was not spared. As the movement to eliminate 'enemy language' intensified, English team names were banned in 1940. The Tokyo Yomiuri became 'Tokyo Kyojin-gun' and the Tigers became 'Hanshin-gun.' Baseball terminology was replaced with Japanese equivalents: strikes became 'yoshi' (good) and balls became 'dame' (no good). Flag-raising ceremonies and the national anthem became mandatory before games, and players sometimes marched in national uniforms over their baseball attire. Baseball was transformed from entertainment into a tool for national prestige.
Player Conscription and War Deaths
As the war situation deteriorated, draft notices reached professional baseball players. Eiji Sawamura was conscripted three times, and his right shoulder, overworked from grenade-throwing drills, lost its pitching ability. In December 1944, Sawamura died at age 27 when his transport ship was sunk. Beyond Sawamura, many players including Masaru Kageura and Masaki Yoshihara lost their lives on the battlefield. The successive loss of founding-era star players represented an immeasurable blow to Japanese baseball. The Eiji Sawamura Award, established after the war, was created to eternally commemorate his achievements and sacrifice.
Biographies of Eiji Sawamura are also helpful
1944-1945 - Crisis of Survival
The 1944 season was barely completed amid intensifying air raids and player shortages. Teams managed with roughly 15 players each, and the number of games was drastically reduced. Korakuen Stadium was requisitioned as a military supply depot, making it extremely difficult to secure venues. By 1945, the intensification of mainland air raids made official games completely impossible. However, some officials continued efforts to keep professional baseball alive through unofficial games and morale-boosting exhibitions in rural areas. Many records from this period have been lost, but the determination of those who sought to preserve baseball during wartime made the rapid postwar revival possible.
Postwar Revival and Lessons of War
In November 1945, just three months after the war's end, an East-West exhibition game was held at Jingu Stadium. Approximately 15,000 spectators gathered amid the ruins, making the event a symbol of hope for postwar recovery. The pennant race resumed in 1946, and professional baseball rapidly regained its status as national entertainment. The wartime experience demonstrated both the danger of sports being exploited for political and military purposes and the power of sports as a spiritual pillar for people. NPB continues to hold 'Peace Day' events around August 15 each year to ensure the memories of war are not forgotten.
International Comparison - Baseball in Wartime
While Japanese professional baseball faced an existential crisis, Major League Baseball in the United States continued official play throughout World War II. President Roosevelt's so-called Green Light Letter of 1942 endorsed the continuation of the season. Even so, MLB lost many star players to military service, and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was established as an alternative. The critical difference from Japan was that the American mainland never became a battlefield and the government did not directly suppress sports. This contrast demonstrates that the survival of sports in wartime depends heavily on both the political system and the progression of the conflict.
Baseball as Wartime Propaganda
The military did not merely suppress baseball but also exploited it for boosting morale. Farewell games for conscripted players served as staged demonstrations of 'home front unity,' and newspapers portrayed player deployments as heroic narratives. Players were also dispatched to the front lines for troop entertainment, their athletic skills repurposed to raise soldiers' spirits. While such use cast players in a heroic light, it subordinated baseball's value as a sport to state objectives. After the war, many involved described this period as something that must never be repeated, and protecting the autonomy of sports became an entrenched consensus throughout the baseball world.
Military Repurposing of Stadiums
During wartime, stadiums themselves were repurposed for military use. Korakuen Stadium was used as a munitions depot from late 1944, and Koshien Stadium was also placed under military control. Jingu Stadium was requisitioned for anti-aircraft positions and military training grounds, and its grass was converted to farmland for food production. The process of converting stadiums to military facilities illustrates how the priority of entertainment infrastructure plummeted under wartime conditions. Immediately after the war, many of these stadiums were returned in dilapidated condition, but officials rapidly undertook restoration work to prepare for the resumption of play. Stadium restoration was widely recognized not merely as repair of buildings but as an act symbolizing the normalization of civilian life.