You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage)

On the surface, this is a treatise about baseball in Japan. Only slightly underneath, it's a fascinating work on the difference between Japanese and American culture. The title word Wa comes from the Japanese word for team unity, as opposed to the American interest in individuality. The book goes through both a history of baseball in Japan, as well as challenges American's deal with over there. It covers the trials and tribulations of Americans like Bob Horner, who thrive on the diamond, but struggle off the field. It covers the adverserial relationship between Japanese coaches and their foreign (Gai-jin) charges. Any American going to work in Japan is well advised to pay attention! How is Japan changing over time? Compare how the approval of "different" antics of foreigners changes over time. Learn how some Japanese players follow the model, but as the exception and not the rule. Is the Japanese culture changing, or a surface appearance of change part of the Japanese character? Read the book to find out. Again, it's only about baseball on the surface. How does training differ? The American model suggests individuals can improve, but only to the limit of their ability. The Japanese model in both the field and the office is that there is no limit - strength and success is limited only by effort. This drive leads to a 10-11 month season counting training camp, as well as several hours of strenuous exercizes every day before practice. This is essential to developing the fighting spirit. Again, someone travelling to Japan for business is well advised to understand this. The book is a must for baseball lovers as well as people interested in learning more about Japan. The book is a fascinating work that hides great learning behind Japan under the story of America's pastime.

This book is about Japanese Baseball and WA. But it is mostly about WA. The book examines the conflict between "American individualism" and Japanese WA in the crucible of Japanese baseball. As a non traveling Western, Southern actually, I doubt I will experience WA. As a Japanophile, WA is of keen interest to me. WA defies single word or concept translation. The author has example after example of different adaptations or non-adaptations of MBL players with the WA in Japanese baseball. I am not a baseball fan. But I found this book was engrossing, educational, entertaining, and at times funny. It helped me get a little more understanding of Japanese culture. This book was a great read. I will be looking for more of his books in English and in Japanese.

Excellent book ! Having Wa drives success!!! Should be required HS reading…

Even casual American baseball fans are aware that they play what we call "our national pastime" in Japan. We see players such as Ichiro, Dice-K, Godzilla (Hideki Matsui) and Kosuke Fukudome join the rosters of some of the best-known MLB teams and, especially in the case of Ichiro, do well. Casual fans also know of the great Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh, who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (but they are aware of the differences in the level of play and the dimensions of the ballparks). White Sox fans will never forget the contributions made by second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to the White Sox's 2005 World Series championship. And most casual fans are also aware that occasionally middle-of-the-road American ballplayers, or older players on the downside of their careers, decide to play in Japan for whatever reason. This creates curiosity about the state of baseball in Japan: what is the game like there? How does it compare to the American game? What is it like to play baseball in Japan? "You Gotta Have Wa" does an admirable job of answering these questions and more. As portrayed in "You Gotta Have Wa", there are some very significant differences in baseball as played in the United States and Japan. Japanese baseball apparently draws upon the martial arts and samurai warrior tradition in Japan. The culture and work ethic of a Japanese baseball team, whether at the high school, college or professional level, is a product of the hard-working, self-sacrificing, master/pupil culture of the Japanese people. The most interesting aspect of "You Gotta Have Wa" is how it uses Japanese baseball to illustrate aspects of Japanese culture. "You Gotta Have Wa" should appeal to more than just baseball fans - it also should appeal to readers interested in modern-day Japanese culture. My only complaint about "You Gotta Have Wa" is that I was hoping the book would be a bit more in-depth and slightly less sensational. The chapters read like a series of magazine articles, and I have a hard time believing that the Japanese fans are quite as fanatical as portrayed in the book, or the coaches as demanding. I suspect Robert Whiting exaggerated a bit for maximum effect. The book also could have benefited from an index, as the chapters are organized by topic, and many players and story lines appear in multiple chapters - hence an index would have helped the reader chase down everything about a particular player or incident. Those minor flaws aside, "You Gotta Have Wa" is definitely worth reading if you at all interested in Japanese baseball or Japanese culture.

Wow, this book is a real eye-opener. I had no idea Japanese baseball mentality was this extreme. Since this book is 20 years old, I'm curious if anything has changed. I sure hope so because the players go through hell and the people are portrayed as extremely racist. The bias against "gaijins" (any player who isn't Japanese) will have your blood boiling if you believe in fair play. However, there are a lot of laughs in here, too, and a lot of fascinating looks at baseball in Japan, from the owners, to the front office to the players and to the fans. Frankly, at least prior to 1990, most of them sounded like crazy people and generally mean-spirited. Then again, there have been crazy people in Major League Baseball, too! However, it's nothing like reported here by author Robert Whiting. Some of these accounts are absolutely shocking, and you'd think it was all exaggeration. But it isn't, and Whiting always gives both sides of every controversy. The players who have gone over to Japan and played say this is the way it was....and they either adapt or come home bitter and angry. Most of them wound up the latter. Overall, this book is absolutely fascinating reading.

野球を通して日本人と日本文化を客観的に見つめることができます。日本式野球練習法から、日本人に合った学校および職場での教育指導法が思い浮かんできます。無理して外国流儀を取り入れるまでもなく、日本人は日本人に合ったやり方でやってみて、成果がこれ以上上がらないと思われるところまで行ったほうがよいということでしょう。文化は簡単には変えられませんし。そして自信がついたところで、外国流を試すのが賢いやり方だと思います。この本では、日本人は「練習しすぎだ」と繰り返されていますが、そこから生まれたのがイチローであることに誇りを持ちたいですね。イチローはアメリカ選手の怠惰を嘆いているのですから。いずれにせよ、日本文化の確認には最適の一冊です。