The East is Red

Unlike the Maoist song of this name that glorifies the Cultural Revolution, this post is about a far more benevolent rebellion spreading across Japan, especially among the young. It's overthrowing the vestiges of a powerful Empire that's held sway in Japan and bringing heterogeneity to a closed society. This being baseball season I'm of course speaking of the Evil Empire of the New York Yankees and their rivals, the Red Sox of Boston.

The Yankees' clean cut, ruthlessly affluent hegemonic domination of baseball in America, coupled with their natural affiliation with their counterparts in Japan, Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants, made them the MLB team of choice for Japanese over the last several decades. Long time Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa was a notable exception but he doesn't seem to have converted many others in Japan to the Red Sox cause.

Change is apparent on the streets however as the Red Sox are becoming an increasingly fashionable counterculture option. Their idiosyncratic and individualistic persona personified by teams like the Cowboys of 2003 or the Idiots of 2004 provided a counterpoint to the Yankees unending air of conformity. Curt Schilling's bloody sock victory in 2004 proved their spiritual mettle and elicited the affection of self sacrifice loving, yet iconoclastic Japanese everywhere.


Fenway Park bar in Kyoto (blog)


With the coming of Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka, reliever Hideki Okajima and former Dodgers closer Takahashi Saito the Sox have become much more familiar to the Japanese population. Continuing this trend, the Sox recently signed 22 year old Industrial League sensation Junichi Tazawa as part of their extensive scouting program in Japan.

It must be said that the team's amazing success in the last several years is an undeniable factor in their rising popularity. Despite Ivan Morris's superb work Nobility of Failure chronicling Japanese reverence for pure though unsuccessful heroes of the past such as Minamoto no Yoshitsune and the 47 Ronin, it is doubtful that Chicago's Lovable Losers, the Cubs will soon be joining that list.