The Nisei Baseball Research Project (NBRP) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

organization documenting, preserving and exhibiting history of

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. It was founded by Kerry Yo Nakagawa, the author of ''Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball''. The NBRP's mission is to bring awareness and education about Japanese American Concentration Camps during World War II, through the prism of their multimedia projects and baseball. Also to recognize the many prewar Issei and Nisei ballplayers that never got an opportunity to play in Major League Baseball because of the 'color line' and their contribution as our American Baseball Ambassadors in the early 1920s and 1930s in Japan, Korea and Manchukuo, China. These ballplayers also kept the All-American Pastime alive during their incarceration during World War II as they played 'behind barbed wire' and again were denied of professional MLB careers. The project began on May 4, 1996, at the Fresno Museum as the first exhibit to display the photos, memorabilia, artifacts, and text history of the '' Nikkei'' in baseball. The exhibit covers the pre-war, Japanese Internment, and

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

periods and the legacy of the legends of Japanese American baseball. On July 19, the National Japanese American Historical Society co-sponsored the exhibit to venues in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Oakland, and San Jose. On July 20, a Tribute to the Legends of the Nisei Baseball League was held before 50,000 fans at Candlestick Park. CNN News, Japan Baseball Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, the

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and KNBR all covered this event. The exhibit has been featured at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown New York, the

California State Capitol Museum The California State Capitol Museum consists of a museum in and grounds around the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California, United States. The building has been the home of the California State Legislature since 1869. The State Ca ...

, the Arizona Hall of Fame Museum, the Portland Hall of Fame Museum in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, the Four Rivers Cultural Center & Museum in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum, and the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. Internationally, the exhibit was on display at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. In 2000, the Nisei Baseball Research Project produced a 35-minute documentary film, entitled ''Diamonds in the Rough: The Legacy of Japanese American Baseball'', which was produced by Chip Taylor and narrated by Pat Morita. NBRP has co-produced two curriculums through the Stanford Program of International and Cross Cultural Education and produced the dramatic narrative film '' American Pastime'' released by Warner Bros. in 2007.

External links

Official Site
History of baseball Japanese-American history Research projects Japanese-American organizations 501(c)(3) organizations Projects established in 1996 Baseball organizations in the United States

See also

External links