1. Japanese Baseball Players By: Aaron Bible

2. History of Japanese Baseball Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. It was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, who taught at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was created in 1878.

3. 1 st Japanese player in U.S. Masamori Murakami was the first Japanese baseball player to play in the U.S.. He played for the San Francisco Giants for just over 1 season. He debuted on September 1, 1964. His last major league appearance on October 1, 1965. He actually had some success here with a career ERA of 3.43 in his MLB career.

4. Here he is folks.

5. Hideo Nomo He was the second Japanese player to play in MLB. He had a very successful MLB career spanning 13 MLB seasons. His career highlights feature rookie of the year in 1995. Plus throwing two no-hitters in both 1996 and 2001.

6. Hideo Nomo everybody…

7. Ichiro/Hedeki Matsui Ichiro sighed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and has played greatly with them ever since. He has the record for most hits in a single season at 256. In 2001 he received MVP and rookie of the year award in the same year. Hedeki Matsui a.k.a. “Godzilla”. Has played in the Majors since and has had similar success, although his power is fading.

8. Tsuyoshi Nishioka In the last offseason the Twins outbid every other team for the right to negotiate on a contract with him. He later agreed on a three year deal worth 9.75 million dollars. Just 10 days after making his debut, Nishioka broke his fibula trying to turn a double play.

9. Pictures

10. Quick Facts There are 44 players from Japan who have played in the majors. There are 13 active players. There are 31 inactive or retired players. Most Japanese players who come over are pitchers. Japanese middle-infielders have not had much success in MLB.

11. Thanks for watching! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeIPsl Oqs3g