You Gotta Have Wa [Paperback]

A hilarious, informative, and riveting account of Japanese baseball and the cultural clashes that ensued when Americans began playing there professionally.

In Japan, baseball is a way of life. It is a philosophy. It isbesuboru. Its most important element iswa—group harmony—embodied in the proverb "The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down." In this witty and incisive book, Robert Whiting gives us a close-up look atbesuboru's teams, obsessive ritualism, and history, as seen through the eyes of American players who found the Japanese approach—rigorouspregame practices, the tolerance fortiegames,injuredpitchers encouraged to “pitch through the pain”—completely baffling. With vivid accounts of East meeting West, involving Babe Ruth, Ichiro Suzuki, Bobby Valentine, Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh, and many others, this lively and completely unique book is an utter gem and baseball classic.“The definitive book on Japanese baseball and one of the best-written sports books ever.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Run, or at least jog, to the nearest bookstore and buyYou Gotta Have Wa.”
—New York Times Book Review

“Far more than a sports book.”
—David Halberstam

“Bob Whiting has done it again! . . . A book that will please baseball fans and enlighten anyone interested in Japanese-American relations.”
—James Fallows,Atlantic MonthlyRobert Whiting is the author ofYou Gotta Have Waand is one of the very few Westerners to write a regular column in the Japanese press. He has appeared as a commentator in documentaries about Japan and on such shows asLarry King LiveandThe MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. He has also written forThe New York Times,Sports Illustrated,Smithsonian,Newsweek,U.S. News and World Reportl3.