2017-04-26

Historical Collection of Japanese Baseball in Early 20th Century Reemerges to the Public

(Funabashi City, Chiba) The Exhibition Hall of Yoshizawa Baseball Museum in Funabashi Arena opened to the public on April 22, 2017, accompanied by the signing of cooperation agreement between Funabashi City (Tohru Matsudo, Mayor) and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Tokyo to promote sports culture of baseballrnHuge store of baseball memorabilia and valuable art works had been displayed at Yoshizawa Baseball Museum and Art Gallery in Funabashi City for 35 years from 1979 to March, 2015 and its 5,300 contents were donated to Funabashi City following the will of late Mr. Zenkichi Yoshizawa who put his own money for the collection and the elaborate buildingrnMost of the Museum’s collection relates to Tokyo Big-6 League at the height its prosperity before the World War II when players of Waseda, Keio, Meiji, Hosei, Tokyo and Rikkio Universities enjoyed higher popularity than professional players or film stars in those days. An original poster advertising visit of Babe Ruth and MLB All Stars is one of the attractionsrnFunabashi City plans to replace the exhibits periodically aiming to build a bridge between the past, the present and the futurern