Baseball was introduced to Japan in the 1870s, supposedly by Horace Wilson a teacher at Ichiban Chugaku which is now Tokyo University. The game quickly grew very popular, but professional leagues were not organized until 1936 and did not really mature until after World War II. Pre-World War II Japanese baseball cards are extremely rare and usually show college players or generic baseball scenes. Typical cards of this period include postcards and both colorful hand-drawn and photo bookmarks.

Baseball became an obsession for many Japanese After World War II.  In 1950 two leagues were organized for pro teams, the Central and Pacific and baseball sports memorabilia grew. There are two major types of Japanese baseball cards from 1948-1957, menko and bromides.

Menko can be either rectangular, round, or die-cut. With colorful pictures of the players being displayed on the fronts, rectangular and die-cut menko usually have a variety of games printed on their backs. Round ones usually have blank backs. Menkos were commonly flipped by Japanese boys in the same way as pogs were flipped. Bromides were actual photographs printed on thin paper.

During the late-1950s many of the league's first stars, such as Tetsuharu Kawakami, Kaoru Betto and Fumio Fujimura had retired and new stars emerged, beginning a new era. Among the new stars were Shigeo Nagashima, Sadaharu Oh, Isao Harimoto, Katsuya Nomura, and Kazuhisa Inao. The predominant type of Japanese baseball cards during this period were rectangular menko, which are often called "Tobacco Type" cards by Americans. These cards were sold in hanging bundles called taba or in uncut sheets. American soldiers imported these in quantity to the states. They can still be found at major card shows - often in the oddball boxes.

Another popular Japanese baseball card set from this era are the 1964 Morinaga cards, which are postcard-size and come in two styles standups and Top Stars (non-standups). Brilliant color photos are displayed on the front and information about the player on the back.

The Yomiuri Giants won the first of nine straight Japan Series championships in 1965. Few Japanese baseball cards were issued during this period, although this winning streak is one of the most famous accomplishments in Japanese baseball history.

The valuable Kabaya Leaf set, issued in 1967, was the only major set produced during this time. This set of Japanese baseball cards consisted of 105 cards and included only players from the Giants, Dragons, Tigers, Flyers, Hawks and Lions. They were imported to the United States and were sold through baseball card newsletters. Because of this the set is rare and are more common in the U.S. than in Japan. The importer was not able to purchase equal amounts of each card in the set, thus there are four very rare and the other contains a square picture.

Calbee produced its first modern baseball card set of 91 cards in 1973. In each package of Calbee snack food - Calbee collectors found 1 card after eating the chips or throwing them away. Calbee has produced at least one baseball set each year. The number of cards in each set varies greatly from the mammoth 1, 436 card 1975/76 set to the small 1993 set of 144 cards.

These Calbee Japanese baseball cards come in four sizes. From 1973 to 1980, the cards were slightly smaller than standard American cards. During the 1980 series, the size was reduced to roughly the same as the 1950 Bowman cards. This size was kept until 1990 and the company once again changed the size in mid-series to the size of telephone cards. In 1998, the cards were increased to the size of modern American cards. Only a few collectors have put together the entire Calbee series.

During the 1970s and 80s Calbee was the most important producer of Japanese baseball cards. There were however other companies also produced sets during this period. Between 1976-1981, Yamakatsu released at least eleven sets. The cards from these sets were 7 by 10 inches to the size of 1950 Bowmans and generally have "pure" fronts containing only a color picture and printed backs relating facts about the pictured player.

In 1979, Takara introduced a baseball strategy game with individual cards for each player. Japanese baseball Card fronts included the player's picture and statistics while the backs contained potential outcomes of at bats based on the player's actual statistics. Participants rolled dice and checked the back of a card for the results of each at bat.

Two companies tried, with limited success, to enter the Japanese baseball card market during the late-1980s and early-1990s. Small sets of menko and other cards in 1988 and 1989 by I.M.T. These cards had colorful drawings of star players on their fronts and player information on their backs. In 1989 and 1990, the Lotte candy company produced sets of 120 cards, which were approximately telephone card size and contained attractive actions photos on the front and statistics on the back. The 1989 Lotte cards are especially desirable for Japanes baseball card memorabilia collectors.

In 1991 the Japanese baseball card industry was transformed when BBM issued their first set of 399 cards. The set included most of the active players as well as cards of league leaders and a special subset of all-time great players and were patterned after modern American cards. BBM produces a basic set, small sets honoring the All-Star games and the Japan Series, special team sets, and since 1996 a premium set annually.

If you are interested in Japanese baseball cards look for:

Sayonara Home Run!: The Art of the Japanese Baseball Card

Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball

Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game (Writing Baseball)

Baseball's Other All-Stars: The Greatest Players from the Negro Leagues, the Japanese Leagues, the Mexican League, and the Pre-1960 Winter Leagues in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic
Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball

Japanese Baseball: A Statistical Handbook