Why do all Japanese baseball players shave their heads?

sunset men sunrise jogging

For the longest time, I’ve wondered why, with what seems to be a 100% compliance rate, Japanese baseball players all have a shaved head (well, at least the young ones). So I did a bit of research and found this article (in Japanese). It turns out it’s a remnant from the war, that just didn’t stop once the war was over.

During the war, with all metal and other resources needed to be used for the war effort, baseball started to get a bad wrap. Until a professor at Waseda University by the name of Tobita Suishu managed to convince the right people that baseball was good for the war effort.

By practicing baseball, such as hitting the bat 1000 times, or doing running drills, and in the case of Japan, having a shaved head, students could learn discipline and perseverance, traits that would serve them well in the war.

Once the war ended, these traditions continued, even though Tobita really only wanted to keep the game alive. And it’s a tradition that, rightly or wrongly (very stupidly in my opinion) continues to this day.

ENJOYED THIS? HAVE MORE.

MOUNTAINS OF WISDOM

Subscribe to my yamabushi newsletter

RECENT BLOG POSTS

pexels-photo-10573462.jpeg
Don’t believe the hype
Connecting with People
person running on dirt road
Kiwi Insights

YAMABUSHI BLOG POSTS

man in white shirt using macbook pro
A case of The Resistance
young athletes preparing for running in training hall
The last spurt
We can change the culture

RANDOM POSTS

Getting fired
black camera recorder
Stuck in your creativity? Try Third-person thinking
man in white and black striped long sleeve shirt
Process and progress: how slow is too slow?
Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Get In Touch

Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan 

tim@timbunting.com

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading...
Scroll to Top