Yuriko Gamo Romer

Long considered America’s official pastime, ever since baseball was introduced to Japan in the late 19th century, the sport has become a mutual obsession between the two nations. A key factor in bridging the cultural gap between East and West, baseball has also been used as a way to combat anti-Japanese prejudices in the US from WWII to the present day. Documentarian Yuriko Gamo Romer (Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful) traces the long, shared history behind our mutual love of the old ballgame, from Japan’s embrace of Black players in the 1930s to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and their fellow all-stars playing exhibition games overseas to the era of contemporary MLB heavy hitters like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, and (of course) Shohei Ohtani. Diamond Diplomacy is a fascinating and definitive look at how nine innings changed the way two countries communicate across a great divide. Play ball!

Stripped of their constitutional rights, their homes, businesses, and dignity, 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced into dusty desolate camps, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. Ironically it was the All-American pastime of baseball that saved their sanity.