Baseball Menko
Encyclopedia
Baseball menko are an early type of Japanese baseball card
, originally designed for use in the children's game of menko
, but now avidly collected by baseball fans and card collectors. ("Menko" is both the singular and the plural form.) The earliest known baseball menko, a generic baseball player, was from 1897. Baseball menko exist in three shape categories: round, die-cut, and rectangular, and in a variety of sizes. The earliest baseball menko card set in Gary Engel's Japanese Baseball Card Checklist and Price Guide is from 1929, depicting black and white (or sepia) images of Big Six University players. They are called the "1929 Nichieido Seika B&W Photo Bookmark Menko." (Before the beginning of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 1936, the teams of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
were considered the epitome of baseball in Japan.) The earliest die-cut and round menko sets cataloged by Engel are from 1947. The "1947 Diecut Menko" are 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) wide by 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) high, with color caricatures of six NPB players, including star players Tetsuharu Kawakami
and Hiroshi Ohshita
(Oshita). The backs each contain:
1. A paper/stone/scissors symbol,
2. The player's family name in kanji
,
3. The player's team nickname in katakana
,
4. A line drawing of a generic baseball player,
5. A 5- or 6-digit number.
The "1947 Red or Blue Borders" round menko were 1 7/8 inches (47.5 mm) in diameter, with cartoon-like players on the front and blank backs. The team name in English, an arithmetic addition or subtraction, and the player name and sometimes position in kanji were also on the front.
There are a wide variety of Japanese baseball cards that are not called "menko", including bromides (blank-backed photos originally made with silver bromide paper); cards packaged with food, candy, and gum, including Calbee brand cards; game cards, including karuta cards and Takara brand cards; and the very numerous card sets issued since 1991 by Baseball Magazine SHA (BBM).
The book Sayonara Home Run! by John Gall and Gary Engel contains a wealth of photos of a wide variety of baseball menko.
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
, originally designed for use in the children's game of menko
Menko
Menko is a Japanese card game played by two or more players. It is also the name of the type of cards used to play this game. Each player uses Menko cards made from thick paper or cardboard, with one or both side printed with images from anime, manga, etc...
, but now avidly collected by baseball fans and card collectors. ("Menko" is both the singular and the plural form.) The earliest known baseball menko, a generic baseball player, was from 1897. Baseball menko exist in three shape categories: round, die-cut, and rectangular, and in a variety of sizes. The earliest baseball menko card set in Gary Engel's Japanese Baseball Card Checklist and Price Guide is from 1929, depicting black and white (or sepia) images of Big Six University players. They are called the "1929 Nichieido Seika B&W Photo Bookmark Menko." (Before the beginning of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 1936, the teams of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area...
were considered the epitome of baseball in Japan.) The earliest die-cut and round menko sets cataloged by Engel are from 1947. The "1947 Diecut Menko" are 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) wide by 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) high, with color caricatures of six NPB players, including star players Tetsuharu Kawakami
Tetsuharu Kawakami
is a former Japanese baseball player and manager. Born in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto, he was nicknamed "God of batting" as a player. In 1951, he had whiffed only 6 times, which is the Japanese single-season tie record. He was ruthless as a manager, but it made his team strong...
and Hiroshi Ohshita
Hiroshi Ohshita
was a Japanese professional baseball player. Hall of famer-Early life:Born in Sannomiya Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture on December 15, 1922, His father died in the war when he was in childhood. His family moved to Gaoshun, Taiwan. He grew up in Gaoshun, Taiwan. He graduated from Gaoshun Commercial...
(Oshita). The backs each contain:
1. A paper/stone/scissors symbol,
2. The player's family name in kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
,
3. The player's team nickname in katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
,
4. A line drawing of a generic baseball player,
5. A 5- or 6-digit number.
The "1947 Red or Blue Borders" round menko were 1 7/8 inches (47.5 mm) in diameter, with cartoon-like players on the front and blank backs. The team name in English, an arithmetic addition or subtraction, and the player name and sometimes position in kanji were also on the front.
There are a wide variety of Japanese baseball cards that are not called "menko", including bromides (blank-backed photos originally made with silver bromide paper); cards packaged with food, candy, and gum, including Calbee brand cards; game cards, including karuta cards and Takara brand cards; and the very numerous card sets issued since 1991 by Baseball Magazine SHA (BBM).
The book Sayonara Home Run! by John Gall and Gary Engel contains a wealth of photos of a wide variety of baseball menko.