“Despite the treacherous attack that Japan made on us seven years later, I cannot help but feel that the reception which millions of Japanese gave us was genuine. They lined the streets of the Ginza, the Broadway of Tokyo, for miles, and greeted us as if we were real heroes…No doubt there were plenty of stinkers among them, but looking back at that visit, I feel it is another example of how a crackpot government can lead a friendly people into war. They couldn’t hit a lick, but I was surprised at their high class fielding, and the ability of some of their pitchers.” —Babe Ruth
DIAMOND DIPLOMACY is an hour-long HD documentary that explores the relationship between the United States and Japan through a shared love of baseball. Using the baseball life of Masanori “Mashi” Murakami (the first Japanese major leaguer) as a touchstone, DIAMOND DIPLOMACY reveals a surprising, obscure and often-controversial duality that has existed throughout this history. Dedication to the game has been tossed between the U.S. and Japan since the opening of Japan to the West in the late 1800s, and mirrors profound shifts in diplomacy and conflict between the two nations.
