Fumio Fujimura 1949 Japanese Bromide

I hadn't done much with my Japanese cards in a year or so it seems so I picked up something to add to my 'type' collection. I didn't have a Bromide card of this sort and it was pretty reasonable so I bought it. The set is classified as the JBR 13 1949 Yakyu Shonen. The set consists of 36 cards of Japanese players and 12 cards of the San Francisco Seals' PCL team. The cards were distributed in sheets and the individual cards were hand cut from these sheets. I found a picture of the Seals cards. It's at the bottom of the post.

The front side text under the picture consists of his name and position with his team (Tigers) in parenthesis. The same info (plus the players age) runs down the right side of the card's back. At least that is my understanding..... Fujimura is listed as being 34 years old on the card and his Baseball Reference page puts him at 32 in 1949.

Fumio Fujimura is a Japanese Hall of Famer who played, mostly as an infielder, for the Hanshin/Osaka Tigers both before and after World War II. He finished his baseball career as the Tigers' manager in 1957. He had managed them at the age of 29 in 1946 and took over again in 1955

Here is his page from the Japanese Hall web site (English version):

The first "Mr. Tiger"; famous for his aggressiveness

Inducted 1974 Category Elected by the Selection Committee for Players From Hiroshima Born August 14,1916 Died May 28,1992 Alma Mater Taisho (Goko) Junior High School

The winning pitcher in Koshien (1934) joined the Tigers in 1936 and played as a clutch hitter until his retirement in 1958.The aggressive"Mr.Tigers,"home-run king in '49, MVP in '50, was famous for his long "wash-line pole bat.

I'm not sure what a "wash-line pole bat" is but maybe this shot of Fujimura gives an idea:

Here are the 12 SF Seals included in this set:

4-n-1 Japanese Bromide

At it's simplest the difference between Bromides and Menkos is that Bromides are photos printed on photo paper while Menkos are cruder, usually hand-drawn cards that are much more colorful. That's a very broad generalization but accurate to a point. The featured card is a '4 in 1' Bromide card which is from the set classified as JBR3 1960 Doyusha Black and White. There is a corresponding Color set. Doyusha appears to be a hobby company which currently markets scale model planes, tanks, science toys, etc. The reverse has playing card elements.

This Bromide features four Japanese players who are, clockwise from upper right:

Kiyoshi Oishi... he started and relieved for nearly two decades for Hiroshima. In 1962 he led all pitchers in losses, walks and homers allowed. Ouch.

Morimichi Iwashita... he played for three teams from the early 50s through the early 60s. Not much on the 'net about him.

Wally Yonamine... a fascinating figure who played in the AAFL for the 49ers as well as Japanese baseball. He was a Japanese American born in Hawaii and became known as the 'Jackie Robinson' of Japanese baseball due to the resistance he received as an American. I have Robert Fitts' acclaimed book queued up in my reading rotation. He's a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame having had a sterling career as outfielder and manager until his 1988 retirement. Lots more on this website.

Tatsuro Hirooka... another Hall of Famer he played as a shortstop and managed before becoming GM of the Chiba Lotte Marines and was well known for firing wildly popular manager Bobby Valentine in 1995.

I've scanned the card next to a current Topps card for size comparison purposes.