Aloha and Sayonara: The 1940 Keio University Baseball Tour of Hawaii

During the summer of 1940, in contrast to the downwardly spiraling political relationship between Japan and the United States, the Keio University baseball team traveled from Tokyo to the Hawaiian Islands. Aloha and Sayonara tells the story of the last Japanese baseball team to visit the Hawaiian Islands – a tradition that dated back to 1908 - before the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. With game-by-game, and almost day-by-day coverage, this is a never-before-told insight into the lives of 15 young Japanese college students who came to play baseball, the game they loved, and were soon to be in deadly conflict with their new-found friends. Aloha and Sayonara explores their early years, their time in Hawaii and then follows the young players’ journey back to Japan. For some, the journey continues to post-war professional baseball. For others it ends on the battlefields of the Pacific islands. Brought to you by the author of Baseball in Hawaii During World War II and a recognized expert on World War II baseball for over 25 years, this is the first complete account of the 1940 Keio University baseball tour of Hawaii. Featuring photographs that haven’t been seen for over 80 years, Aloha and Sayonara takes you back to the summer of 1940, when baseball was the number one game in town.