"In this place of sadness, injustice and pain, we will do something joyful, righteous and healing.
We will play baseball."
HISTORY
Japanese people have been passionate about baseball for over 150 years, ever since its introduction to Japan in the 1870s. When Japanese immigrants began coming to America they brought their love of the game with them, passing it on to their American-born children, the Nisei generation. Prior to WWII, Japanese American baseball flourished up and down the west coast, in big cities and small farm towns alike. On December 7, 1941 that world was shattered as loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry became identified with "the enemy".
Manzanar National Historic Site was the first of ten major Japanese American internment camps constructed in the early months of 1942. Located in the Owens Valley 225 miles north of Los Angeles, Manzanar held over 10,000 Japanese American people. Throughout the ten camps over 120,000 people, most of them American citizens, were imprisoned without due process of law in the largest mass incarceration in United States history.
Wartime incarceration devastated Japanese American communities, but one aspect of pre-war life they were able to hang on to was baseball. Even through incarceration their passion for the game remained strong. The National Pastime took on powerful symbolic meaning, and the baseball diamond became a sacred space to enact a quintessential American ritual. In the words of Manzanar incarceree Takeo Suo:
"Putting on a baseball uniform was like wearing the American flag."
TODAY
Through its historical re-enactment doubleheader played on Manzanar's lovingly restored ballfield, the Manzanar Baseball Project honors Japanese Americans who found a way to play the game they loved in spite of injustice.
This project is a tribute to the spirit and determination of the Japanese American community, the power of baseball to uplift and unite people, and the importance of safeguarding the rights and principles enshrined in our Constitution.
WE'RE BRINGING
JAPANESE AMERICAN HISTORY
TO LIFE
Join us on this journey to preserve, celebrate, and share the unique role of baseball in helping the Japanese American community to persevere through wartime incarceration.
Let's swing for the fences (or tumbleweeds) and make this project a home run!
EXHIBITION DOUBLEHEADER
Fall 2025
(Great Leap's project)
RSVP HERE TO ATTEND
Led by Great Leap's Associate Artistic Director, Dan Kwong, last year's semi-private "soft opening" doubleheader was a powerful experience for the lucky few in attendance. With the 2025 Grand Opening, we expect an even more impactful day of baseball, community spirit, and social justice.
Great Leap extends heartfelt thanks to our incredible partners and the many generous donors who supported the 2024 doubleheader.
* Manzanar National Historic Site
* Southern California Nisei Athletic Union Baseball League (SCNAU)
* Northern California Japanese American Baseball League
* History For Hire Prop House
* California Wellness Foundation
* Japanese American National Museum
* Independence Volunteer Fire Department
* Los Angeles Dodgers
* Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument Committee
* 18th Street Arts Center
* Highways Performance Space
* Owens Valley Unifed School District
* Los Angeles DWP
* Mike Boulia
BALLFIELD RESTORATION (Manzanar's project)
Led by performance artist Dan Kwong, key elements of the field—including the backstop, foul-line fencing, bleachers, and player benches—were successfully reconstructed in Summer 2024. Since then, Dan and his dedicated crew have been hard at work restoring the next major features: a 22-foot-tall announcer booth and a centerfield scoreboard—two of the most challenging structures in the project. Restoration is expected to be completed in time for the Exhibition Doubleheader in the Fall.
All restoration efforts are based on a few archival photographs and limited wartime documentation, under the guidance of Construction Supervisor Chris Siddens, with consultation from Manzanar archaeologist Jeff Burton and support from the Manzanar staff.
THANK YOU to our major community partners who have generously donated expertise & resources for restoration work:
The Fund for People in Parks
LPA Design Studios — Telacu Construction Nous Engineering — Herrick Steel
Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio
Toyo Miyatake Studio
