Makoto Herai made a name for himself as a pitcher for Fukuoka Middle School at both the 1927 and 1928 National High School Baseball Championships at Koshien. He formed a top flight battery with catcher Eiji Murata that brought the school to the last games of the tournament in both years before losing in the end. Following graduation, Herai enrolled at Meiji University in the Tokyo Big Six University league, where he pitched until 1933. While he was a decent pitcher for Meiji U., he was not the superstar that he was in high school. This photo, autographed in English with a fountain pen, was taken by Mitsuhiko Fujita during Herai's high school heyday. Herai put his pen to the photo on the same day that it was taken. The other player in the photo is unknown.

Size: 3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Condition: Autograph--9.5 out of 10. Photo--would be Nm/Mt but has extra paper, paper loss and glue residue from being previously mounted in a photo album.