Here we see the All Japan team marching onto the field to face the San Francisco Seals.  HOFer and manager Kazuto Tsuruoka is leading the parade.  HOFer Shigeru Chiba is right behind him, carrying the team banner.  Third in line is the immortal Victor Starffin who is seen towering over the rest of the Japanese contingent.  The manufacturer has stamped the legend "for everyone" on the back of this otherwise blank back card.  Most small square sepia bromide team cards contain this notation.

This card is from a set thought to consist of about 2,000 different cards, encompassing the 1948, 1949 and 1950 seasons!  Since there is no text on the front or back of cards in this set, it has never been catalogued in Japanese Baseball Cards Checklist & Price Guide.  Furthermore, of the estimated 2,000 cards, only about 750 have been discovered to date.  In fact, we have seen this card only one other time in our nearly 35 years of buying, selling and auctioning Japanese baseball cards.

The San Francisco Seals played the All Japan team in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka during the tour.  We are unsure of the specific game for which this march took place.  However, we do know that this is an exceedingly rare image that includes Starffin and Co. during one of the most significant series of games ever played in Japan.

Size:  2 3/16” x 2 5/16”

Condition:  Ex to Ex/Mt with a sharp image