Diamond Diplomacy (2025)
84 minNot rated yet
Long considered America’s official pastime, ever since baseball was introduced to Japan in the late 19th century, the sport has become a mutual obsession between the two nations. A key factor in bridging the cultural gap between East and West, baseball has also been used as a way to combat anti-Japanese prejudices in the US from WWII to the present day. Documentarian Yuriko Gamo Romer (Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful) traces the long, shared history behind our mutual love of the old ballgame, from Japan’s embrace of Black players in the 1930s to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and their fellow all-stars playing exhibition games overseas to the era of contemporary MLB heavy hitters like Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, and (of course) Shohei Ohtani. Diamond Diplomacy is a fascinating and definitive look at how nine innings changed the way two countries communicate across a great divide. Play ball!
- Release date
- October 3, 2025
- Country of origin
- United States
Cast
- Bobby Valentine as Self
- Masanori Murakami as Self
- Bill Staples Jr. as Self
- Kerry Yo Nakagawa as Self
- Warren Cromartie as Self
Crew
- Babe Ruth · Archive footage
- Jackie Robinson · Archive footage
- Shohei Ohtani · Archive footage
- Hideo Nomo · Archive footage
- Lefty O'Doul · Archive footage
- Yuriko Gamo Romer · Director
- Yuriko Gamo Romer · Writer
- Ken Schneider · Writer
- Loi Ameera Almeron · Producer
- Marc Smolowitz · Producer
- Goh Nakamura · Composer
- Andrew Black · Cinematographer
- Ken Schneider · Editor