The story of Negro League baseball is much bigger than the story of players who were denied entry into Major League Baseball. It’s also a story of international influence, cultural exchange, and seeds planted in countries around the world — including Japan.
In 2027, the 100-year connection between Negro League baseball and Japan will be celebrated through the Centennial Tokyo Tour, commemorating the historic 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants (PRG) tour of Japan.
The tour will bring together the Japan Afro-American Friendship Association USA (JAFA), JAFA Japan, the Biz Mackey Family Foundation, and institutional partners, including Keio University, Meiji Jingu Stadium, the Negro League Baseball Museum, and MLB Japan. At the center of the celebration will be James Raleigh “Biz” Mackey, the legendary Negro League catcher and National Baseball Hall of Famer whose impact reached far beyond the U.S.
Before Jackie Robinson
For Reverend Ray Mackey III, chairman of the Biz Mackey Family Foundation and Biz Mackey’s great-nephew, remembering his uncle means remembering the baseball history that came before Jackie Robinson.
“My great uncle predated ‘42,’ the great Jackie Robinson,” Mackey said. “Nobody knows the story before ‘42.’ You don’t know the story about whose shoulders Jackie stands on.”
Mackey wore No. 40 in the Negro Leagues and spent four decades in the sport. He played alongside stars such as Josh Gibson and mentored Roy Campanella and Robinson. Long before Major League Baseball (MLB) integrated, Mackey grew up on a family farm in Luling, Texas, became a star for the San Antonio Black Aces, and later traveled internationally with Negro League teams.
Those international journeys became an important part of the legacy.
Crossing the Pacific
In 1927, the Philadelphia Royal Giants traveled across the Pacific to Japan, when segregation prevented Black players from competing in MLB. Mackey described the centennial tour as an example of baseball becoming a vehicle for diplomacy.
“It’s surrounding one game, two nations, but one legacy of baseball.”
The Royal Giants played at what is now Meiji Jingu Stadium, a historic venue that will again become central to the centennial celebration. Mackey is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch there next April, with the official date yet to be set.
The Royal Giants’ 1927 journey was hardly luxurious. According to Mackey, the players crossed the Pacific in the bowels of a cargo ship and also traveled to Hawaii and the Philippines. The Royal Giants later returned to Tokyo in 1934 and 1936, before World War II.
Building Japanese baseball
The significance of those trips goes beyond exhibition games. According to Japanese baseball historian and author Kazuo Sayama, whose book Gentle Black Giants chronicles the Negro League players’ influence, the Royal Giants helped plant important seeds for Japanese baseball.
Mackey said the players were “banned in one country where they couldn’t play — America — but they helped establish a major league in another country.”
Japan formally established a professional major league in 1936, and Mackey credits his great uncle and Negro League players with helping lay part of the groundwork for that development.
That history creates an intriguing baseball lineage stretching from Negro League pioneers to some of Japan’s biggest contemporary stars, including Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai.
“What makes this so important now is that Japan, not the United States, is paying homage to these players because they planted a seed,” Mackey said.
Sportsmanship and diplomacy
The relationship was about more than baseball technique. Mackey recalled the warm reception the Negro League players received in Japan, including an encounter between Biz Mackey and Emperor Hirohito at Meiji Jingu Stadium.
He also recounted a story of sportsmanship: After a Japanese player hit Mackey with a pitch, Mackey bowed in response, reflecting the Japanese customs he and his teammates had studied.
“The crowd just erupted because of the sportsmanship that was displayed during that game,” shared Mackey.
That spirit of mutual respect is a central component of the 2027 centennial. The organizers envision the tour as a combination of baseball diplomacy, education, documentary storytelling, music, and youth engagement — an opportunity to honor history while creating new relationships between Black Americans and Japanese communities.
Reclaiming the history
Mackey believes that history is particularly important at a time when Black participation in professional baseball is diminishing. He said Black youth conclude that baseball “isn’t their sport,” even though Black players helped shape the game and carried it around the world.
“We just want to continue to share that message through the Biz Mackey Family Foundation,” he said. “We introduce a lot of this history to youth in urban areas, not only in Houston but around the country.”
The organization’s mission fits neatly with the broader centennial effort: Tell the story, expose the forgotten contributions, and inspire the next generation.
A legacy beyond America
The 1927 tour was part of a much larger pattern. Denied opportunities at home, Negro League players traveled throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia, taking their talent and knowledge wherever they were welcomed. Mackey sees those journeys as an overlooked form of international institution-building.
“These are the players that you see in Major League Baseball today,” he said. “As a result of the deposits that they made, they were not allowed to make those deposits here in the United States.”
The irony is difficult to miss. America’s segregation system tried to contain Black talent. Instead, Black baseball players carried their influence across borders. And a large portion of today’s major leaguers come from countries introduced to the game by Negro Leaguers.
Looking toward 2027
The Centennial Tokyo Tour will seek to turn that historical connection into a contemporary partnership involving universities, baseball organizations, youth players, and cultural institutions.
JAFA is also working with historically Black colleges and universities that have baseball programs, with plans for selected collegiate players to participate in games and exchanges in Japan.
For Mackey, the centennial is not simply about looking backward. It’s about recognizing what happened when Black Americans were excluded — and understanding what the world gained from the talent, knowledge, and culture they carried elsewhere.
“The Centennial’s mission is not only to honor the legacy of the 1927 tour but also to foster new bridges of understanding, opportunity, and friendship across the Pacific,” organizers said.
