Shunzo Nagashima recalls his wonder at seeing the New York Yankees in newsreels at a Tokyo cinema soon after World War II.
"Baseball symbolized wealth. A huge stadium, the green grass in a ballpark and leather gloves," said Nagashima, a 53-year-old employee of a Labor Ministry affiliate. "I adored everything I saw on the screen."
This sentiment is not shared, however, by Tomofumi Sakita, a 14-year-old junior high school student in Yokohama.
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