The good news about Japanese professional baseball last week was that the players averted a second weekend strike following a last-minute agreement with management. A week earlier, an unprecedented walkout had been staged in protest against a merger deal between the Kintetsu Baffaloes and the Orix BlueWave of the Pacific League. Now the way is open for the entry of a new team, making it likely that the league will have six teams, or the same number as the Central League.

The merger controversy concerns not only the numerical question of how many teams are necessary or desirable; it also involves fundamental questions about the nature and direction of Japanese baseball -- questions that have something to do with the Japanese way of life as well. Presumably, that is why the dispute has sparked such a wide, animated debate among the Japanese public, not just baseball fans.

One key question is which side should primarily support professional sports like baseball -- communities where teams are based or private companies that own them? In terms of our daily lives, the question can be paraphrased thus: Which should we emphasize more -- our relations to companies or our roots in communities? The answer, more likely than not, is that we have neglected to cultivate our communal ties.