Ichiro Suzuki, or simply Ichiro, is one of the best pure hitters in the history of baseball. He turned a terrific career in Japanese baseball into a storied MLB career, becoming one of the most popular and successful Asian players of all-time. While most collectors are familiar with his American baseball cards, a whole different world of Ichiro card collecting exists in the form of products released in Japan, or cards that feature Japanese text¹. These are just some of the Rare and Valuable Ichiro Cards from Japan.

As impressive as his MLB career has been, Ichiro was hardly a rookie when he arrived in Seattle in 2001. He spent nine seasons prior to his American arrival with the Orix BlueWave organization. It was during this time that Ichiro began to build his reputation as a great hitter. It was not long before his image and name began to grace many things, including Japanese baseball cards. His first cards emerged in 1993, and these, along with cards from 1994 and 1995, are some of the most valuable cards issued from his career in Japan¹.

One of the most recognized Japanese Ichiro cards is the 1993 BBM Ichiro Suzuki #239 which is generally thought of as his true rookie card. BBM (Baseball Magazine) is a well-known card producer on the island of Japan, and the card front has a very American-ized look—similar to 1990 Pro Set—which may add to the appeal¹. Because of the popularity and value associated with his key pre-rookie, fakes are a problem for the 1993 BBM Ichiro card. The differences are subtle and mostly deal with spotty print quality, especially when magnified¹.

Another rare and valuable card is the 1993 Takara Ichiro Suzuki #BW51 which was issued as part of a 30-card Blue Wave team set. The card resembles the dimensions of a playing card with rounded corners and is slightly smaller than a traditional baseball card².

These are just some examples of rare and valuable Ichiro cards from Japan. Collectors should treat any Ichiro card from 1993 to 1995 with considerable scrutiny due to the potential for fakes¹. Happy collecting!

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Sources and References for this post

1. cardboardconnection.com

2. beckett.com

3. collectingichiro.com

4. gettyimages.com