The official book FOR3VER Shigeo Nagashima: The Definitive Eternal Edition applies technology used by Hawk-Eye tracking systems to surviving black-and-white film of Shigeo Nagashima’s two home runs in the 1959 Imperial Viewing Game. Sony Music Solutions produced the editorial and creative work with the Yomiuri Shimbun Group and the Yomiuri Giants, releasing the set on August 9, 2026.
Update
FOR3VER Reconstructs Shigeo Nagashima’s 1959 Home Runs in 3D
The 662-page official set also brings together 89 interviews, an illustrated career survey and a separate baseball chronology.
Nagashima hit a tying solo home run in the fifth inning on June 25, 1959, then a walk-off homer minutes before Emperor Showa’s departure. The release describes the game as the first professional baseball game attended by the Emperor and a turning point in the sport’s national profile.
For the book, the archival footage was analyzed frame by frame using methods associated with Hawk-Eye Innovations’ modern tracking system. The team estimated ball speed, distance, launch angle and swing speed, then used the results to reconstruct both at-bats in 3D CG. Tatsunori Hara supervised and analyzed the resulting data.
Testimony and chronology
Interviews with 89 people who witnessed key parts of Nagashima’s life provide the book’s oral-history element. The main volume runs to 500 pages, while a separately bound 162-page chronology places his career within the longer history of baseball.
The art direction uses what the publishers call the “light of glory” as a recurring motif, increasing the amount of light across the volume as the pages progress. Extensive photo sections cover Nagashima’s playing career, years as a manager and later activities. Signatures and related design elements also map his connections with figures including Sadaharu Oh.
The 500-page book and 162-page chronology are packaged together in a hard case.
Release details
- Title: FOR3VER Shigeo Nagashima: The Definitive Eternal Edition
- Release date: August 9, 2026
- Format: 500-page main volume and 162-page separate chronology in a hard case
- Price: ¥55,000 including tax
- Retailer: Yomiuri Giants official online store
- Official site: FOR3VER Shigeo Nagashima
Source: PR TIMES
