Nippon became synonymous with "Japanese" team during the early 1920's and 1930's as athletic clubs organized along ethnic lines across the Northwest.  Known more for their highly competitive baseball teams of the time, the Nippon teams often struggled due to frequently being outweighed by opponents by 30-40lbs per man outside the Japanese leagues.

Bellevue entered the fray with their entry to the Seattle Courier League in 1936 where they were competitive going 2-2-2 losing both games by a combined 3 points against mainly other Japanese descended teams.  Grant Beppu (end), Hiroshi Ito (guard) and Taki Shinogold (quarterback) were named to the all-league first team, five others earned second team nods.  Bellevue was often nicknamed the "farmers" in news accounts.

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