Baseball in Japan
Encyclopedia
Baseball
is one of the most popular sports in Japan. It was introduced to Japan
in 1872 by Horace Wilson
, who taught at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in Japanese
, combining the characters for fielding and ball.
Hiroshi Hiraoka, an engineering student who was exposed to baseball during a period of study in the United States
, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japan’s national railways in upon his return in 1878. He and his co-workers created the first baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However, it was not until the team from Ichiko (also known as the First Higher School of Tokyo, now a part of Tokyo University), the country's most prestigious prep school, started play in 1886 that the sport began to take hold in Japanese culture.In 1891, Ichiko challenged the "whites only" Yokohama Athletic Club
to a match-up on the diamond, only to have the request refused, as the Yokohama squad refused to play against non-Caucasian players. As a result, the team from the Christian missionary school Meiji Gakuin
offered to play Ichiko and subsequently handed them a decisive defeat. Humiliated, Ichiko began developing an intense training philosophy wherein players would train to the point of complete physical exhaustion for the betterment of the team. This training ideology would serve as the foundation of the Japanese game well into the 20th century. In 1896, the Yokohama Athletic Club (fielding a team composed mainly of sailors) finally agreed to play against Ichiko and were defeated 29 to 4. It was the first recorded international baseball game in Asia.
After the 1896 victory over Yokohama Athletic Club, universities began adopting the sport and it quickly spread throughout Japan. The university teams began to travel to the United States as well as host American university teams in Japan to play and learn from their American counterparts. Waseda University
was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills; in 1905, the Japanese government funded the Waseda team’s tour of the United States, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Japan made similar trips, and American university teams in turn traveled to Japan to play in a trend which would continue into the 1930s. Waseda and Keio University
began a fierce rivalry (the Sokeisen) in 1903, which has been going on for over a century (with the exception of 1905-1925, when it was banned because of overly rowdy behavior). By 1925, four other major universities had created teams, leading to the formation of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
.
Before 1908, only amateur players competed in the games between United States and Japanese teams. In that year, a team composed of American minor and major league players, the Reach All-Americans, played teams from several countries, including Japan. The Chicago White Sox
and New York Giants
visited Japan on a similar international tour in 1913. In 1920, Major League Baseball
commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis
supported former major leaguer Herb Hunter
’s efforts to send a team of major and minor leaguers to Japan for a series of games and coaching clinics with university teams. The success of the tour led to seven additional Hunter-led excursions of major and minor league players to Japan, which culminated in what is possibly the most notable series of match-ups between American and Japanese teams to date, the All-Star tour of 1934. During this 1934 series, a team of Japan’s finest players, assembled by Yomiuri Shimbun
owner Matsutarō Shōriki
, were outplayed in all 18 of their games against Major League All-Stars. However, in one of the contests, pitcher Eiji Sawamura
gained status as a national hero and baseball legend by striking out Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer
, Babe Ruth
, Lou Gehrig
, and Jimmie Foxx
in order in a 1-0 loss. Shōriki kept his team together after the tour, and after a series of exhibition games throughout the United States and Canada
in 1935, the team declared professional status in 1936 and became the Yomiuri Giants
, the first team to join the new Japanese Baseball League
.
and Pacific League
s each consist of six teams. The Pacific League uses the designated hitter
style of play. The pro baseball season is eight months long with games beginning in April, and a Championship
held in October. Teams play 144 games, as compared to the 162 games of the American major league teams.
Corporations with interests outside baseball own the teams. Historically, teams have been identified with their owners, not where the team is based. However, in recent years, many owners have chosen to include a place name in the names of their teams; seven of the 12 NPB teams are currently named with both corporate and place names. Maruha Corporation has taken this one step farther by completely dropping its name from its NPB team, the Yokohama BayStars
.
. In the Nippon league, however, tie games are allowed, and technical elements are slightly different: a smaller baseball, strike zone, and playing field are used. The Japanese baseball is wound more tightly and is harder than an American baseball. The strike zone is narrower "inside" than away from the batter. Also, five Nippon league teams have undersized home fields (as compared to the post-1958 MLB rule of 325/400/325 with slight allowances for height of fence). A team to have no more than four foreign players, limiting the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players.
The other major difference between NPB and MLB is that there are "hard" limits to game lengths. In the regular season, the limit is twelve innings, while in the playoffs, there is a fifteen-inning limit. The limit is designed to prevent spectators from missing the final train. During the 2011 NPB season, owing to concerns over power limits imposed because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
, once the first pitch has been thrown, once three hours and thirty minutes passes after the first pitch, that inning will be the last inning of the game.
Teams with the best winning percentage go on to the bowling stepladder-format playoffs (3 vs 2, winner vs 1). Occasionally, a team with more total wins has lost to a team that had more ties and fewer losses and, therefore, had a slightly better winning percentage.
In Major League Baseball, there is a very strong bias against allowing any ties at all. Since the introduction of stadium lighting, which allowed the games to continue after dark, tie games are all but non-existent. If a situation arises in which the game cannot be continued that day, for example due to weather, and the game is tied, the game is suspended to be resumed at a later point. It will then be played out until a decision is reached. The only recorded tie in recent Major League Baseball history was in the highly controversial 2002 All Star Game, a game which did not count towards the standings of any team, nor towards the statistics of the players. However, teams with a lesser winning percentage do frequently make the playoffs over more successful teams due to the division structure.
In 2005 the Japan Samurai Bears
began playing in the Golden Baseball League
, the first Japanese team in an American professional baseball league.
The Japanese first professional league was formed in 1936, and by 1950 had grown big enough to divide into two leagues. The Central League included the established teams; the Pacific League
, which made up of new teams and players. Both leagues had 6 teams and adopted a playoff system, much like the American one. The contest between the league winners was named the Japan Series.
On September 23, 2004, the players and owners reached an agreement: the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles would enter the league at the beginning of the 2005 season, and the leagues would adopt inter-league play, which would make the game more appealing, and would help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. In December 2004, SoftBank
, an internet service provider, purchased the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to help with finances in the Pacific League.
In Japan, Matsui earned the popular nickname "Godzilla". The origin of the name is derisive in nature, in reference to Matsui's skin problems early on in his career, but has since come to represent his powerful hitting. In 2001, Matsui turned down a $64 million, six-year offer from the Yomiuri Giants, the highest in NPB history.[Matsui's first three seasons were unspectacular. His breakout season came in 1996, when he batted .314 with 38 home runs and 99 RBIs. A three-time MVP in the Japanese Central League (1996, 2000, and 2002), Matsui led his team into four Japan Series and winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002). He also made nine consecutive all-star games and led the league in home runs and RBIs three times (1998, 2000, and 2002). His single season mark for home runs was 50 in 2002, his final season in Japan. In the ten seasons he played in Japan, Matsui totalled 1268 games played, 4572 AB, 1390 hits, 901 runs, 332 home runs, 889 RBIs, a .304 batting average, and a .582 slugging percentage. His streak of 1,250 consecutive games played was the second longest in Japan.
http://www.japaneseballplayers.com/en/player.php?id=matsui
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/708051-ichiro-hideki-matsui-and-the-5-best-japan-born-mlb-players-ever
In Japan, high school baseball (高校野球: kōkō yakyū) generally refers to the 2 annual baseball tournaments played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium
in Nishinomiya, Japan
. They are organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation
in association with Mainichi Shimbun
for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament
in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien") and Asahi Shimbun
for the National High School Baseball Championship
in the summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien").
These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on NHK
. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss.
both times since the tournament was created. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic
, they defeated Cuba
in the finals and in 2009 World Baseball Classic
they defeated South Korea in 10 innings to defend their title.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
is one of the most popular sports in Japan. It was introduced to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1872 by Horace Wilson
Horace Wilson (professor)
Horace Wilson was an American expatriate educator in late 19th century Empire of Japan. He is one of the persons credited with introducing the sport of baseball to Japan.-Biography:Wilson was born in Gorham, Maine...
, who taught at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, combining the characters for fielding and ball.
History
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japan’s national railways in upon his return in 1878. He and his co-workers created the first baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However, it was not until the team from Ichiko (also known as the First Higher School of Tokyo, now a part of Tokyo University), the country's most prestigious prep school, started play in 1886 that the sport began to take hold in Japanese culture.In 1891, Ichiko challenged the "whites only" Yokohama Athletic Club
Yokohama Athletic Club
Yokohama Athletic Club was a club of foreigners, predominantly Americans, in Yokohama Japan. In the late-19th century the athletic club was challenged by Ichiko, an elite Tokyo preparatory school. The matches were popular and won handily by the Japanese...
to a match-up on the diamond, only to have the request refused, as the Yokohama squad refused to play against non-Caucasian players. As a result, the team from the Christian missionary school Meiji Gakuin
Meiji Gakuin University
is one of the Christian universities in Tokyo and Yokohama which was established in 1863. The Reverend Dr. James Curtis Hepburn was one of the founders and the first president...
offered to play Ichiko and subsequently handed them a decisive defeat. Humiliated, Ichiko began developing an intense training philosophy wherein players would train to the point of complete physical exhaustion for the betterment of the team. This training ideology would serve as the foundation of the Japanese game well into the 20th century. In 1896, the Yokohama Athletic Club (fielding a team composed mainly of sailors) finally agreed to play against Ichiko and were defeated 29 to 4. It was the first recorded international baseball game in Asia.
After the 1896 victory over Yokohama Athletic Club, universities began adopting the sport and it quickly spread throughout Japan. The university teams began to travel to the United States as well as host American university teams in Japan to play and learn from their American counterparts. Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills; in 1905, the Japanese government funded the Waseda team’s tour of the United States, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Japan made similar trips, and American university teams in turn traveled to Japan to play in a trend which would continue into the 1930s. Waseda and Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
began a fierce rivalry (the Sokeisen) in 1903, which has been going on for over a century (with the exception of 1905-1925, when it was banned because of overly rowdy behavior). By 1925, four other major universities had created teams, leading to the formation of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area...
.
Before 1908, only amateur players competed in the games between United States and Japanese teams. In that year, a team composed of American minor and major league players, the Reach All-Americans, played teams from several countries, including Japan. The Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
and New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
visited Japan on a similar international tour in 1913. In 1920, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...
supported former major leaguer Herb Hunter
Herb Hunter
Herbert Harrison Hunter was an utility infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who played parts of four seasons between and . Listed at 6' 0.5", 165 lb., Hunter batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
’s efforts to send a team of major and minor leaguers to Japan for a series of games and coaching clinics with university teams. The success of the tour led to seven additional Hunter-led excursions of major and minor league players to Japan, which culminated in what is possibly the most notable series of match-ups between American and Japanese teams to date, the All-Star tour of 1934. During this 1934 series, a team of Japan’s finest players, assembled by Yomiuri Shimbun
Yomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five national newspapers in Japan; the other four are the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the Sankei Shimbun...
owner Matsutarō Shōriki
Matsutaro Shoriki
was the father of Japanese professional baseball. Born in Daimon, Toyama, he was a media mogul, owned the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan's major daily newspapers, and founded Japan's first commercial television station, Nippon Television Network Corporation...
, were outplayed in all 18 of their games against Major League All-Stars. However, in one of the contests, pitcher Eiji Sawamura
Eiji Sawamura
Eiji Sawamura was a Japanese professional baseball player...
gained status as a national hero and baseball legend by striking out Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer
Charlie Gehringer
Charles Leonard Gehringer , nicknamed “The Mechanical Man,” was a German-American Major League Baseball second baseman who played 19 seasons for the Detroit Tigers...
, Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
, and Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
in order in a 1-0 loss. Shōriki kept his team together after the tour, and after a series of exhibition games throughout the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1935, the team declared professional status in 1936 and became the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
, the first team to join the new Japanese Baseball League
Japanese Baseball League
For the current Japanese Professional League, see Nippon Professional Baseball. was a professional baseball league in Japan.It was established on February 5, 1936 as "Japan Occupational Baseball League". Then it was renamed "Japanese Baseball League" in 1939. It was run until 1949. There was no...
.
Nippon Professional Baseball
The professional baseball association is called Nippon Professional Baseball. Japan has two leagues, as in the United States. The CentralCentral League
The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...
and Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
s each consist of six teams. The Pacific League uses the designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
style of play. The pro baseball season is eight months long with games beginning in April, and a Championship
Japan Series
, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....
held in October. Teams play 144 games, as compared to the 162 games of the American major league teams.
Corporations with interests outside baseball own the teams. Historically, teams have been identified with their owners, not where the team is based. However, in recent years, many owners have chosen to include a place name in the names of their teams; seven of the 12 NPB teams are currently named with both corporate and place names. Maruha Corporation has taken this one step farther by completely dropping its name from its NPB team, the Yokohama BayStars
Yokohama BayStars
The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Home field is the Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The clubhouse is located near the stadium....
.
Differences with Major League Baseball
The rules are essentially those of Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. In the Nippon league, however, tie games are allowed, and technical elements are slightly different: a smaller baseball, strike zone, and playing field are used. The Japanese baseball is wound more tightly and is harder than an American baseball. The strike zone is narrower "inside" than away from the batter. Also, five Nippon league teams have undersized home fields (as compared to the post-1958 MLB rule of 325/400/325 with slight allowances for height of fence). A team to have no more than four foreign players, limiting the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players.
The other major difference between NPB and MLB is that there are "hard" limits to game lengths. In the regular season, the limit is twelve innings, while in the playoffs, there is a fifteen-inning limit. The limit is designed to prevent spectators from missing the final train. During the 2011 NPB season, owing to concerns over power limits imposed because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
, once the first pitch has been thrown, once three hours and thirty minutes passes after the first pitch, that inning will be the last inning of the game.
Teams with the best winning percentage go on to the bowling stepladder-format playoffs (3 vs 2, winner vs 1). Occasionally, a team with more total wins has lost to a team that had more ties and fewer losses and, therefore, had a slightly better winning percentage.
In Major League Baseball, there is a very strong bias against allowing any ties at all. Since the introduction of stadium lighting, which allowed the games to continue after dark, tie games are all but non-existent. If a situation arises in which the game cannot be continued that day, for example due to weather, and the game is tied, the game is suspended to be resumed at a later point. It will then be played out until a decision is reached. The only recorded tie in recent Major League Baseball history was in the highly controversial 2002 All Star Game, a game which did not count towards the standings of any team, nor towards the statistics of the players. However, teams with a lesser winning percentage do frequently make the playoffs over more successful teams due to the division structure.
Professional baseball
Nippon Professional Baseball started in 1920. It is called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), which simply is a translation of professional baseball.In 2005 the Japan Samurai Bears
Japan Samurai Bears
The Japan Samurai Bears are a defunct traveling professional baseball team that played in the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. They were based in the Arizona Division...
began playing in the Golden Baseball League
Golden Baseball League
The Golden Baseball League, based in San Ramon, California, was an independent baseball league. It later merged with the Northern League and the United Baseball League to form the North American League in the western United States, western Canada and Mexico....
, the first Japanese team in an American professional baseball league.
The Japanese first professional league was formed in 1936, and by 1950 had grown big enough to divide into two leagues. The Central League included the established teams; the Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
, which made up of new teams and players. Both leagues had 6 teams and adopted a playoff system, much like the American one. The contest between the league winners was named the Japan Series.
Strike of 2004
In September 2004, the owners and the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) met to discuss the merger of two teams. Prior to this, the JPBPA had decided to strike on weekends for the remainder of September. They held talks with the owners and with the JPB. The owners offered to help the players by reducing the "entry fee" to join the league; they guaranteed that the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, both of the Pacific League, and the two leagues would remain; the Central League would have six teams, and the Pacific League would have five. They also put the merger of the Buffaloes and Blue Wave on hold.The players decided to strike, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions. On 18 and 19 September 2004, the professional Japanese players struck for the first time in over seventy years. The fans supported the players, which made the owners review the idea of finding another team for the following season.On September 23, 2004, the players and owners reached an agreement: the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles would enter the league at the beginning of the 2005 season, and the leagues would adopt inter-league play, which would make the game more appealing, and would help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. In December 2004, SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
, an internet service provider, purchased the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to help with finances in the Pacific League.
In Japan, Matsui earned the popular nickname "Godzilla". The origin of the name is derisive in nature, in reference to Matsui's skin problems early on in his career, but has since come to represent his powerful hitting. In 2001, Matsui turned down a $64 million, six-year offer from the Yomiuri Giants, the highest in NPB history.[Matsui's first three seasons were unspectacular. His breakout season came in 1996, when he batted .314 with 38 home runs and 99 RBIs. A three-time MVP in the Japanese Central League (1996, 2000, and 2002), Matsui led his team into four Japan Series and winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002). He also made nine consecutive all-star games and led the league in home runs and RBIs three times (1998, 2000, and 2002). His single season mark for home runs was 50 in 2002, his final season in Japan. In the ten seasons he played in Japan, Matsui totalled 1268 games played, 4572 AB, 1390 hits, 901 runs, 332 home runs, 889 RBIs, a .304 batting average, and a .582 slugging percentage. His streak of 1,250 consecutive games played was the second longest in Japan.
High school baseball
Koshien Stadium
is a baseball park located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built to host the national high school baseball tournaments, and opened on April 1, 1924. It was the largest stadium in Asia at the time it was completed, with a capacity of 55,000.The name Kōshien comes...
in Nishinomiya, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. They are organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation
Japan High School Baseball Federation
The Japan High School Baseball Federation is the governing body of high school baseball in Japan, and is composed of the High School Baseball Federations of each of the 47 prefectures....
in association with Mainichi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament
National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament
The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament of Japan, commonly known as "Spring Kōshien" or "Senbatsu" , is an annual high school baseball tournament....
in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien") and Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
for the National High School Baseball Championship
National High School Baseball Championship
The National High School Baseball Championship of Japan, commonly known as "Summer Kōshien" , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament...
in the summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien").
These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss.
Amateur baseball
Amateur baseball leagues exist all over Japan, with many teams sponsored by companies. Amateur baseball is governed by the Japan Amateur Baseball Association (JABA).International play
Japan has won the World Baseball ClassicWorld Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball , the Major League Baseball Players Association , and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world...
both times since the tournament was created. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic
2006 World Baseball Classic
---------Pool B:-------------Pool C:-------------Pool D:-------------Pool 1:-----------------Pool 2:-------------Finals:-Semifinals:-Final:-Final standings:...
, they defeated Cuba
Cuba national baseball team
The Cuba national baseball team is the national team of Cuba. The team is made up of amateur players from the Cuban national baseball system, as there are no professional sports leagues in Cuba...
in the finals and in 2009 World Baseball Classic
2009 World Baseball Classic
The 2009 World Baseball Classic was an international baseball competition. It is the only international baseball tournament to feature a large number of players from the major leagues of North America and Asia. It began on March 5, 2009, and finished March 23, 2009.Japan emerged victorious for the...
they defeated South Korea in 10 innings to defend their title.
See also
- JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Sport in JapanSport in JapanSports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball and association football, are popular with both participants and spectators....
- Japan national baseball teamJapan national baseball teamThe Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...
- Asahi (baseball team)
- Baseball awards#Japan
Articles/books
- International Journal of Employment Studies 14.2 (Oct 2006): p19(17). (5318 words)
- Jerry Beach, "Godzilla Takes the Bronx". (New York, 2004)
- Ofra Bikel, Gail Harris, Judy Woodruff, et al., "American Game, Japanese Rules" (Alexandria, Va.: PBS Video, 1990).
- Richard C. Crepeau, "Pearl Harbor: A Failure of Baseball?" The Journal of Popular Culture xv.4 (1982): 67–74.
- Warren Cromartie and Robert Whiting, Slugging It out in Japan: An American Major Leaguer in the Tokyo Outfield (New York: Signet, 1992).
- Charles W. Hayford, "Japanese Baseball or Baseball in Japan?" Japan Focus (April 4 2007): http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2398. Reprinted: "Samurai Baseball: Off Base or Safe At Home?" Frog in a Well (April 10, 2007) http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2007/04/samurai-baseball-off-base-or-safe-at-home.
- William Kelly, "Blood and Guts in Japanese Professional Baseball," in Sepp Linhard and Sabine Frustuck, ed., The Culture of Japan as Seen through Its Leisure (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998): 95–111.
- William Kelly, "Caught in the Spin Cycle: An Anthropological Observer at the Sites of Japanese Professional Baseball," in Susan O. Long, ed., Moving Targets: Ethnographies of Self and Community in Japan. (Ithaca, 2000)
- William Kelly, "The Spirit and Spectacle of School Baseball: Mass Media, Statemaking, and 'Edu-Tainment' in Japan, 1905–1935", in William Kelly Umesao Tadao, and Kubo Masatoshi, ed., Japanese Civilization in the Modern World Xiv: Information and Communication (Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, 2000): 105–116.
- William W. Kelly, Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004).
- William Kelly, "Is Baseball a Global Sport? America's 'National Pastime' as a Global Sport", Global Networks 7.2 (2007):
- Donald Roden, "Baseball and the Quest for National Dignity in Meiji Japan," The American Historical Review 85.3 (1980): 534.
- Robert Whiting, The Chrysanthemum and the Bat: Baseball Samurai Style (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1977).
- Robert Whiting, You Gotta Have Wa: When Two Cultures Collide on the Baseball Diamond (New York: Vintage Books, Vintage departures, 1990).
- Robert Whiting, "The Japanese Way of Baseball and the National Character Debate," Japan Focus (September 29 2006):
External links
- JapaneseBaseball.com
- Baseball In Japan, a WBGU-PBS documentary