Baseball Sport in Japan

the japan national baseball team huddles around manager after losing cuba in 2006 intercontinental cup.

baseball historically popular sport in japan. introduced japan in 1872, horace wilson, taught @ kaisei school in tokyo. first baseball team called shimbashi athletic club , established in 1878. baseball has been popular sport ever since. called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in japanese, combining characters fielding , ball.

hiroshi hiraoka, in united states studying engineering, introduced game co-workers @ japan’s national railways in 1878. , co-workers created first baseball team, shimbashi athletic club, , dominated other teams popped in japan. however, wasn t until 1896 when team ichikō, elite university of tokyo preparatory school, defeated team yokohama country & athletic club 29 4 sport took dominant hold in japanese popular culture. match first recorded international baseball game in asia. after victory, several other universities in japan adopted sport, , spread throughout japan. since then, teams japan have traveled learn american counterparts. waseda university 1 of first teams cross ocean improve skills. in 1905, team traveled united states, played college teams around country. other universities in japan made similar trips, , u.s. teams traveled japan play.

in 1913 1922, american mlb stars visited japan , played against university teams. held clinics on technique. herb hunter, retired major league player, made 8 trips japan, 1922 1932 organize games , coaching clinics.

baseball played in japan s junior , senior high schools. each year in march , august, 2 tournaments held @ koshien stadium senior high school teams win prefecture tournament.

in japan, high school baseball (高校野球: kōkō yakyū) refers 2 annual baseball tournaments, played high schools nationwide culminating @ final showdown @ hanshin kōshien stadium in nishinomiya, japan. organized japan high school baseball federation in association mainichi shimbun national high school baseball invitational tournament in spring (also known spring kōshien ), , asahi shimbun national high school baseball championship in summer (also known summer kōshien ).

these nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal or greater professional baseball. qualifying tournaments televised locally , each game of final stage @ kōshien televised nationally on nhk. tournaments have become national tradition, , large numbers of frenzied students , parents travel hometowns cheer local team. common sight see players walking off field in tears after being eliminated tournament loss.