Baseball
The sport of baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, and the first formal team was established in 1878. It has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in Japanese, combining the characters for field and ball. For almost 30 years, until 1906, a game could be viewed free of charge, as it was considered shameful to take money for doing something the players liked.
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Getting Started
There are plenty of amateur leagues and pick-up games to get involved in, wherever you may be in Japan. National games are broadcast on TV, and you can also head to your local stadium to catch a glimpse of the real action. Along with the national teams, there are also a large number of high school and college teams that generate their own brand of fandom. The high school baseball finals are particularly popular, and are broadcast nationwide.
Baseball Explained
Organization
Japan's professional baseball association is called Nippon Professional Baseball. There are two leagues, as in the United States. The Central and Pacific Leagues both consist of six teams each. The Pacific League uses the designated hitter style of play. The pro baseball season is eight months long. Games begin in April, with a championship held in October. Teams play 144 games, considerably fewer than the 162 games of the American major league teams.
Corporations own all the teams in Japan. Team names come from the owners, not where the team is based (with the exception of the Yokohama BayStars). Nippon Professional Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in Japan.
Rules
The rules are essentially those of Major League Baseball. 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. A controversial rule also allows a team to have no more than four foreign players, limiting the cost and competition for expensive players from other countries.
Watching
Although attending a Japanese baseball game is very similar to attending one in America, there are some critical differences. Cheering takes on a whole different attitude at a Japanese game, and the fans are famous for being especially organized and synchronized in their cheering. There are designated "cheerleaders" (ōendan - 応援団) who lead crowd sections, making a lot of noise with taiko drums, blowing horns and other noisemakers, waving flags and banners, and yelling through plastic megaphones. In addition to cheering for their own teams, ōendan have been known to lead fans in cheers which tease and taunt the other team and its fans.
Expert Tips
Checklist
Directory of Baseball Teams
Some content adapted from Wikipedia.org.
