The History of Baseball in Japan

Horace Wilson, a professor at Kaisei School in Tokyo, introduced baseball to Japan in between 1867 & 1872, historians disagree on the exact year. The Japanese called the game Yakkyu, which translates into "Field Ball."

The era known as the Meiji restoration period, a period when the Japanese began to modernize their society and was greatly influenced by Western culture, was fertile ground for the new sport.

Baseball immediately gained popularity because the Japanese people viewed the one-on-one competition of pitcher vs. batter psychologically similar to the native Sumo wrestling. The timing and special harmony required between body and mind for such a match up was a natural fit for their culture and it surpassed all other sports being introduced at that time.

Not all of Japanese society agreed with allowing Western culture to infiltrate Japanese society and adamantly spoke against it. The newspaper, Asahi Shinbun, ran continuous editorials proclaiming the "Evils of Baseball" and what it was doing to the Japanese people.

One prominent doctor wrote an editorial maintaining the continuous throwing of a baseball would cause the body to develop lopsided and had negative effects on the brain.

Although there were hundreds of baseball teams popping up in Japan, it wasn't until Tokyo University added it to their sports program that the game was legitimized. In 1896 the University team defeated an American team, the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club, 29 to 4 becoming the first recorded International Baseball game in Asia.

In 1913 Matsutara Shoriki, a baseball enthusiast and wealthy newspaper owner, sponsored an All American baseball team tour, which traveled throughout Japan playing College All - Star teams.

With the quality of American players which included, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmy Fox, it was not surprising the Americans won all 17 games they played.

Modern Japanese Baseball is called the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Not surprisingly, since America introduced the game, the rules and technical aspects are nearly identical to American baseball.

The Nippon League is divided into two Divisions, the Central and Pacific leagues, which is identical to the National and American Leagues of MLB. The 6 teams of the Central Division utilizes the designated hitter, as our American league, but the Pacific League, as our National League does not use the designated hitter.

The season begins in April and ends in a Championship series in October, however their schedule is 144 games long while MLB is 162 games.

There are a few distinct and large differences between the two countries. The Japanese allow games to end in a "Tie" after 12 innings. This is a cultural necessity as trains are the main source of transportation and fans could not be allowed to miss the last train of the night.

The Japanese baseball is smaller and is wound tighter than the American baseball, which makes it travel farther. The baseball coupled with Japanese baseball stadiums being smaller than American Parks, 5 teams play in extremely undersized parks, any comparison of Japanese and American Baseball Players' accomplishments are extremely skewed.

Jim ( Coach ) Bain is a former Minor League Player and Coach of Youth Baseball for over 10 years. He has drawn from fellow successful coaches' experiences and combined them with his own extensive experience to create a Baseball Teaching Website. The site is packed with 100s of tips, drills, history and instruction on how to play and coach the game of baseball.

http://www.Learn-Youth-Baseball-Coaching.com

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