| One of the most popular sports in Japan, | | | | Shimin Stadium |
| baseball, is about to start its new season | | | | |
| soon and is well worth catching a view of | | | | Hanshin Tigers Ballpark: Hanshin Koshien |
| even if you are not an avid fan. Japan's | | | | Stadium |
| professional baseball season is from April to | | | | |
| October. There are two leagues in Japanese | | | | Pacific League |
| professional baseball: the Central League and | | | | |
| the Pacific League. There are six teams in | | | | Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks Ballpark: Fukuoka |
| each league. The winners from both leagues | | | | Yahoo Dome |
| meet in the Japan Series in October. In July, | | | | |
| two or three All-Star games are held by best | | | | Seibu Lions Ballpark: Seibu Dome |
| players from two leagues. Also, exchange | | | | |
| games between two leagues called koryu-jiai | | | | Golden Eagles Ballpark: Full Cast Stadium |
| are planned every year. | | | | Miyagi (Sendai) |
| | | | |
| This has been the main event where some or | | | | Chiba Lotte Marines Ballpark: Chiba Marine |
| most of the Japanese community become one, | | | | Stadium |
| They unite or sometimes bet on either teams, | | | | |
| however this is the instance where all | | | | Orix Buffaloes Ballpark: Osaka Dome |
| Japanese people gather in one place and | | | | |
| together cheer for their favors. This game | | | | Baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by |
| has always been compared to other games that | | | | Horace Wilson, and the first formal team was |
| exists in the country but still, statistics | | | | established in 1878, and it has been a |
| showed an unfavorable result. Also to other | | | | popular sport since. It is called ?? (????; |
| countries this is being mostly compared. | | | | yakyu) in Japanese, combining the characters |
| | | | for field and ball. |
| It's going to be so much fun to see popular | | | | |
| baseball teams and players. If you are living | | | | It is played at all age levels but most |
| in Japan or visiting Japan, plan to go watch | | | | widely in junior high schools and senior high |
| a baseball game near you. You can contact | | | | schools. In March and August, two tournaments |
| each team's ballpark. Here are the details of | | | | are held in Koshien Stadium for senior high |
| the main teams/stadiums: | | | | school teams that win a prefectural |
| | | | tournament. |
| Central League | | | | |
| | | | The highest level of competition is Nippon |
| Yomiuri Giants Ballpark: Tokyo Dome | | | | Professional Baseball, started in 1920. It is |
| | | | called Puro Yakyu (????), meaning |
| Chunichi Dragons Ballpark: Nagoya Dome | | | | Professional Baseball. |
| | | | |
| Yokohama Bay Stars Ballpark: Yokohama Stadium | | | | In 2005 the Japan Samurai Bears began play in |
| | | | the Golden Baseball League, becoming the |
| Yakult Swallows Ballpark: Gingu Stadium | | | | first Japanese team in an American |
| | | | professional baseball league. |
| Tokyo Hiroshima Toyo Carp Ballpark: Hiroshima | | | | |