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"Koshien" As Big Stage For High School Students: Koshien: Traditional Rite of The Japanese Summer
"Koshien" As Big Stage For High School Students: Koshien: Traditional Rite of The Japanese Summer
jp/takarabako/
© Kodansha Shashinbu
Hanshin Koshien Stadium
The dreams of young baseball players all over Japan focus on the Koshien championships have always been a great source of drama
Koshien stadium, where Japan’s National High School Baseball and inspiration. As we will see in this article, high school stu-
Championship is held every summer. The stories of high school dents in Japan compete in national tournaments in many other
baseball players’ personal growth through their training for the fields as well.
甲子園 Koshien: Traditional Rite of the Japanese Summer
The National High School Baseball Championship, held every the scorching sun, are sometimes grueling for the players. The
August at the Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the city of Nishi- stadium reverberates with the roar of thousands of fans, the
nomiya, Hyogo prefecture, celebrated its 91st year in 2009. drums of the teams’ cheering squads, and the rhythm of the
Commonly called “Koshien”* after the name of the stadium, schools’ brass bands, stirring the atmosphere of the games
the competition gathers 49 teams—one for each prefecture.** into a festival-like fervor. Fans follow the games closely on
High school baseball teams from more than 4,000 schools all television or radio as well. Many people, who might not oth-
over Japan compete in regional preliminaries to qualify for erwise take much interest in baseball, look forward to the Ko-
the national tournament. Playing in Koshien is an enduring shien of summer with special anticipation.
dream, not only for high school students, but also for younger
children who play baseball. *The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament also takes place
in the Koshien Stadium in March. It is commonly known as “Spring Ko-
shien.”
Media Attention **Of the 47 prefectures, Hokkaido and Tokyo have the largest number of high
For the two weeks of school baseball teams, so two schools compete from these prefectures.
the championship, news
from Koshien is a major
focus of media atten-
tion. Newspapers report
on the games played
each day, and sports
magazines publish spe- © TJF
This mark indicates that more related information is included on the “Click Japan” website. http://www.tjf.or.jp/clicknippon/
© TJF
malls. According to a survey (see table below), when asked
Victorious, the team bursts out of the closing line-up.
what teams they support for the championship, respondents
said that they cheer for schools from the prefecture of their
family roots or where they are currently living. Teams are rec-
ognized representatives of the prefectures—and people seem Birthplace of Heroes
to feel an affinity and connection to such local teams.
Once the Koshien is over, the nation’s focus shifts to what pro-
What teams do you support at the Summer Koshien? fessional teams will try to draft the championship’s star players.
Many professional baseball players became national heroes from
the time they played at Koshien for their high school team. Some
High school from my hometown
66.6 of them, including Matsui Hideki* from Seiryo High School and
High school from the town Matsuzaka Daisuke** from Yokohama High School, left their
where I currently live 38.9 Japanese teams to play in the American Major Leagues, becom-
ing well known in the United States where the sport originated.
High school where I graduated
36.3 Many Japanese fans who have known these players from their
High schools attended by family high school days are not only concerned about their wins and
members, friends, or acquaintances
or from which they graduated 22.6
losses, but interested in their character and sportsmanship as
professional players.
High schools competing at Koshien
for the first time
12.1 *Joined the New York Yankees in 2003 and moved to the Los Angeles Angels
in 2009.
High schools with star players **Joined the Boston Red Socks in 2007.
12.1
0 20 40 60 80 100
(3,915 respondents, multiple responses) (%)
Source: “Survey on High School Baseball,” Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Web-
site, TEPORE, 2007. http://www.tepore.com/
Let’s Try!
© TJF
History of Koshien
amerikan doggu furaido poteto hanbaga
アメリカンドッグ フライドポテト ハンバーガー
The history of Japanese baseball is said to go back to the 1870s, (corn dogs) (fried potatos) (hamburger)
when American school teachers in Japan taught the game to their
students. With the growing popularity of the student baseball
tournament sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper com-
pany beginning in 1915, Hanshin Electric Railway Company built
the Koshien Stadium in 1924, Japan’s first full-scale baseball sta-
katsu-sando furaido chikin onigiri
dium. With economic development in full swing, the railway カツサンド フライドチキン おにぎり
(pork-cutlet sandwiches) (fried chicken) (rice-balls)
company sought to increase use of the railway by expanding the
leisure industry. At first through the newspapers and later through The answer can be found at
radio and television as their national networks developed, people http://www.tjf.or.jp/takarabako/bi02.htm © TJF
ing People”).
映画甲子園 Eiga Koshien
Shashin Koshien☞ http://town.higashikawa.hokkaido.jp/phototown/
koshienofficial.htm (National High School Film Contest)
Manga Koshien☞ http://manga-koshien.net/
Haiku Koshien☞ http://www.haikukoushien.com/ Some high school students are passionate about film-making.
Debate Koshien☞ http://nade.jp/koshien/
There were over 200 entries for the 4th Eiga Koshien in 2009.
Akaten Hiro 赤点ヒーロー (Failing Grade Hero), made by
ものづくり甲 子園 Monozukuri Koshien the Film Club at Kaiho Senior High School in Okinawa pre-
(National Contest for Technical High School Students) fecture, is a comedy about the relationship of two classmates
who sit next to each other at school. The Film Club mem-
About 8 percent of all high school students in Japan specialize bers take pride in their amazing teamwork. The 20 club mem-
in technical subjects in high school. At Monozukuri Koshien, bers divided up the script-writing, filming, and editing work;
technical high school students compete in various fields of they also composed
technology. The competitions are opportunities for students and performed the
not only to improve the skills, but also to think about what theme song for the
Students put their techniques to the test at Monozukuri Koshien. A scene from Sakura.