The baseball is a passion of the Japanese. The sport is watched and practiced by millions of Nippon fans and its success extends to various provinces of the archipelago. In this article, we will get to know the main baseball teams in Japan.
Read also: Baseball - Understanding Japan's Most Popular Sport
Table of Content
The Koshien and the industrial leagues
One of the most remarkable and highly popular events is the Koshien (甲子園), which, besides being the name of the main stadium of the competition, is commonly the name given to the national high school baseball tournament. Teams of young talents from all over the country compete in this tournament. Koshien is frequently mentioned in Japanese pop culture, especially in anime, mangas, and movies. The audience for the event is enormous, and the competition is highly valued.
In addition to the various high school baseball teams, there are also industrial league teams, which represent famous companies such as Yamaha and many others.
The professional teams of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)
The professional baseball league of Japan is the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB), also known as Puro Yakyuu (プロ野球) and has been in existence since 1950, although there was already a professional tournament since 1936 (under a different name). Currently, the NPB is organized as follows:
- The teams are divided into two main leagues: A Pacific League and the Central League, each with 6 teams.
- The Pacific League is made up of the Saitama Seibu Lions, Tohoku Rakuten Goldes Eagles, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, Orix Buffaloes, Chiba Lotte Marines and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
- The central league is made up of Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Chunichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers, Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
- Each team plays 144 games during the regular season.
- Interestingly, unlike what happens in MLB (Major League Baseball), a tie can occur in an NPB game. A draw is declared if the score is equal after 12 innings.
- It is estimated that almost 30 million (about 27 million) Japanese people watch NPB and almost 50% (48%) have baseball as their favorite sport.
- The country has the best player in the world today: Shohei Ohtani.
- The most popular teams are: Yomiuri Giants, Hanshin Tigers and Hiroshima Carp.
- Many Brazilians have already played in Japanese baseball, such as: Henrique Shigeo Tamaki, Daniel Matsumoto, Reinaldo Sato, Thyago Vieira, Felipe Natel, Vitor Ito, among others.
Read also: Shohei Ohtani - The genius of worldwide baseball
Below, you can learn more about each of the teams:
Yomiuri Giants
Central league team that plays at the Tokyo Dome stadium (東京ドーム Tōkyō Dōmu) and is widely considered the greatest team in Japanese history. It has 22 Nippon Series titles, being to date the team with the most tournaments won in the NPB. It has a huge fan base and many idols, including the legendary Sadaharu Oh, the "king of home runs".
Hanshin Tigers
Another very traditional and popular baseball team. It has 2 Nippon Series titles, the last one being won in 2023. The first time the team won the tournament was in 1985. They usually send their matches at Koshien Stadium, in Nishinomiya (Hyogo).
Hiroshima Carp
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp also has a large number of fans in Japan. Brazilian pitcher Shigeo Henrique Tamaki played for the Carp for more than a decade. They are part of the central league and have 3 Japan Series titles, one more than the Hanshin Tigers. Send your questions at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima, Hiroshima's municipal stadium.
Yakult Swallows
He already had several Brazilians in the squad, including Daniel Matsumoto and Reinaldo Sato. It has 5 Japan Series titles and its stadium is the Meiji Jingu Stadium (明治神宮野球場 Meiji Jingu Yakyuujou), located in Tokyo. The team's mascot is a swallow ("swallow", in English).
Chunichi Dragons
Based in Nagoya, the Dragons are an old franchise, founded in 1936. They are characterized by their two mascots: a small Blue Dragon (Chunichi Dragons Shaolon) and a Koala (Chunichi Dragons Doala). It has accumulated 2 Japan Series titles in its history and its stadium is the Vantelin Dome Nagoya バンテリンドーム ナゴヤ (Banterin Doomu Nagoya). He also plays for the Central League.
Yokohama BayStars
Since 2012, BayStars has been managed by the online services company DeNA, in the field of cell phones and mobile platforms. In the trophy room are 2 Japan Series titles (1960 and 1998), although they haven't won one again in 25 years.
Based in Kanagawa, the team plays at Yokohama Stadium and its mascot is a Hamster with a star painted on its face. The main colors are white and blue.
Seibu Lions
Team where Brazilian Bo Takahashi currently plays. He is the second greatest champion in history, with 13 Japan Series titles. It is among the teams that play in the Pacific League. Its main stadium is Seibu Dome (西武ドーム), located in Saitama.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Japan Series champion on just one occasion, in 2013. Brazilians were also present on the team, such as Fernando Luciano and Shigeo Tamaki (Henrique Tamaki). The team's headquarters are in Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, where they send their teams (Miyagi Baseball Stadium).
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Representing the most norte island of the archipelago, the Ham Fighters have 3 Japan Series history and hold their matches at the Sapporo Dome, opened in 2001. The stadium is quite peculiar, with two fields (one for football and the other for baseball), movable lawn and a design that resembles a frog with its tongue sticking out (the tongue would be the football field, without coverrtura).
Orix Buffaloes
Result of the merger of Orix BlueWave and Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Ichiro Suzuki, one of the greatest legends of Japanese baseball, played for the team for nine seasons. The team, which has a buffalo as its mascot (the "buffalo bell"), has already won the Japan Series in five competitions, the last being in 2022. Send your tickets at the Kyocera Dome Osaka Stadium (Osaka Dome), a futuristic stadium that has capacity for more than 50 thousand people (51 thousand).
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Representative of the Pacific League, it was purchased by the SoftBank group in January 2005, when it was renamed the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Previously, the team was called Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988-2005) and Nankai Electric Railway Company (1938-1988). He has 11 Japan Series titles and sends his shares at the Fukuoka Dome.
Chiba Lotte Marines
The last team in the Pacific League has 4 Japan Series titles and is based in the Chiba region, where it plays its games at the ZOZO Marine Stadium (Chiba Marines Stadium). The mascot is a duck named Mar-kun (マーくん). There is also Zuu-chan (ズゥちゃん) and Riin-Chan (リーンちゃん), the female version of the mascot.
Useful pages about Japanese baseball
To learn more about Japanese baseball, I recommend that you follow the following pages on Instagram: @beiseboljapones and @reidasrebatidas.