Japanese Baseball

It was the end of the 19th century, precisely 1873, in the Meji period, when Japan got the taste of baseball from United States. The game did not gain much popularity and existed as an amateur sport for a quite some time. However, times have changed and now Japan is considered to be the center of amateur baseball.

Although there was a small amount of pro action in the twenties, it wasn't until 1936 that there were enough teams to make up a league. So six teams formed the Nippon Professional Baseball League (or NPB, which today's league is still called) and in April of '36 Japan's first pro season kicked off near Osaka.

Although, with six teams in the early days, there weren't exactly a lot of games. Then there was a forced break during the second World War. But Japanese teams today play a good number of games - about 140 a year. In fact there are now twelve teams split into two divisions - the Central League and the Pacific League. In season the several games are featured live on television each week.

Like their American counterparts, the teams in the Japanese League also have nicknames. They are known as the Giants, the Hawks, the Carp, the Lions, the Baystars, the Marines, the Swallows, the Fighters, the Tigers, the Buffaloes, the Dragons, and the Bluewave. These names are a good combination of some common names and Japanese indigenous names.

The difference between the team names of North America and Japan is that here the teams are named after their owners while in America they are named after the city where they are based. The fighters are thus called Nippon Ham Fighters due to its ownership by a meat conglomerate.

There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is that since Japan is not a big country, many teams come from the same city. More than one team has to make do with the same stadium in a big city. Many stadiums are lacking in parking facilities due to the high cost of real estate in these cities. Baseball fans have to use the metro services in these cities as a result.

With so many games being played in the metros, it has become easier for baseball fans based in metros, as they do not have to travel outside the city to watch their favorite players in action. However, the fans based in small towns and cities are not as lucky as metro-based fans.

Baseball played in Japan is slightly different from the one played in USA. One difference is that a game tied after 12 innings remains a tie. So there are many tied games in the NPB. They also use a smaller and lighter ball to play baseball compared to the one used in the Major Leagues of the US. Inter-league play except the all-star games and the Japan Series is also absent from Japanese baseball.

Those few Japanese ball players who have hit the big time in the US playing in the Majors are big stars back in Japan, where their trials and tribulations are closely followed by an enthusiastic fan base.

Regan Shaors is the creator and owner of Fleer Baseball, Inc. one of the leading information resources on the subject of baseball available on line. For more information, and immediate access to his articles library, visit http://www.fleerbaseball.com