Japan Travel | Travel Japan

The Japanese people were immediately intrigued by western baseball, seeing psychological similarities between baseball and their native sports of sumo and martial arts.

In the 1930s, a team of famous American baseball players including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig toured Japan and played games against Japanese college players. Even though the Americans won every game they played, the series helped build interest in baseball throughout Japan. The ball used in Japanese baseball is smaller and lighter than the ball used in American baseball. Also, unlike American teams, Japanese teams are only allowed four foreign players per team, two position players and two pitchers.

In recent years, Japanese baseball teams have been hit hard by players defecting to American teams. Japanese people today are far more likely to watch an American team on television than they are a Japanese team. Players like Ichiro Suzuki are wildly popular in Japan and are considered national heroes.

Baseball in Japan