The Yomiuri Giants, nicknamed the ‘Kyojin‘, are one of the top professional baseball teams in Japan.
A Japanese baseball game is an experience unlike any other. Even if you don’t follow Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — in fact, even if you’re not a baseball fan to begin with — you should definitely check out a game while you’re in Japan. Here are top baseball teams whose home field atmospheres will have you cheering along with even the biggest fans.
Must Read: Top 7 Most Popular Sports in China till now
Kanto
Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
The Yomiuri Giants, nicknamed the ‘Kyojin’, is one of the top professional baseball teams in Japan. They play in the Tokyo Dome, the largest roof-covered dome in the world.
Even if you’re not particularly interested in baseball, the Tokyo Dome complex where the Kyojin play offers plenty to see.
Trending: Team USA to Kick-Start Olympic Qualifying in Arizona
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
The Yakult Swallows are a bunch of lovable losers who frequently find themselves at the bottom of league standings, but that doesn’t mean you should pass up an opportunity to watch them play. The Swallows’ home field is Meiji Jingu Stadium, a traditional baseball park where legends such as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio have come to play.
The historical stadium lacks a covered roof to keep the rain away like the more modern and expensive Tokyo Dome — a fact that Swallows fans celebrate with an ‘umbrella dance’ each time their team scores a run.
Kansai
Hanshin Tigers
The Hanshin Tigers are considered by many to be the ‘it’ baseball team to follow in Japan. Their fan base is lively and enthusiastic – nearly rambunctious – as to be expected of a bunch of Osakans, but the Tigers’ popularity spreads far beyond the Kansai area.
They have a long-standing rivalry with the Yomiuri Giants that plays up the ‘conflict’ between Tokyo and Osaka, so a Kyojin vs. Tigers game is one that can’t be missed.
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
The Toyo Carp play in the newest professional ballpark in Japan, Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, which opened in 2009. The locals have a lot of love for their home team and cheer them on noisily with drums and trumpets.
If you’re a fan of American baseball, then there’s a good chance the Carp mascot SLYLY will strike you as familiar. That’s because this mischievous blue-green mascot was created by the same company that designed the Philly Phanatic.
Kyushu
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
If you’re in Fukuoka, there’s no reason not to catch a game of reigning Japan Series champions, the Softbank Hawks. One of the strongest teams in Japanese baseball in recent years, they’ve won three of the past four championship titles. If you go to a Hawks game, you’re more than likely to enjoy a home team wins.
Shikoku
Kochi Fighting Dogs
The Kochi Fighting Dogs aren’t a part of NPB, but the Shikoku Island League Plus. Perhaps the major draw of this independent professional league team is Dominican-American baseball legend, Manny Ramirez, one of the greatest right-handed hitters of a generation.
While Ramirez reportedly doesn’t train with the rest of the team, but just shows up to games to slam homers out of the park, if you’re in Kochi then you shouldn’t miss the chance to see this living baseball legend.
Tohoku
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
The Rakuten Golden Eagles play at Miyagi Baseball Stadium, a ballpark designed to be entertaining whether you’re a fan of baseball or not, with a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. Not only are you supporting the local Tohoku economy by catching a game here, but you may just run into the elusive ‘Mr. Black Eagle’ a Rakuten fan who became such a viral hit in Japan that the team declared him an official team mascot on ‘Black Eagle Days’.
When ranking the best Japanese MLB players, Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish, and Hideki Matsui are definitely in the top 10. Other good MLB players who were born in Japan include Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Takashi Saito, and Kosuke Fukudome.
socialize now on this amazing warcraft 3 website https://warcraft3.xyz/
come now on the amazing warcraft 3 discussion board Warcraft 3
– Thank you for your compliment
– Thank you, I truly value your contribution to the company!
Attractive portion of content. I simply stumbled upon your site
and in accession capital to say that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog
posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing for your feeds and
even I success you get entry to constantly quickly.
Great post, I loved this blog. Your writing is engaging, and the content you provided is very useful.
I will definitely bookmark it with my friends and come back for more.
Thanks for posting this!