Japanese Baseball: Nippon Professional Baseball

675 Words2 Pages

Baseball has homegrown roots here in America. Starting in 1839 it instantly became a phenomenon that still captures American hearts and attention spans today. The Japanese created their own league called the Nippon Professional Baseball in 1920. Though they borrowed the idea and sport, there are key differences in how the game is played on the tiny island nation. In true Japanese fashion, they took an idea making innovations and improvements to create something resembling the past but yet having differences to stand on its own.
The Nippon league and the Major League Baseball (MLB) possess similarities in regard to rules. Both countries along with countless other nations wear uniforms that all parallel one another. The physical game is still played on a baseball diamond within nine innings under the bright, powerful lights. It is still very much a business both here in America and in Japan. However, the Nippon league uses a smaller, tightly wound baseball harder than the American ball. The strike zone is narrower and farther away the batter. The playing field or margins are a lot smaller than American fields. Many Nippon league teams have fields that small dimensions would violate American standards. A team can only have a certain number of foreign players on a Japanese team. The Japanese teams play for ties versus the MLB who continue to play until there is a victor. The games have a time limit. No game can go longer than three hours and twenty minutes. Teams are named after the company that owns them instead of the city or area the team is located. For example the Seibu Lions are from Saitama but are named after the Seibu Department Stores. As for the actual game time, fans are constantly singing or cheering. Sitting in designat...

... middle of paper ...

...to the overall good of the team.
No matter where the game is played the excitement and joy brought from watching baseball can be felt in any stadium. Watching baseball or any sport brings unity and patriotism to the surface. Japanese society rules or structure has seeped into baseball and became an affixed part of it. Always doing what’s best for the company or team, attention on individuality is often overlooked. Japanese players are highly wanted and praised when they decide to come play for any U.S. team. They bring with them the ideals and values of dedication and passion that American players often forgot because greed and money block they’re view. In Japan it is not about fame or money but playing to bring honor to the company and the area you play for. I think American teams and players can learn a few things from their Japanese counterparts in that respect.

Open Document