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106th National High School Baseball Championship kicks off

27 Comments

The 106th National High School Baseball Championship began at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday.

At the opening ceremony, Ishikawa Prefectural Anamizu High School, which was damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake on Jan 1, led the way, Kyodo News reported. Anamizu was followed by players from 49 schools, including Kendai Takasaki (Gunma), which is aiming to become the eighth school in history to win both the spring and summer championships.

As a measure against the heat, this year's tournament will introduce a "morning and evening two-part system" in which games will be divided into morning and evening sessions on the first to third days, when there are three games per day.

The tournament will be held over 17 days, including rest days, with the final taking place on Aug 23.

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27 Comments
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Best of luck to you'll give it your best shot and may the best team win. Always fun watching how competitive the National High School Base Ball Championship can be.

3 ( +13 / -10 )

All the marching and militarism is so weird.

Good luck to everyone except my local team, who have rotten manners on the train and deserve to lose.

-8 ( +17 / -25 )

And all the crying after losing is very odd.

-13 ( +10 / -23 )

Good luck to all schools, participants, and officials in the 106th edition of the HS Baseball Championships at the sacred Koshien ground. Just being there will be the highlight of their lives.

And all the crying after losing is very odd.

No, it just shows what competing at Koshien means to them - win or lose. It transcends sport.

-2 ( +13 / -15 )

"We hope to limit heat-related fatalities and serious incidents to a minimum this year" said a representative on condition of anonymity. "But frankly we'd rather watch them gaman through it so they know what to expect in the real world". When asked if the tournament was supposed to be an enjoyable experience, the representative tilted his head to one side and looked puzzled.

-6 ( +11 / -17 )

All the marching and militarism is so weird.

Yeah, but it just wouldn't be Koshien otherwise, would it?

-11 ( +8 / -19 )

Why torture these kids by holding it on the hottest days of the year? Is gaman worth getting heatstroke for?

2 ( +10 / -8 )

Just don't blow out the elbows

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

This has serious Imperial Japan overtones.

-12 ( +3 / -15 )

absurd situation that make students play or cheer sports in dangerous summer heat, and adults view and enjoy it in cool room.

Japan Today article

"123 people died in Tokyo from heatstroke in July, health authorities say"

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Stubborn as always.

They keep pushing these boys with temperatures that are reaching nearly 40 degrees on a daily basis.

Such events should be held in autumn.

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Watching Tohoku collapse as we speak. It was good up until the 9th. Starting pitcher kept them at 1 up until then and then bad luck after bad luck + opponent getting hot at the right time. Baseball is an interesting sport, it's never over till it's over. Tohoku now losing their grip in 10th. Let's see how this plays out.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

And Tohoku makes a comeback. The tension in Koshien games are surreal.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Going to 11th

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

The event is sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun Company, a "self-proclaimed" quality newspaper in Japan, but they stubbornly refuse to agree to changing the date of the event because it would coincide with the summer vacation and would help boost viewership.

Isn't forcing high school students to play baseball on a scorching hot day bordering on abuse? Before people start dying, they should either build a dome or move the date to around October.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Boooring !!

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

Most teams only have one decent pitcher, and the coaches will keep him on the mound until 1) the team wins the championship, irregardless of number of innings pitched; or 2) his arm falls off.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

If you read the article you would know the games are played mornings and evenings. The heat will be at least at the normal temperatures for baseball or very nearly close to it. It's exciting and of course these player go all out, which if pretty impressive to watch. The arm myth: these are high schoolers, not pros. Even the ones in the majors (Japan and the US) have no more arm problems than any one else. Look at the US pitchers. They regularly are on the injured list. The constant referring to Japanese arm problems is just band wagoning.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Gene@It's child abuse, plain and simple, and there's no justification for it.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

I have always felt the regimentation and bullying by coaches to be a huge turnoff.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Best of luck to all players / Teams. High School sports events are so much fun for the whole family.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Great !!.. good luck for everyone..

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

All the marching and militarism is so weird.

Good luck to everyone except my local team, who have rotten manners on the train and deserve to lose.

And all the crying after losing is very odd.

Stubborn as always.

This has serious Imperial Japan overtones.

I have always felt the regimentation and bullying by coaches to be a huge turnoff.

Boooring !!

Isn't forcing high school students to play baseball on a scorching hot day bordering on abuse? Before people start dying, they should either build a dome or move the date to around October.

absurd situation that make students play or cheer sports in dangerous summer heat, and adults view and enjoy it in cool room.

Why the negative bitterness??..

This is Japan, and Japan people has its way to do things..

Let Japan be Japan..

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

All the marching and militarism is so weird.

This has serious Imperial Japan overtones.

Right so.

Why the negative bitterness??..

Because these kids are taught and represent many outdated values; militarism, to follow orders, gambare-ism, sexism (girls cheering their "heroes"), acceptance of bullying, ...

It's not Showa anymore!

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Love watching these games. The intensity, the passion is so exciting.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

106th National High School Baseball Championship kicks off

The 106th National High School Baseball Championship began at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday.

Hmm, some negative comments in this thread; “*106th National High School Baseball Championship kicks off“. 106th…—they’ve been doing this for a long time. Sure, many of us have mixed feelings about this—the militarism, the bullying (yes, that’s the right word) and all the gaman can be pretty weird, I mean, this is 2024 and at the end of the day, it’s just a game (and you know the thing about sports: it’s all about having fun) but again, this is a very old tournament with some very specific “rules*”—it’s almost like it’s part of Japan/Japanese culture; I’m not the biggest baseball fan but this unique tournament can be pretty interesting/exciting. 頑張って、everyone!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

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