Japanese Baseball Introduction
Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Japan (with the possible exception of International soccer which gained popularity after the 2002 world cup).
Japan has one professional baseball league called Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The NPB is divided into two regional leagues called the Pacific and Central League.
The rules of Japanese baseball are basically the same as in the US with the exception of a few differences. The ball used in the Japanese game is slightly smaller and is wound tighter. In the NPB tied games are allowed with no extra innings.
In Japan all the teams are owned by corporations and the team names are typically quite long and include the name of the company that owns the team. Despite this the team names are quite good. Who can beat a name like "Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters".
The first Japanese baseball team was established in 1878 by a Japanese student(Hiroshi Hiraoka) who had studied in the US. He started the "Shimbashi Athletic Club" and other teams soon followed. Within ten years Japanese teams were regularly travelling to the US for tournaments. Many universities established teams and high schools soon followed. The Nippon Professional Baseball League was started in 1920.
For more information check out the Japanese Baseball Guide.
