Fans will be able to root for the Nippon-Ham Fighters (Nippon Professional Baseball) from the comfort of soaking in a natural hot spring up to their necks when its new stadium opens in March 2023. Read more here.
Tag Archives: Japan
New Ballpark in Japan Will Bring Viewing from Natural Hot Spring
‘Ham Fighters Getting New Ballpark
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (Nippon Professional Baseball) announced Monday a basic design for their new ballpark to be completed in the spring of 2023 as Japan’s second with a retractable roof. Read more here.
Filed under Design & Construction, Stadium Issues
Fighters Choose Kitahiroshima for New Ballpark
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (Pacific League, Nippon Professional Baseball) will build their proposed new stadium in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido. The ballclub, based in the capital of Japan’s northernmost main island, has played at Sapporo Dome since 2004. Read more here.
Filed under Design & Construction, Market & Location, Stadium Issues
Spring Training, Okinawa Style
Compared to that of Major League Baseball, spring training in Japan comes a bit earlier and with a lot of hype on Okinawa. Last week, all 12 Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) teams began spring training, with all players reporting to the teams. Read more here.
Filed under Uncategorized
Ballpark Opens at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo
Baseball players and fans at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo have something to cheer about: a new ballpark. Yokota Field, a 27-month, Japanese government-funded project that cost more than $10 million, opened Friday with a grand-opening celebration on the base’s east side. Read more and view photos here.
Filed under Design & Construction, Stadium Issues
Japan Baseball: Beer Gals, Organized Cheering and Squid
Like America, Japan loves baseball, maybe even a little bit more than the country that invented it. And while the game is played the same way, much else about Japanese baseball is incredibly different. Read more here.
NPB’s Fighters Explore Building New Ballpark
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are reportedly considering building a new ballpark in Sapporo or its vicinity. The team currently plays at the Sapporo Dome on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. Read more here.
Filed under Design & Construction, Market & Location, Stadium Issues
Yokohama Stadium Could Host Olympic Baseball
Yokohama Stadium in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, has become a top candidate to host baseball in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, an official source said Monday. Baseball and softball, which have not been played at the Olympics since 2008, are among the sports that 2020 organizers have nominated for the Tokyo Games in addition to the core Olympic program. Yokohama Stadium is the home of Nippon Professional Baseball’s DeNA BayStars. Read more here.
Filed under Conference & Events
Nippon’s BayStars Acquire Stadium Operator
The DeNA BayStars (Nippon Professional Baseball) will make the operator of Yokohama Stadium its consolidated subsidiary, the Central League team announced Thursday following the completion of the takeover bid a day earlier. Read more here.
Filed under Personnel & Operations, Stadium Issues
IOC Approves New Sports for 2020 Olympics, Baseball Hopes for Return to Lineup
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board on Monday approved the venues for eight more sports on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic program, but baseball and softball still await the call. Because of the popularity of the sports in Japan, they are seen as possible favorites to be reinstated in time for the 2020 Summer Games. Read more here
Filed under Conference & Events
Three CPL Ballparks to Host USA-Japan International Friendship Series
PRESS RELEASE – The Coastal Plain League announced today that three of its ballparks will host games of USA-Japan International Friendship Series this summer. Continue reading
Filed under Conference & Events
Japan Looking to More Professional Baseball to Stimulate Economy?
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling party are apparently open-minded about how to revive Japan’s economy. Sportswriter Seijun Ninomiya told Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Friday that adding four more teams to Japan’s current 12 could reinvigorate regional economies and keep more Japanese players from signing with U.S. teams. Read more here.
Filed under League & Franchise, Market & Location
Japan Funds First-Ever Baseball Facility in Sri Lanka
Uganda was not the only beneficiary of dollars from Japan to build a new baseball facility. The first-ever baseball stadium in Sri Lanka and also in South Asia was opened recently at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Sports Complex in Diyagama with funds provided under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Cultural Grassroots Projects (GCGP). Read more here. View photo gallery here.
Filed under Community & Giving, Design & Construction, Stadium Issues
Thanks to Grant, Baseball Takes Next Step in Uganda
The Uganda Baseball & Softball Association has received a $120,000 grant from Japan to build the first baseball facility of its kind in East and Central Africa. A groundbreaking ceremony, which was attended by the Japanese ambassador to Uganda, was held at the construction site in Gayaza last Friday. Read more here.
Stricter Rules on Deck in Japan to Impede Talent Drain to U.S.
We don’t typically talk about player issues here, but any proposal that could keep foreign players from coming to the U.S. to play baseball is worth a note. To keep talented players at home, Japanese baseball officials are considering stricter rules for amateur players who bypass the country’s professional leagues to play in Major League Baseball. Read more here.
Filed under Lease & Contracts, Personnel & Operations
Na Koa Ikaika Maui Return From Japan, Owners Talk International Baseball Circuit
PRESS RELEASE – The Valley Isle’s only professional sports team, Na Koa Ikaika Maui, have returned from a successful tour of Japan.
Filed under Conference & Events, League & Franchise
Experiencing Professional Baseball in Japan
Dan Fellner, Special for The Arizona Republic newspaper, recently visited Japan to watch theYomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome. He likened the experience to a college football game. Read more here. View photo gallery here.
Filed under Ballpark Visits
A League of Their Own in Japan
We’ve all heard about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League storied about in the movie A League of Their Own, but did you know that the third season of the Girls Professional Baseball League in Japan will open on March 26 at Kyocera Dome in Osaka? Read more here.
Filed under Human Interest, League & Franchise
Finding Normalcy at Japan Ballpark
Seven months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan, baseball fans in Sendai, a city of 1 million located in the Tohoku region in the northeastern part of the country, are finding normalcy at Kleenex Miyagi Stadium, home of the Rakuten Eagles. Read more here.
Filed under Human Interest, Stadium Issues
Opening Day in Japan
Despite the mega earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, the professional baseball season kicked off on Tuesday, as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines 6-4 in front of 22,525 fans at QVC Marine Stadium in Chiba. Read more here.
Filed under Conference & Events, Human Interest, League & Franchise
Former Carp Home Being Demolished
First Tiger Stadium, now Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium? We feel your pain, Japan. Yes, despite protests, the 53-year-old former home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp is being leveled. The Carp currently play at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. Read more and view photo here.
Filed under Stadium Issues, Uncategorized