Japanese Sports

Japan is a sports-mad nation, make no doubt about that. Although competitive sports may not be the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about the country, rest assured that the Japanese take sporting endeavours seriously. Fans are among the most passionate in the world, and Japan has hosted some of the biggest sporting occasions in the 21st century (2020 Olympics, 2019 Rugby World Cup, and 2002 Football World Cup with South Korea). Japan has embraced global sports as well as developing its own sports. But which are the most popular nationwide? Here’s a quick rundown. Baseball Perhaps surprisingly, baseball (yakyu) has long been Japan’s most popular sport, both participatory (link in Japanese) and spectator. Although widely known as an American sport, it was actually an Englishman – Horace Wilson – who first introduced it to Japan in the late 19th century. The first professional league was established in 1936. Today, there are two Nippon Professional Baseball leagues – the Central and Pacific leagues, each one consisting of six teams. Current overall champions are the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Japanese baseball differs slightly from American baseball as it uses a smaller playing field, strike zone, and ball. Football There are…