Nishinomiya City

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” Liverpool football coach Bill Shankly said that long ago but many in Japan would find it hard to believe the quote wasn’t about the Zenkoku Koko Yakyu Senshuken Taikai which brings the country to a virtual halt for two weeks each summer. It is the National High School Baseball Championship Series. It is tradition and symbolism and dreams all rolled into one simple word – Koshien. There are actually two tournaments each year, the Spring Koshien and the Summer Koshien but it is the summer event that siphons off most of the country’s passion. Like the Super Bowl in the United States, it is a time when even non-sports fans get dragged into the frenzy. What is Koshien? The tournament started in 1915, the same year Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run for the Boston Red Sox. It has continued ever since, save for five years during World War II. Each year more than 4,000 Japanese highs schools begin their quest for the championship. One school from…