Koshien Stadium: Home of the Hanshin Tigers and Japan's High School Baseball Shrine
Opened in 1924 and now a century old, Koshien is the Tigers' home and the dream stage for every high school player in Japan. The ivy, the black dirt and the country's loudest fans.
In Japan the word Koshien means far more than the name of a ballpark. It is the home of the Hanshin Tigers, the summit of Japanese high school baseball and the place countless players have dreamed of since childhood. Koshien Stadium, in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, opened in August 1924 and celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2024.
Where the name comes from
In the traditional sixty-year calendar cycle, 1924 was a kinoe-ne year, the first of the cycle, written with the characters for Koshi. The stadium took its name from that year. When it opened it was the largest sports venue in Japan, and it was built above all to host the national school baseball tournament.
The dream stage for high school players
Twice a year Koshien is handed over to teenagers. The spring invitational tournament in March and the national summer championship in August bring schools from every region to play single-elimination games for the title.
The summer tournament in particular grips the country. Every game is televised, and the sight of players giving everything in the August heat keeps millions in front of their screens. Players on losing teams often kneel before leaving and fill small bags with the stadium's black dirt to keep for the rest of their lives, one of the most moving images in Japanese sport.
Because the high school tournaments take over the ballpark, the Tigers spend a long stretch of every August on the road. Fans call it the road of death, and how the team survives it often decides its season.
The ivy and the black dirt
Ivy covering the outer walls is Koshien's best-known sight. During a major renovation between 2007 and 2010 the ivy was removed, then replanted from seedlings grown from the original plants, so the ballpark kept its look.
The infield's dark dirt is famous too. It is a blend of soils from different places, and its colour helps fielders pick up the ball. Koshien keeps a natural dirt infield rather than artificial turf, a tradition few professional parks still hold.
Japan's loudest fans
Tigers fans are known for their passion. During games the whole outfield sings the team's songs, and before the Tigers bat in the seventh inning tens of thousands of yellow balloons rise into the sky at once, the most spectacular moment at the park. Hanshin won the Japan Series in 1985 and 2023, and each title set Osaka and Kobe celebrating.
A tournament the whole country watches
The summer championship brings 49 schools to Koshien, one from each prefecture and two each from Tokyo and Hokkaido, every one of them the survivor of a prefectural tournament that can involve well over a hundred teams. For most of those players it is the only time they will ever play in front of a national audience.
Many of Japan's biggest names first became famous here. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a no-hitter in the 1998 summer final, and in 2006 Masahiro Tanaka and Yuki Saito met in a final that went fifteen innings without a winner and had to be replayed the next day. Shohei Ohtani also played at Koshien as a high school pitcher. For fans, watching the summer tournament is a way to see the next generation before the professional teams do.
The tournament has also changed with the times. Concern for young pitchers' arms has led to limits on how many pitches a player can throw in a week, and to breaks during the hottest part of the day, while keeping the spirit that makes Koshien special.
For Baseball Dream owners
Koshien shows that a ballpark's value lies not only in seats and facilities but in the memories and traditions it gathers. In Baseball Dream your ballpark builds fans and popularity game by game. Look after your home park and keep winning, and one day it may become a special place for your own fans.