Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers: Inside Japanese Baseball's Traditional Rivalry
Tokyo against Osaka, the champions against the challengers. From the V9 dynasty and Sadaharu Oh's 868 home runs to 1985's back-to-back-to-back homers and the Curse of the Colonel.
Of all the matchups among NPB's twelve teams, games between the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers carry a special name: the traditional rivalry. They are the two oldest clubs in Japanese baseball, and their meetings pit Tokyo against Osaka. Whenever they play, the stands are full and television ratings soar.
The two oldest clubs
The Giants were founded in 1934, making them Japan's oldest existing professional team, and the Tigers followed a year later. They have competed since the earliest days of Japanese professional baseball and have built up nearly a century of classic games and stories.
The champions: the Giants
The Giants are the most successful club in Japanese baseball, with 22 Japan Series titles. From 1965 to 1973 they won nine Japan Series in a row, the V9 era, a record no team has come close to matching.
That team featured two legendary hitters, Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima, known together as the O-N cannons. Oh hit 868 career home runs, the most in professional baseball anywhere in the world, while Nagashima's clutch hitting and star appeal made him one of Japan's most beloved athletes.
The challengers: the Tigers
Hanshin has far fewer titles, but it has the most passionate fans in Japan. In 1985, against the Giants, Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu and Akinobu Okada hit three consecutive home runs, the most famous moment in Tigers history. That season Hanshin won its first Japan Series.
On the night of the title, delirious fans threw a statue of Colonel Sanders from a fast-food restaurant into Osaka's Dotonbori canal. When the Tigers then went years without another national title, fans blamed the Curse of the Colonel. The statue was pulled out of the river in 2009, and in 2023 Hanshin finally won the Japan Series again.
Two ballparks, two atmospheres
The Giants play at the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988, while the Tigers call historic Koshien Stadium home. When the teams meet in Tokyo, the third-base side and parts of the outfield turn yellow with travelling Tigers fans. At Koshien, it is the Giants who play surrounded by more than 40,000 opposing supporters.
Why this rivalry is different
The rivalry is about more than standings. It represents two cultures, the capital's established power against the passion of the Kansai region. For many Japanese fans, which side you support is almost part of your identity.
How the rivalry lives on
The rivalry keeps renewing itself. New generations of players arrive knowing that a home run against the old enemy will be remembered longer than one against anyone else, and fans pass their loyalties down through families. Even in seasons when one team is far ahead in the standings, these games feel like they count double.
The rivalry for a new generation
Today the rivalry reaches well beyond Japan. Games are streamed overseas, and many foreign visitors plan trips to Tokyo or Koshien just to experience a Giants-Tigers game in person. The atmosphere, with both sets of fans singing their teams' songs at full volume, is unlike anything else in the sport.
For young players, a big hit or a key strikeout in this matchup is remembered longer than almost anything else they do. That is why, every season, the traditional rivalry keeps writing new stories, and why players on both teams say these are the games they most want to win. Tickets for these games are among the hardest to get all season, whichever team is having the better year.
For Baseball Dream players
A rivalry makes every game mean more. In Baseball Dream, games against division and same-city rivals affect both the standings and your fans' mood. Prepare well for those matchups, and your team can build a traditional rivalry of its own.