March Madness of Japan - Summer Koshien

The people of Japan love the game of baseball, and every Summer they gather to watch what is possibly the biggest annual sports event in the country the Summer Koshien, the championship tournament of High Schools all across the island nation.
Watch this video to hear some of the greatest stories from the Koshien about players such as Ichiro, Masahiro Tanaka, Yu Darvish, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
#summerkoshien
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[@justinnekoufar7629]

Hey man, great video. Was looking for a quick Koshien explainer and you summed it up fabulously, with some exciting stories and highlights

[@justinnekoufar7629]

Also, in that opening clip of Shohei Ohtani pitching, you can see his fastball clocked at 154 kmh, which is 95 mph, and he's in highschool. Obviously someone born to play the game

[@jajangteu2449]

hope one day i could visit japan and watch this live in the stadium

[@togelz]

"I will create a Baseball manga without Koushien Tournament in it" Said no Mangaka ever,...

[@meghdeeproy3224]

Ahem ahem major

[@ThePemoeda]

@@meghdeeproy3224 Yep, Goro just skipped Koshien and went straight for World Series instead lol

[@thisguy5591]

2 years later but Diamond no Ace

[@Ksensei41]

New to baseball. Searched Koshien after looking up Japanese highschool baseball, after watching Munenori Kawasaki interviews lol Nice video, great stories.

[@NexuJin]

I'm here after Diamond no Ace, Major, Major 2nd, and bunch of MBL videos.

[@miyayuki4455]

I first learned everything about baseball through ace of diamond. I wish I can watch summer koshien soon. Definitely one in my bucket list

[@brianchar-bow3273]

Japanese “YAKYU-baseball” has a unique spirit that took root and developed over more than 100 years after it was imported to Japan from the American style of baseball. In fact, there is another type of baseball on the earth today that exists in a different spirit from the American style. Of course, the roots of baseball are in the U.S. (or the U.K.), but baseball was exported from the U.S. to other countries, and the baseball that took root there developed in a different way. This would be a fact that has happened on the planet. The 2023 WBC was the day that “Japanese-style baseball (YAKYU)” defeated the home of “American-style baseball.” To put it another way, it was a battle between Japanese-style baseball “ZEN-IN-baseball (all members),” which emphasizes “teamwork of all players,” and American-style baseball, which emphasizes “individual power.” The result was the day that Japanese-style “ZEN-IN-baseball (YAKYU) (organized baseball emphasizing teamwork)” won over American-style baseball. This difference is due to the difference in background culture, history, and environment. However, the real and obvious cause of the difference is largely due to the difference in the two countries' educational methods in “high school baseball education.” Japan's professional baseball system consists of 12 teams in two leagues, and almost all of the players who join these teams as professional players come from Japanese high school baseball clubs, and have played in the “Koshien Tournament,” a national high school baseball tournament that has been held annually since 1915 (more than 100 years). Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, each of which has one (or more than one in large autonomous regions) winning team from each regional tournament. 56 teams (2018) will gather at the Koshien Tournament to compete for the championship of the best high school in Japan in a sudden-death tournament format over a two-week period. Almost all Japanese high school baseball players spend three years practicing baseball in order to participate in and win this annual Koshien Tournament. Although the Koshien Tournament is a tournament for high school students, it has a history of more than 100 years, and because it is participated by the regional representatives of the 47 local autonomous regions of Japan, the level of interest and enthusiasm is unusually high throughout Japan. The interest in the Koshien Tournament is much higher than that of professional baseball.　 Of course, every Japanese player who has made it to the major leagues, without exception, has either participated or aspired to participate in the Koshien Tournament when they were in high school. That is how influential the Koshien Tournament is in Japanese high school baseball. During the three years of high school baseball education, they are taught the basics of baseball skills, physical fitness, winning strategies, teamwork, manners, and character development. The stoicism toward the improvement of baseball skills, the obsession with winning, and the behavior seen in Japanese players such as Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro were also greatly influenced by their three years of high school club activities during which they competed hard to win the Koshien Tournament. The secret of why Ohtani often says that he prioritizes his team's winning and World Series championships over his own individual results, and why he is still committed to self-discipline and technical improvement, is largely due to the baseball education they received during their high school years, when they were aiming to win the Koshien Tournament. The Koshien Tournament has a large number of participating teams and is a sudden death tournament. Therefore, no matter how well-rounded and strong the team is, if they fail to score a single run in a single game, they are eliminated from the tournament and their three years of hard work comes to naught. Do you have any idea how difficult and frightening this is for these players who have worked so hard every day to play baseball? So they are willing to sacrifice themselves and cooperate with their team members in order to score one point more than the other team. They naturally learn to put the team first and act in a cooperative manner, where everyone tries to score one more point in order to win the game. The uniqueness of Japanese-style organized baseball ”YAKYU” is partly due to the uniqueness of Japanese culture, but it is more influenced by the experience of going through the Koshien tournament, which almost all high school baseball players go through.

[@jasonduffer1890]

Great video! Matsuzaka is legend. Most of Japanese baseball fan remember it.

[@davidsabillon5182]

Watching the kids cry gets me every time.

[@JordanBartholme]

1:36 the saddest slide I've ever seen :'(

[@tetetet87]

Can't wait for another video about Japanese baseball. Its so interesting

[@kerinjii1852]

oh thats shohei

[@davidsabillon5182]

If I may suggest a great anime about highschool Japanese baseball that actually ends with the player making it to the MLB, its called Major. If you love baseball you must watch this show. The beginning is heartbreaking.

[@sblue9176]

I don't think Major actually gets what Koshien is. I don't even remember if Goro gets to Koshien. TBH Diamond no Ace does a better job!

[@superninja252]

nice video but anothing thing The 100 pitch thing is still under studies, but probablly they will put

[@sea4our]

i've genuinely been trying to scour the internet to find previous years Koshien/content, but it's next to impossible in english. the only things that come up are videos like this. I genuinely want to go back and watch some of these games. throwing 250 pitches after you threw 150+ pitches, is insane. the Little League limit is like 80 pitches from what i remember (now). But as a former work horse pitcher, the threshold was more like 100-110. these dudes are throwing double that on no days rest. absolutely insane. i really want to catch one of these games in person.

[@KaptenMalaCh]

yeah, most Koshien content are in Japanese. But don't worry, actually you can watch it for free on websites. Especially Spring Koshien is coming in March soon.

[@a-aron9952]

Come after saw ohtani video throwing 99mph. Crazy thing.

[@picomix3353]

いきなり大谷登場。この動画アップした時に今の大谷をイメージ出来てた？

[@anthonypang7927]

You didnt mention all the rules, unwritten rules and rituals Theres a tradition that you souvenir the sacred dirt of koshien, this tradition was started by kawakami the great yomiuri giants manager when he was a high schooler Players will have oceans of tears after defeat, so there is crying in baseball

[@billblaski9523]

So is Spring Koshien at the beginning of their baseball season, like those Invitational tournaments that NCAA basketball has during the start of their season, and the Summer Koshien is their playoffs, the end of their season?

[@davidzheng369]

Out of how many high school gets to make it? I heard there are no divisions in Japanese sports except male/female.

[@PickYourPoisson]

49, one for each prefecture except for Tokyo which is split north and south and Hokkaido is split similarly, I believe.

[@rakkodego]

Actually, about 4,000 high school in Japan. And as @Jonathan Johnson said, yes, the number that be able to go to KOSHIEN is 49 teams.So exciting.

[@LuffyL-ch1ku]

Yea more then 4000 compete to play at koshien and 49 who won the qualifiers in their prefecture play at koshien