Hanshin Koshien Stadium, sure it may be the home of the Hanshin Tigers but for Japanese baseball fans, Hanshin Koshien Stadium is a place where dreams are made of.
The stadium opened back in August 1, 1924 as a stadium to host the national high school baseball tournaments and at the time of completion, Hanshin Koshien Stadium was the largest stadium in Asia, with a capacity at one time to fit 55,000 people (since making the stadium barrier free, the number has went down to around 48,000).
The stadium was influenced by the Polo Grounds in New York City (home to the New York Giants from 1883-1888, the New York Yankees from 1913-1922 and the New York Mets in 1962-1963 for baseball and for football, the New York Giants 1925-1955 and the New York Jets from 1960-1963).
The name Koshien is derived from the year of the stadiums founding in 1924 (based on the Sexagenery Cycle System, the first year is “koshi”) and it would become the home stadium for the Osaka Tigers in 1936. The name “Hanshin” would be added to the “Koshien Stadium” name in 1964.
And for any baseball manga or anime fan, Koshien is the stadium that high schools dream of making it to and compete in the major tournaments.
I visited the location back in December and it was a few weeks before Christmas, so the Hanshin Tigers official stores were having major sales and the Museum of Hanshin Koshien Stadium was busy (which I will post more about in the near future).
But for me, coming to Hanshin Koshien Stadium was like a dream come true. I know for young athletes this is the place to be for a tournament, for a baseball fan like myself, it’s to finally visit a place with so much history. It’s a feeling that is hard to describe but I was thrilled to finally visit this stadium.
To see the ivy around the stadium, the all-dirt infield, natural grass outfield that I have watched on television and seen in pictures, as a baseball fan, I loved being at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
As I’ve mentioned, the place is full of memories.
Such as when Matsui Hideki of Seiryo High School taking on Miyako High School at Koshien.
Or the battle between the Tomakomai High School (with Masahiro Tanaka) versus Waseda Jitsugyo High School (with Yuki Saito). With the score going 1-1 tied after 15 minutes, forcing a rematch.
Or when Tanaka’s baserunning led Tomakomai High School with a come-from-behind win against Aomori Yamada High School.
Or when ace pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka of Yokohama High School did the impossible with 250 pitches in 17 innings in the quarterfinal of the 1988 Summer Koshien and the following day, despite trailing 6-0, the team came back in the final two innings to win 6-7. And then in the final, throwing a no-hitter.
There are a lot of memories at Koshien and it was an honor as a baseball fan to finally to visit Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
