Professional Baseball Foundation Day

What Is Professional Baseball Foundation Day?

Every December 26th is "Professional Baseball Foundation Day" (プロ野球誕生の日, Puro Yakyū Tanjō no Hi) in Japan. On December 26, 1934, Japan's first professional baseball team — the "Dai Nippon Tokyo Baseball Club" (大日本東京野球倶楽部, predecessor of today's Yomiuri Giants) — was officially founded. This founding created the institutional foundation for Japan's professional baseball (日本プロ野球, Nippon Puro Yakyū) industry, which grew into the most popular professional team sport in Japan and produced some of the world's most skilled players.

The Founding of Japanese Professional Baseball

The December 1934 founding came in the aftermath of a historic event: a tour by a team of American Major League all-stars — including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx — who played exhibition games across Japan that November. The American tour, organized partly by Matsutaro Shoriki (正力松太郎) of the Yomiuri Shimbun, demonstrated the commercial potential of professional baseball and inspired Shoriki to create a permanent Japanese professional team. The Dai Nippon Tokyo Baseball Club was the direct result.

The Development of Nippon Professional Baseball

From the single 1934 team, Japanese professional baseball grew into the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league — currently comprising 12 teams divided into the Central League and Pacific League. Japan's major baseball teams — the Giants, Tigers, Carp, Hawks, Eagles, and others — have deep roots in their home cities and passionate fan bases that rival those of any sports franchise in the world. NPB ball is famous for its emphasis on technical execution, team strategy, and the elaborate choreography of fan cheering sections (応援団, ōendan).

Japan and Major League Baseball

Japan has produced an extraordinary number of players who have competed successfully in Major League Baseball in the United States: Hideo Nomo (the pioneer, 1995), Ichiro Suzuki (10 consecutive Gold Glove seasons), Hideki Matsui, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yu Darvish, and most spectacularly, Shohei Ohtani — the two-way star who pitches and hits at an elite level simultaneously and has become one of the most celebrated players in MLB history. The Japan-MLB connection has made baseball truly a trans-Pacific sport.

Fun Facts

• Koshien passion: The annual high school baseball tournament at Koshien Stadium (see August 18th) is arguably more emotionally significant to Japanese baseball culture than NPB — the amateur ideal and the intensity of teenage aspiration it embodies touch something deeper than professional competition.
• Yakult Swallows umbrella: The distinctive tradition of Yakult Swallows fans opening small umbrellas during their team's at-bats is one of Japanese baseball fandom's most charming and recognizable customs — a celebration visible from anywhere in the stadium.