One pitch, one soul – The holy land of Japanese high school baseball: Hanshin Koshien Stadium

By MOOK Editorial Department
 
Koshien is called the “holy land of baseball” because getting to this legendary arena is no easy feat. With over 4,000 high school baseball teams across Japan, only the winners after a grueling single-elimination battle at the regional level — where each region (except Tokyo and Hokkaido, which have two spots each) is represented by just one team — can advance to the Koshien tournament. In other words, only 49 high schools make it through the narrow gate to Koshien. The Summer Koshien tournament still follows the single-elimination format, making every game an intense showdown.

Koshien Stadium is the home field of the Hanshin Tigers, and it’s fair to say that the entire Kansai region is dominated by Hanshin fans. Known for their wild enthusiasm, the Tigers faithful don’t just dress up in full gear, wearing jerseys with their favorite players’ numbers, but also go all out with creative costumes, shouting slogans and singing support songs loudly in the stands. And of course, there's the must-sing team anthem, “Rokko Oroshi.”

Hanshin fans have created one of the most famous cheering methods in Japanese pro baseball: at the end of the top of the seventh inning, the whole stadium of Tigers fans releases balloons (jet balloons) into the air. The sky fills with white and yellow balloons, creating a spectacular scene. If the Hanshin team is performing well during the game, you might even get to see the mascot, Tora-chan (a pun on “lucky”), perform somersaults to crank up the atmosphere to the max.

Another legend surrounding the Hanshin Tigers is the Curse of Colonel Sanders (the KFC mascot). In 1985, the Hanshin Tigers defeated the Seibu Lions in the Japan Series championship, clinching the title they hadn’t won in 21 years. Overjoyed fans jumped into the Dotonbori Canal from the Ebisubashi Bridge (known as the “Dotonbori Dive”) to celebrate. During the festivities, some fans, thinking the KFC mascot resembled Randy Bass — a key player in the victory — threw him into the river. Since then, the Hanshin Tigers' performance has been on a steady decline.

In 2003, they barely made it to the Japan Series again but suffered a heartbreaking loss after having a near-win, only to be reversed by the Orix BlueWave (now SoftBank Hawks). In 2005, they made another attempt but were swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines. Ever since, the urban legend of the Curse of Colonel Sanders has lived on. In 2014, they finally defeated their long-time rivals, the Yomiuri Giants, to secure a spot in the Japan Series, and fans hoped the Colonel would finally forgive them and bless the team with a win. But unfortunately, they lost to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and fans will have to wait a bit longer before tasting championship glory again.