Hanshin Koshien Stadium
The Hanshin Kōshien Stadium ( Japanese 阪神 甲子 園 球場 , Hanshin kōshien kyūjō , short 甲子kurz , kōshien ) is a baseball stadium in the Kōshien region of the Japanese city of Nishinomiya ( Hyōgo prefecture ). It is especially famous for the high school championship finals held there. The term is also used as a synonym for this tournament, as well as for other national competitions by high school students, even if they have nothing to do with baseball or the stadium.
etymology
"Kōshi" ( 甲子 ) is the name for the first year in the 60-year cycle of Chinese astrology . This part of the name was chosen because the stadium was built in 1924 and falls into the category this year. The other component “en” ( 園 ) usually means garden or park. A ballpark is often referred to as a "ball park" in English.
Stadion
The stadium holds over 50,000 visitors and is the home stadium of the Hanshin Tigers . It was built in 1924, based on the Polo Grounds stadium in New York .
In 1929 the main stand was converted from a wooden structure to reinforced concrete. During the great earthquake in Kobe in 1995 , the main stand was badly damaged.
High School Championship
The "nationwide high school baseball championship" ( 全国 高等学校 野球 選手 権 大会 , zenkoku kōtō-gakkō yakyū senshuken taikai ), usually shortened to “Summer Kōshien” ( 夏 の 甲子 園 , natsu no Kōshien ), has been held annually since 1915 in Koshien. Since 1924, the “high school selection baseball tournament ” ( 選 抜 高等学校 野球 大会 , senbatsu kōtō-gakkō yakyū taikai ), the “spring kōshien” ( 春 の 甲子 園 , haru no kōshien ) has been held every year since 1924 .
In addition to the professional championship, both tournaments are highlights of the national baseball calendar and are broadcast live on radio and television. The stars of the tournament would regularly become professional baseball players for the next several years. The organizer is the Japanese high school baseball association together with large media companies: the publishing house of the Asahi Shimbun at the summer Kōshien and the publishing house of the Mainichi Shimbun at the spring kōshien.
49 teams take part in the summer kōshien: two high schools each from the prefectures Tokyo and Hokkaidō and one each from each other prefecture. The results of the preliminary prefectural qualification tournaments that will take place from mid-June are already reported in national media. The tournament is carried out in the knockout system , with a drawing to determine which teams have to play in the first or in the second round. In spring kōshien play - also in the knockout system with one round less - 32 high schools, which are invited by the high school baseball association due to their performance in regional qualifying tournaments in autumn.
Web links
- Hanshin Denki Tetsudō : Hanshin Kōshien Stadium (Japanese)
- Asahi Shimbun : Summer Kōshien (Japanese)
- Mainichi Shimbun : Spring Kōshien ( Memento from May 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Japanese)
- High School Baseball Association website (Japanese)
Coordinates: 34 ° 43 ′ 17.2 " N , 135 ° 21 ′ 41.3" E