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165-589: The Hawks are often regarded as one of the most successful franchises in Pacific League and the richest in all of baseball under the ownership of SoftBank Group, with the second most wins in all of Japanese sports , only trailing the Yomiuri Giants . The Hawks have played in the Japan Series 21 different times. The club also won two Japanese Baseball League championships in 1946 and 1948 while

330-606: A posting system for players under contract. MLB teams wishing to negotiate with a player submit bids for a "posting fee", which the winning MLB team would pay the Japanese team if the player signs with the MLB team. Free agents are not subject to the posting system, however, and some teams almost never post their players. The first professional baseball team in Japan was founded by media mogul Matsutarō Shōriki in late 1934 and called

495-499: A walk-off grand slam against the Orix BlueWave on September 26. Rhodes was intentionally walked during each at-bat of the series. Video footage showed Hawks' catcher Kenji Johjima grinning as he caught the intentional balls. Oh denied any involvement and Hawks battery coach Yoshiharu Wakana stated that the pitchers acted on his orders, saying, "It would be distasteful to see a foreign player break Oh's record." Rhodes completed

660-522: A 35 year title drought between 1964 and 1999 including a period of 26 years from 1973 to 1999 without a single Japan Series appearance, despite the relocation to Fukuoka. The drought finally ended in 1999, with gradual additions over the previous five years under new manager and home run king Sadaharu Oh . Under Oh (as manager and later executive), Daiei, and later SoftBank, the Hawks embraced internal development and sabremetrics as they eventually formed

825-424: A Japan Series record of going 29 consecutive innings (from the 1st inning of Game 3 to the 4th inning of Game 6) without scoring a single run. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches Catchers Outfielders Manager Coaches Sadaharu Oh 's 89 was originally planned to be retired or honored after his retirement, but Oh made clear his preference to give

990-407: A bankruptcy reorganization provision in 2004, Daiei attempted to hold on to the team and held discussions with its primary lenders, including UFJ Bank , to see if it could find a way to retain the team, but ultimately the sale went through to SoftBank Group on January 28, 2005. SoftBank had been interested in owning a baseball team since 2002 and agreed to purchase all 14,432,000 of Daiei's shares in

1155-419: A baseball dynasty off of a core led by slugger Yuki Yanagita and aces Kodai Senga and Tsuyoshi Wada , capturing Japan Series titles in 2003 , 2011 , 2014 , 2015 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019 , and 2020 , making the Hawks first team since the 1965 –1973 Yomiuri Giants to win more than three consecutive championships. Through 2024, the franchise's all-time record is 5,707–5,049–405 (.531). The team's manager

1320-479: A baseball club of their own. While initially met with resistance, the club was admitted to the Japanese Baseball League (JPBL) in the fall of 1938, playing their first games at Sakai Ohama Stadium , but moved into Nakamozu Stadium in 1939. The team's name was changed to Kinki Nippon in mid-1944 as wartime austerity measures forced Nankai to temporarily merge with Kinki Nippon Railway . After

1485-434: A best-of-six series played entirely in the pennant winner's home stadium. The higher seed always starts with a "ghost win", or a 1–0 advantage in the series before any games have been played, meaning the higher seed only has to win three games whereas the lower seed has to win four games. In the event of a tie, the higher seed would subsequently only need to win two games. The winners of each league's Final Stage then face off in

1650-493: A feature of the Japanese professional leagues since 1934. Hundreds of foreigners—particularly Americans—have played NPB. Taiwanese nationals Shosei Go and Hiroshi Oshita both starred in the 1940s. American players began to steadily find spots on NPB rosters in the 1960s. American players hold several NPB records, including highest single-season batting average ( Randy Bass , .389), and the dubious record of most strikeouts in

1815-512: A few unpopular cost-cutting measures, helped to make the Hawks gradually more competitive with each passing year, and in 1999, the team finally broke through. That season, Daiei made their first Japan Series appearance since 1973 (and first as a Fukuoka team), and defeated the Chunichi Dragons in five games, giving them their first championship since 1964. Kudoh was dominant in his Game 1 start (complete game, 13 strikeouts), and Akiyama

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1980-627: A general attitude that sports should be for players or as a hobby persisted. Matches between schools attracted large crowd until after World War II when airing sporting events on radio and television became common. Manga with sports-themed stories (colloquially called spokon ) have also played a part in attracting readers to slightly less popular sports, such as volleyball, association football, basketball, or American football, although there are also stories focusing on more popular sports like baseball. Other sports like table tennis and fencing have been popular at different times. Baseball

2145-551: A lack of foreign power and subpar pitching, being unable to climb the mountain and settled for a third place finish in Pacific League, losing out on second on the final day of regular season play, the second year in a row where they lost position on the final day of the regular season. Eventually, they would fall short, losing to the Marines in the 1st Stage of the Pacific League Climax Series. After that, it

2310-406: A limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future. On 19 September, attendance was expanded to a maximum of 20,000 fans per game, or 50% of stadium capacity. For most of its history, NPB regulations imposed " gaijin waku", a limit on the number of non-Japanese people per team to two or three—including the manager and/or coaching staff. Even today,

2475-474: A major figure skating Grand-Prix event, is hosted in Japan every year. FIS Ski Weltcup Titisee-Neustadt 2016: Noriaki Kasai Skiing is also popular and taught in schools in northern parts of the mountainous country. In particular, Japan has been producing good ski jumpers since the Sapporo Olympics in 1972, when Japanese athletes won all three medals in the 70 Meter Jumps with Yukio Kasaya getting

2640-515: A manager under the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) rules, and is required to belong to a boxing gym which has exclusive management rights for boxers as a member of each regional subsidiary body of Japan Pro Boxing Association under the Japan's conventional gym system. Two professional boxers belonging to the same gym have not been allowed to fight against each other unless one of them transfers to other gym, because it might disrupt

2805-507: A part of the Hawk Family , with three other miscellaneous traditional mascots. The currently known family members since 1992 are as follows: Japanese sports Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture . Traditional sports , such as sumo and martial arts , as well as Western imports like baseball , association football , basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators. Sumo

2970-455: A pastime, and contests as well as record making attempts were held. On April 26, 1686, a samurai named Wasa Daihachiro competing in the Tōshiya made an unsurpassed record of shooting 13,053 arrows and hitting the mark 8,133 times over a 24-hour period. This is even more remarkable when one considers the shooting range for this attempt, a 120-meter-long corridor with a ceiling of only 2.2 meters. In

3135-420: A policy overseen by team president Ryuzo Setoyama and his aides. Setoyama's most brilliant moves were the hiring of home run king Sadaharu Oh in 1995 to take the reins of manager, a title he would hold until 2008 before he moved into the general manager's position. As of 2024, Oh is still with the Hawks organization as a chairman of the Hawks' board of directors , and still engages with day-to-day operations of

3300-434: A private sport club that can be joined for a moderate fee. Most martial arts can be started as little as 5 to 6 years old. When a student starts 5th grade, school offers free after-school activities for its students to participate. Middle and high schools also encourage their students to join school sport clubs. Prefectural and national-wide level contests and tournaments are held every winter and summer for all sports. Some of

3465-496: A reliever to a starter to bolster their lackluster pitching. These moves worked, as the Hawks would dominate in 2024, locking up their 20th Pacific League pennant on September 23, having taken first in Pacific League on April 4 and never relinquishing it. This led them to a 91–49–3 record, the most wins put up by an NPB team since their 94–49 record in 2017. This was also their 6th 90 win season, just 1 shy of every team in NPB combined (4 by

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3630-408: A result of the prolonged period of poor play, with attendance dropping and the club dealing with reduced profits. One of their only stars during this time was player-manager Katsuya Nomura , was forced to leave the team after his wife having too much of a choosing on his management, forcing Nomura to either choose to leave his wife or leave the team, in which he chose the latter. In the end, however, it

3795-460: A retired major league player, made eight trips to Japan, from 1922 to 1932 to organize games and coaching clinics. Baseball is also played in Japan's junior and senior high schools. Each year in March and August, two tournaments are held at Koshien Stadium for senior high school teams that win a prefecture tournament. References to high school baseball ( kōkō yakyū ( 高校野球 ) ) generally refer to

3960-695: A season by a hitter ( Ralph Bryant , 204). Americans rank #4 ( Tuffy Rhodes , 55) and #7 ( Randy Bass , 54) on the list of most home runs in a season, and #2 in single-season RBI ( Bobby Rose , 153). Curaçaoan – Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien holds the NPB single-season home run record with 60 round-trippers in 2013. Koreans have had an impact in the NPB as well, including such standout players as Lee Seung-yuop , Sun Dong-yol , Baek In-chun , Lee Jong-beom , and Dae-ho Lee . Venezuelans Alex Ramírez , Alex Cabrera , Bobby Marcano , and Roberto Petagine all had long, successful NPB careers. The Dominican third baseman José Fernández played eleven years in

4125-563: A second consecutive season in 2015 again in five games, this time over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows . Outfielder Yuki Yanagita won Pacific League MVP, the batting title, and a Triple 3 (.300 BA , 30 HR , 30 SB or better in all 3 categories). It marked the first time since the Seibu Lions won three in a row from 1990 to 1992 that a team had won consecutive Japan Series championships. After falling to Shohei Ohtani and

4290-469: A second time, and four out of the last five; the next year, they became the first team to win three straight Japan Series titles since the Seibu Lions did it from 1990 to 1992, by sweeping the Yomiuri Giants . Pitcher Kodai Senga would blossom into the team's ace over their run of six championships in seven seasons, as he also threw the team's first no-hitter since 1943 on September 6, 2019, against

4455-505: A separate champion being crowned for the team with the best record through the 18 games of interleague play. In general, Japanese teams play six games a week, with every Monday off (except on specific occasions, such as a game being played outside of the home team's primary stadium or if a rainout forced a game to be postponed to a Monday). Unlike in Major League Baseball , doubleheaders have not been featured in NPB since

4620-591: A single season, finishing in last place, 43-1/2 games out of first. In 1958, the Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions . This enabled the Pacific League to contract from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams. After these various franchise developments, by the end of the 1950s, Nippon Professional Baseball had contracted from the initial allotment of 15 teams down to

4785-651: A strong group, the Hawks failed to make it to the Japan Series , losing to the Chiba Lotte Marines in six games in the Climax Series despite having a 3–1 series lead. SoftBank won the Pacific League again in 2011, with a dominating season on all fronts. The offense was bolstered further by the acquisition of former Yokohama BayStars outfielder Seiichi Uchikawa , who led the league in batting average in 2011. Pitching from Sugiuchi, Wada and an excellent bounce-back season from Houlton also helped propel

4950-472: A team cannot have more than four foreign players on a 25-man game roster, although there is no limit on the number of foreign players that it may sign. If there are four, they cannot all be pitchers nor all be position players. This limits the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, and is similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players. Nonetheless, expatriate baseball players in Japan have been

5115-579: A trade delegation from Canada brought the Canada national rugby union team , who were also playing their first game. The Japanese won 9–8. In 2015 an amateur form of mud tag rugby was invented. Volleyball is popular in Japan, where the sport enjoys much coverage by national broadcasters. The sport is played by many junior and senior high school students. The top regional teams play in the Japanese Volleyball League . Since 2006, Japan

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - Misplaced Pages Continue

5280-586: Is Hiroki Kokubo and the organization's acting CEO is Yoshimitsu Goto  [ ja ] . The franchise that eventually became the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks was founded on February 22, 1938, by Nankai Electric Railway president Jinkichi Terada as Nankai Club , based in central Osaka . The organization was said to be created as a result of rival railway companies Hanshin Electric Railway and Hankyu convincing Nankai to create

5445-415: Is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss. Association football is the second most popular team sport in Japan, behind Baseball. The Japan Football Association (JFA) is the governing body of Japanese football. The JFA organizes the men's , women's , and futsal national teams. Association football was introduced to Japan during

5610-540: Is also a commercial success in Japan, and made-for-television competitions and ice shows like the Japan Open are broadcast across the nation. Along with countries such as the United States , Canada , and Russia , Japan is widely considered to be a leading country in the sport. Sumo wrestling is the national sport in Japan. Sumo wrestling is believed to have originated in Japan, with its governing body being

5775-407: Is believed that some ancient sumo matches were purely religious events with predetermined outcomes as an offering to kami , with some matches regarded as divination – e.g. if a well-liked fisherman competed and won, a good catch was predicted for the year. The Kamakura period was a starting point for many martial arts. Kyūdō became popular as kyujutsu , literally bow skill , as a pastime for

5940-449: Is considered Japan 's national sport . Baseball was introduced to the country by visiting Americans in the 19th century. The Nippon Professional Baseball league has been Japan's largest professional sports competition in terms of television ratings and spectators. Martial arts such as judo , karate and modern kendō are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. Association football has gained wide popularity since

6105-812: Is distinctly Japanese and is now being exported abroad. Japan hosted the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The most popular professional sports in Japan are baseball , association football (soccer), sumo wrestling , basketball , and golf . Note that most practitioners in the martial arts are not professional, but amateurs. Notes: In addition, there are professional sports for gambling purposes; some fans enjoy them as spectator sports without betting money. There are opportunities to play various sports for all ages, and school plays an important role in community. Kindergarten and lower elementary school students can play in

6270-515: Is the permanent host of the FIVB Volleyball World Cups . Nippon Professional Baseball Nippon Professional Baseball ( NPB , 日本野球機構 , Nippon Yakyū Kikō ) is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan . Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū ( プロ野球 ) , meaning simply Professional Baseball ; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of

6435-475: The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo . It is also one of the four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling practiced internationally today. Keirin racing has also become an Olympic Games event since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney . Motorsports have become quite popular in Japan, especially during the latter third of the 20th century. Japanese car manufacturers use a relatively new form of motorsport that

6600-558: The 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo , the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , 2002 FIFA World Cup , and the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic . Tokyo also hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics . The 2019 Rugby World Cup , or 'RWC 2019' was hosted by Japan. This was announced by RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset in Irish capital Dublin at a special IRB meeting on 28 July 2009, along with

6765-606: The 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 2014 , 2018 , and 2022 FIFA World Cups . Its best result was reaching the Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018, and 2022. The Japanese national team has also competed in six AFC Asian Cups, with the team being the Champions in 1992 , 2000 , 2004 and 2011 AFC Asian Cups. The team's highest ranking was 9th in the world in February 1998. Japan has competed in many other footballing events including

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks - Misplaced Pages Continue

6930-544: The 2003 Japan Series , a series in which the home team won every game. In 2001 , American Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes , playing for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes , hit 55 home runs with several games left, equaling Hawks' manager Sadaharu Oh 's single-season home run record. The Buffaloes played a weekend series against the Oh-managed Hawks late in the season, after already clinching the pennant on

7095-644: The Confederations Cup , the East Asian Football Championship , and the Copa América . The J.League is the most popular football league in Japan and has grown rapidly in just a few decades-with teams such as FC Tokyo and Kashima Antlers regularly competing in continental competition and the league drawing the talents of Andrés Iniesta and Fernando Torres . The women's national team has enjoyed major success at

7260-643: The Convention of Kanagawa . At that time, American sailors often engaged in sparring matches on board their ships, with their fists wrapped in thin leather. It was the first example of boxing conveyed to Japan. In addition, an ōzeki-ranked sumo wrestler named Koyanagii ( 小柳 常吉 ) was summoned by the shogunate , and ordered to fight a boxer and a wrestler from the United States . There were three fought matches, using different martial arts' styles, before Perry and other spectators. Koyanagi reportedly won. In Japan, every professional boxer must contract with

7425-587: The Dai Nippon Tokyo Yakyu Kurabu ("the Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club"). After matching up with a team of visiting American All-Stars that included Babe Ruth , Jimmie Foxx , Lou Gehrig , and Charlie Gehringer , the team spent the 1935 season barnstorming in the U.S., winning 93 of 102 games against semi-pro and Pacific Coast League teams. According to historian Joseph Reaves, "The only minor drawbacks to

7590-522: The FIBA Asia Championship twice and has qualified for the event 25 out of 26 times. Japan was host to the 2006 FIBA World Championship which was played in the host cities of Hamamatsu , Hiroshima , Saitama , Sapporo and Sendai and on 9 December 2017, Japan was announced as co-host the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup with Philippines and Indonesia some matches will be in host city of Okinawa City . The prime basketball league in

7755-731: The Japan Handball Association . Ice hockey is a minor sport but growing in popularity. Currently, four Japanese teams compete in the Asia League Ice Hockey . Rugby union is a moderately popular sport in Japan. The Japanese national rugby union team , controlled by the Japan Rugby Football Union , has been to every Rugby World Cup since 1987. The country hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2019 , where they qualified for

7920-829: The Japan Sumo Association . It is considered a gendai budō , which refers to modern Japanese martial art , but the sport has a history spanning many centuries. Many ancient traditions have been preserved in sumo, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt purification, from Shinto . Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association . Most sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as heya , where all aspects of their daily lives – from meals to their manner of dress – are dictated by strict tradition. The history of boxing in Japan began in 1854 when Matthew Perry landed at Shimoda, Shizuoka soon after

8085-941: The Kintetsu Buffaloes and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers . Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters (the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball until Hisashi Iwakuma achieved the feat in August 2015). Nomo's MLB success led to more NPB players moving to Major League Baseball , and eventually led to

8250-471: The Kintetsu Buffaloes , then signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers , has also added to the financial problems. Attendance suffered as teams lost their most marketable players, while TV ratings declined as viewers tuned into broadcasts of Major League games. To discourage players from leaving to play in North America, or to at least compensate teams that lose players, Japanese baseball and MLB agreed on

8415-616: The Meiji period by O-yatoi gaikokujin , foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government, along with many other foreign sports, like baseball . The first Japanese football club is considered to be Tokyo Shūkyū-dan , founded in 1917, which is now competing in the Tokyo Prefectural amateur league. In the 1920s, football associations were organized and regional tournaments began in universities and high schools, especially in Tokyo. In

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8580-1032: The Nishi Nippon Pirates , and the Taiyō Whales . Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Pacific League: the Hankyu Braves , the Nankai Hawks , the Daiei Stars , and the Tokyu Flyers . To fill out the league, three new teams were formed: the Kintetsu Pearls , the Mainichi Orions , and the Nishitetsu Clippers . Matsutarō Shōriki , the Giants' owner, acted as NPB's unofficial commissioner and oversaw

8745-693: The Olympic Games , archers shoot over a distance of only 70 meters. Martial arts like jujutsu were popular but schools avoided inter-school matches, leaving room only for intramural matches. After the Meiji Restoration , various kinds of Western sports were introduced into Japan. Playing sports was adopted as a school activity and matches between universities became popular. During the 1870s, track and field events, baseball , football , rugby union , cricket and ice skating were introduced. In 1911, an Austrian gave skiing instruction to

8910-604: The Orix BlueWave (becoming the Orix Buffaloes) in the middle of 2004, which caused a player strike that eventually resulted in the creation of the Tōhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles being founded in Sendai to maintain the 12-team balance before the 2005 season. Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, the J.League professional association football league

9075-726: The Orix BlueWave to form the Orix Buffaloes , while the Rakuten Golden Eagles were added as an expansion team. As is common in Asian baseball (and unlike North American leagues), teams are generally named after their corporate owners, such as Yomiuri and Softbank . NPB also oversees two affiliated minor leagues , the Western League and the Eastern League . Since the first Japan Series in 1950 ,

9240-595: The San Francisco Giants single-A affiliate in Fresno as a baseball "exchange student". On September 1 of that year, Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball when he appeared on the mound for the San Francisco Giants at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets . In his debut, Murakami pitched one inning, allowing one hit and facing four batters in a 1–4 loss for

9405-551: The Takahashi Unions , to increase the number of teams in that division to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from the other Pacific League teams, the Unions struggled from the outset and finished in the second division every season. In 1957, the Unions were merged with the Daiei Stars to form the Daiei Unions (and again bringing the number of Pacific League teams down to seven). The Unions existed for

9570-585: The World Cup , winning the 2011 edition in Germany and finishing as runner-up in the 2015 edition in Canada. The national team's colors are blue and white, Japan's main colors in most international sporting competitions. Especially since the emergence of Yuta Tabuse and Takuya Kawamura , basketball has received a recent revival and become a popular sport in Japan. The Japan national basketball team won

9735-712: The Yomiuri Giants have the most championships with 22, and the most appearances with 37. Following the 2024 season, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars , who defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–2 in the 2024 Japan Series , are the reigning champions. The Japan Series has been contested 74 times as of 2023, with the Pacific League and the Central League winning 37 each. NPB was the only professional sports league in Japan until

9900-429: The designated hitter rule. These were implemented in an attempt to draw fans back to Pacific League, as the Pacific League was hit significantly harder by the Black Mist Scandal than the Central League, with only the Hankyu Braves not having players involved in the incident. After being a second division team for much of the 1960s and 1970s, in 1983 the Seibu Lions began a period of sustained success. The team gained

10065-545: The four major professional sports leagues of North America whose leagues each operate as one singular entity. TV rights for games are always held by a game's home team. The Pacific League has used the designated hitter (DH) rule since 1975, while the Central League has not used the DH outside of interleague play where a Pacific League team is the home team and in the 1985 Japan Series . The season starts in late March or early April, and ends in October, with two or three all-star games in July. In recent decades prior to 2007,

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10230-404: The 1930s, the Japan national football team was organized and drew 3–3 with China to win their first title at the Far Eastern Championship Games . The Japan national team also competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games , the team had a first victory in an Olympic game with a 3–2 win over powerful Sweden . The Japan national team is very successful at an international level, and has competed in

10395-472: The 1930s. In 2016 , the Sunwolves joined Super Rugby as that competition's first Japanese team and first from the Northern Hemisphere. Super Rugby began in 1996 as Super 12, involving franchised teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and had involved only those countries until 2016. The competition became Super 14 in 2006 when it added two teams, and adopted its current name of Super Rugby when it expanded to 15 teams in 2011. The 2016 season saw

10560-418: The 1945 hiatus in the JBL due to the Greater East Asia War , in 1946 the team's name was changed to Kinki Great Ring and the team won the JBL championship. The name was chosen as a translation of Japan's ancient name, Yamato, in a similar way to the Montreal Canadiens or the New York Yankees . In mid-1947, when Nankai broke away from Kinki Nippon Railway, they decided to change the team's name, also due to

10725-403: The 1950s to 1970s, Japan was one of the strongest countries in the world, producing 13 World singles champions . After long struggling years, they regained momentum in the 2010s and won many medals in the World Championships and the Olympic Games , though experiencing difficulty in surpassing China. Mixed martial arts (MMA) has been the most popular combat sport in Japan since the 1970s, and

10890-475: The 2005 season. The two leagues began interleague play in 2005, with each team playing two three-game series (one home, one away) against each of the six teams in the other league. This was reduced to two two-game series in 2007. All interleague play games are played in a seven-week span near the middle of the season. As of the end of the 2017 season, the Pacific League has won the most games in interleague play since it began in 2005 twelve times, with 2009 being

11055-417: The Buffaloes were allowed to merge with the Blue Wave (forming into the Orix Buffaloes ); in addition, the Rakuten Golden Eagles were newly created (at a reduced "entry fee") to keep the former six-team league structure. Other agreements included the leagues adopting interleague play to help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. All these changes took place before

11220-436: The CL and PL, with the CL representative getting home-field advantage in even years and the PL representative getting home-field advantage in odd years. Since its adoption by both leagues in 2007, Climax Series does not determine who won each league's pennant , rather the team with the best regular season record in each league wins the pennant, regardless of their result in the Climax Series. This has led to four occasions where

11385-422: The Central League and the Pacific League, which each have six teams. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League , that play shorter schedules for developing players. NPB teams are allowed to have more than one minor league team as long as they are outside of the established minor league system, with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants being

11550-428: The Central League, the Climax Series is a two-stage system; in the "First Stage", the second and third-place ranking teams face off in a best-of-three series played entirely in the second place team's home stadium. In the case of an instance where the series ends 1–1–1, the higher seed always advances to the Final Stage. In the "Final Stage", the winner of the First Stage will face off against the league's pennant winner in

11715-497: The Chiba Lotte Marines. In 2020 , the Hawks won the 2020 Japan Series , again in a four game sweep over the Yomiuri Giants, becoming the first team to win more than three consecutive Japan Series titles since the Yomiuri Giants won the last of nine consecutive titles in 1973. They also became the first team in NPB history to sweep two Japan Series against the same opponent in back-to-back seasons. Most notably, Matt Moore pitched seven no-hit innings in Game 3 of that Japan Series as

11880-576: The Fighters in 2016, the Hawks rebounded to win the 2017 Japan Series on the back of a dominating 94–49–0 season, their best season since 1959 in terms of winning percentage, in six games over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars , in a series where the Hawks led 3–0, but were almost pushed to a seventh game. The following year the Hawks also won the 2018 Japan Series against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in six games, making it back to back titles for

12045-428: The Giants in 1983 , but both were cut in spring training. Murakami returned to the Hawks in 1966, playing for them through 1974. He contributed to the team's 1973 Japan Series appearance, their last under Nankai's ownership. The team fell on hard times between 1978 and 1988, finishing no better than 4th place out of the 6 teams in the Pacific League in any year in the period. The team witnessed its fan base diminish as

12210-526: The Giants. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, which effectively barred Japanese players from playing in MLB until Hideo Nomo exploited a loophole in the contract agreement to join the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 , although others had tried before, including pitcher Kunikazu Ogawa in 1979 for the Milwaukee Brewers and later Murakami himself attempted to return to

12375-543: The Hawks came within one out of the first combined no-hitter in Japan Series play since Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase threw a combined perfect game for the Chunichi Dragons to end the 2007 Japan Series . The Hawks ended an injury-riddled and underwhelming 2021 with a 60–62–21 record, finishing 4th in the Pacific League, the first time the team had not qualified for the playoffs since 2013. This also

12540-562: The Hawks' bench (especially the bullpen), the club claimed its first Interleague title in June, winning a tiebreaker against the Hanshin Tigers . However, injuries caught up with them in the final month of the season, and the Hawks finished in last place with a 54–74–2 record. The finish represented their worst since 1996. Oh announced his transfer to a front office role at the end of the season, as former Hawk and fan favorite Koji Akiyama

12705-632: The Hawks. During the off season, they lost their star starters Tsuyoshi Wada (to the Baltimore Orioles ), Toshiya Sugiuchi and D.J. Houlton (to Yomiuri Giants ) through free agency. All star shortstop Munenori Kawasaki also left the team for the Seattle Mariners . Closer Takahiro Mahara would sit out the season through injury. To compensate for these losses, the team acquired outfielder Wily Mo Peña and starter Brad Penny from MLB, in addition to starter Kazuyuki Hoashi from

12870-557: The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, poaching elite reliever Roberto Osuna away from the Chiba Lotte Marines , and signing Kohei Arihara after a failed stint with the Texas Rangers . Despite these additions and Kondoh breaking out for a near Triple Crown season, only losing it out to Yuma Tongu also having a breakout campaign and winning the 2023 Pacific League Batting Title, the Hawks were hampered by

13035-625: The Japan Series champion did not win their league's pennant that year, with those being the 2007 Chunichi Dragons , 2010 Chiba Lotte Marines , and the 2018 and 2019 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks . However, from 2004 to 2006 , the winner of the Pacific League Playoffs was given the Pacific League pennant for that year. Financial problems plague many teams in the league. It is believed that all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as ¥ 6 billion (about US$ 44.9 million), from their parent companies. A raise in

13200-507: The Japan Series, a best-of-seven series mirroring the format of the World Series . In the rare instance where the series ends 3–3–1 after seven games, a Game 8 will be played with unlimited innings at the stadium with home-field advantage . Hypothetically, a Japan Series can go up to 14 games in length if each of the first seven games resulted in a 12-inning tie. Since its inception, home-field advantage alternates from year to year between

13365-421: The Japan Series. Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this league playoff system, an identical system was introduced to the Central League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed the " Climax Series " in both leagues. Player statistics and drafting order based on team records are not affected by these postseason games. In 2011, Miyagi Baseball Stadium , home of

13530-432: The Japanese army. In those days, Western sports were played by a few people, but through the educational system, they spread throughout the country. Western sports were initially stressed as a form of mental discipline, but Japanese have now come to enjoy them as recreational activities. Professional sports, the most famous being baseball which continues even today, started in the late 1920s but persistent rumors of bribes and

13695-579: The Kaisei School in Tokyo . The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called yakyū ( 野球 ) in Japanese, combining the characters for "field" and "ball". Hiroshi Hiraoka, who was in the United States studying engineering, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japan's national railways in 1878. He and his co-workers created

13860-539: The Lions, 2 by the Giants, and 1 by the defunct Shochiku Robins). However, they would get shut down by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the 2024 Japan Series in six games, breaking an NPB record 14 game Japan Series win streak and marking the first Hawks' Japan Series loss in the SoftBank era. They also became the first team since the 2002 Seibu Lions to win 90 games in a season and lose the Japan Series. The Hawks also set

14025-506: The Lions. However, of the 3 major signings, only Peña made regular contributions. Hoashi and Penny made two starts combined in 2012, as Hoashi missed almost the entire season with an injury and Penny was released. The team had to deal with their off season losses to their pitching staff from within the organization. Settsu was elevated to the team's ace, while young pitchers such as Kenji Otonari and Hiroki Yamada were given bigger roles. Nagisa Arakaki returned from long-term injury to join

14190-460: The Major Leagues. Continuing their dominance from the JBL, the Yomiuri Giants won nine consecutive Japan Series championships from 1965 to 1973. The Black Mist Scandal rocked Nippon Professional Baseball between 1969 and 1971. The fallout from a series of game-fixing scandals resulted in several star players receiving long suspensions, salary cuts, or being banned from professional play entirely;

14355-624: The Nankai era. After the franchise was acquired by department store chain Daiei, Inc., the Hawks were moved to Fukuoka for two reasons; the first being the fact that the city had gone a decade without a team in the area, as the Crown Lighter Lions moved to Tokorozawa to become the Seibu Lions in 1978, and the second was that Daiei was looking to expand their reach as a brand to Kyushu , which Daiei had little to no presence in before

14520-517: The Pacific League regular season title in 2010 after a seven-year wait. The title came after a see-saw season in which the team recovered several times after extended losing streaks. Starting pitcher Wada, back from injury through much of the previous two seasons, was, along with fellow ace Sugiuchi, at his best. Wada set career highs in wins and games started. The reliable "SBM" relieving trio of Settsu, Brian Falkenborg , and Mahara limited opponent offenses late in games. The bullpen also benefited from

14685-606: The Rakuten Eagles, was badly damaged by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The 2013 season featured a livelier baseball, which was secretly introduced into NPB, resulting in a marked increase in home runs league-wide. Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record of 55, previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh in 1964, Tuffy Rhodes in 2001, and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balantien finished

14850-538: The acquisition. As a result, they were no longer competing with the Hanshin Tigers , Kintetsu Buffaloes or even the by-then rechristened Orix Braves (later the Orix Blue Wave, now the Orix Buffaloes) for a market share of the Greater Osaka metropolitan area . However, in spite of those efforts of the new ownership, the Hawks still were usually in the cellar of the Pacific League, and continued to be at

15015-651: The addition of three new teams, including the first-ever entry from Argentina . The Sunwolves play home matches mostly at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, with select "home" matches also played in Singapore . The first recorded instance of rugby being played in Japan was in 1874, when British sailors staged a game in Yokohama . The sport was introduced to students at Keio university in 1899, by Professor Edward Bramwell Clarke and Tanaka Ginnosuke . Japan's first international match took place on 31 January 1932, when

15180-463: The amateur signings were some key free-agent acquisitions. Daiei went toe to toe with the then richest man in Japan, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi , to pull former Seibu stars from their 1980s championship teams to Fukuoka. Among them were infielder Hiromichi Ishige , immensely popular outfielder (and Hawks manager from 2008 to 2014, replacing Oh in that capacity) Koji Akiyama , and ace left-handed pitcher and former manager Kimiyasu Kudoh . These moves, alongside

15345-436: The annual season-ending Japan Series championship play-off series of games starting that year. NPB comprises twelve teams divided equally in two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League , a format which it has largely kept since 1957 . It has seen several waves of expansion and contraction, sometimes at the same time, to keep it at those numbers; most recently, in 2005, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with

15510-579: The bottom half of the league until 1997. The Hawks would play their first four seasons in Fukuoka at the Lions' old home of Heiwadai Stadium . In 1993, the Hawks moved out of Heiwadai Stadium and into the newly constructed Fukuoka Dome , now known as Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka , located 2.2 kilometers northwest of Heiwadai Stadium's former grounds. Heiwadai Stadium would later be closed in November 1997 and fully demolished by 2008. The Fukuoka Dome would be

15675-527: The conclusion of the regular season, resulting in a tiebreaker being necessary. The Hawks lost the overall regular season series against Orix, as the Buffaloes won 15 games against them in comparison to SoftBank's 10 wins, resulting in Orix taking the 2022 Pacific League pennant. They would eventually fall to the Buffaloes in the second stage of the Climax Series, breaking an eighteen game playoff winning streak in

15840-443: The country is considered a world power. The first example of this sport in Japan was the historic fight between Japanese fighter Antonio Inoki and American boxer Muhammad Ali . The classic match between a professional boxer and a professional wrestler turned sour when each refused to engage in the other's fighting style, and after a 15-round stalemate the match was declared a draw. The Japanese promotion PRIDE Fighting Championships

16005-662: The country is the B.League . In 2010 the Japan Basketball Association recognized Takehiko Inoue , the creator of Slam Dunk , for the series' role in popularizing the sport in Japan as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations. In 2019, Rui Hachimura was selected ninth overall in the draft by the Washington Wizards of the NBA. He is a son between a Beninese father and Japanese mother. The Japanese national handball teams are controlled by

16170-399: The creation of the " posting system " in 1998. Since Nomo's exodus, more than 60 NPB players have played Major League Baseball. Some of the more notable examples include: In September 2004, the professional Japanese players went on strike for the first time in over 70 years. The strike arose from a dispute that took place between the owners of the 12 professional Japanese baseball teams and

16335-444: The current number of 12. On September 1, 1964, Nankai Hawks ' prospect Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball when he appeared on the mound for the San Francisco Giants ; he returned to Japan in 1966. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement; it would be almost 30 years before another Japanese player played in

16500-650: The economies of the regions receiving the new teams. Okinawa , Shizuoka , Shikoku , and Niigata have been identified as regions that could play host to said teams. The 2020 NPB season was delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Initially preseason games were set to be played without spectators, but with opening day of March 20 remaining unchanged. With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 June behind closed doors . "Warm-up" games began 26 May. The shortened 120-game regular season began on 19 June. On 10 July, NPB began allowing

16665-499: The emergence of Keisuke Kattoh and Masahiko Morifuku , with the latter blossoming in the second half of the season. The Hawks offense was largely composed of role players who seemed to take turns having big games and off days, and it was the team's speed that drove the team as the Hawks led the league in stolen bases in the regular season with 148, well ahead of their nearest challenger, who had 116. Yuichi Honda and Kawasaki combined to steal 89 bases. However, despite putting forward

16830-461: The fact that the name was popular with American soldiers stationed in Osaka, since they also found it funny, and settled upon the moniker they would use until they would sell the team in 1988 – Nankai Hawks ( 南海ホークス ) . The team was named after Nankai's logo, which, at that time, was a winged wheel. Other names considered were Condors, which was rejected because the Nankai representative who supervised

16995-672: The first Japan Series , which featured the Mainichi Orions defeating the Shochiku Robins 4 games to 2. The Central League's Nishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season—they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with the Nishitetsu Clippers (also based in Fukuoka) to form the Nishitetsu Lions . This brought the number of Central League teams down to an ungainly arrangement of seven. In 1952, it

17160-603: The first baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However, it was not until 1896 that a team from Ichikō, the elite University of Tokyo preparatory school, defeated a team from the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club 29 to 4 that the sport took a dominant hold in Japanese popular culture. The match was the first recorded international baseball game in Asia . After that victory, several other universities in Japan adopted

17325-624: The first gold for Japan in Winter Olympics. In the 1990s, Noriaki Kasai and Kazuyoshi Funaki scored many wins in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup . More recently, Ryoyu Kobayashi won the overall title in the 2018–19 season. In the women's arena, the four-time season champion Sara Takanashi is renewing her world record of most wins in the World Cup. Table tennis is popular both as competition and recreation. From

17490-713: The first president of the Pacific League.) The league now known as Nippon Pro Baseball began play in the 1950 season. Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Central League: the Chunichi Dragons , the Hanshin Tigers , the Yomiuri Giants , and the Shochiku Robins (formerly the Taiyō Robins). To fill out the league, four new teams were formed: the Hiroshima Carp , the Kokutetsu Swallows ,

17655-413: The first retractable roof stadium in NPB and the only retractable roof stadium until 2023, when Es Con Field Hokkaido opened. However, due to inefficient design, high operating costs, and the rainy climate of Fukuoka, the roof is only opened on special occasions (i.e. on Children's Day and other holidays) when the weather is clear, or if the Hawks win and there is a 30% or less chance of precipitation and

17820-480: The first team since the 1995 Seibu Lions to be no-hit by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, led to the Hawks losing the pennant race to the Orix Buffaloes via tiebreaker after the Hawks lost to the Chiba Lotte Marines on the final day of the season, with both teams finishing with a record of 76–65–2. This marked the first time the top two teams in a league shared the exact same record in NPB history at

17985-504: The foundation of the J.League in 1993. It is the eleventh-wealthiest professional sport league by revenue in the world, and the second-wealthiest baseball league, behind only Major League Baseball (MLB); it is also the wealthiest sports league in Asia. NPB has the second-highest total season attendance of any league, also behind MLB, despite playing considerably fewer games per season. Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues,

18150-531: The founding of the Japan Professional Football League in 1992. Other popular sports include figure skating , rugby union , golf , table tennis and racing , especially auto racing . Some new sports were invented by changing elements of imported sports. Sumo shows an important side of traditional Japanese sport, a religious occasion as well as a sporting event. Many sumo rituals are closely associated with Shinto belief. It

18315-483: The game, Oh stated, "If you're going to break the record, you should do it by more than one. Do it by a lot." In the wake of the most recent incident involving Cabrera, ESPN listed Oh's single-season home run record as #2 on its list of "The Phoniest Records in Sports". Eventually, in 2013 , Curaçaoan - Dutch Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record, finishing

18480-416: The gym system. However, it is often quite difficult for boxers to transfer between the gyms due to the matters on transfer fees, match fees and so on. In the 2009–10 season all four reigning World Champion singles skaters were from Japan. Figure skating events in Japan are well attended and TV broadcasts attract a large audience. The major surge in its popularity has come mainly within the past decade with

18645-499: The hands of the eventual Japan Series Champions, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters . Team manager Sadaharu Oh missed most of the 2006 season due to stomach cancer. The Hawks' 2007 season was plagued by injuries and general ineffectiveness and inconsistency, leading to another 3rd-place finish and first-stage exit in the playoffs at the hands of the Marines. In 2008 , though various injuries still affected

18810-606: The host of the 2015 Rugby World Cup , England . Many major figure skating events are regularly held in Japan. The Grand Prix event, the NHK Trophy , has been held in various cities throughout Japan every year since 1979. Japan has also been host of the World Figure Skating Championships and ISU Grand Prix Final numerous times. In 2009, it held the first ISU World Team Trophy in Tokyo, an event set to take place every two years. Figure skating

18975-640: The late 1990s. Following the conclusion of each regular season, the top three teams from each league go on to play in the Climax Series championship play-off tournament, with the winner of each play-off tournament facing off in a best-of-seven championship series known as the Japan Series (known locally as the Nippon Series). Implemented in 2004 by the Pacific League (then known as the Pacific League Playoffs) and in 2007 by

19140-484: The league can be traced back to the formation of the "Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club" ( 大日本東京野球倶楽部 , Dai-Nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu ) in 1934. The first professional circuit for the sport in Japan, the Japanese Baseball League (JBL), was founded two years later and continued to play even through the final years of World War II . The organization that is today's NPB was formed when the JBL reorganized in 1950, dividing its 15 teams into two leagues, which would meet in

19305-497: The league increased from four to five in 1988, when the Nankai Hawks (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) were sold to Daiei and moved to Fukuoka , nine years after the Nishitetsu Lions moved from Fukuoka to Tokorozawa to become the Seibu Lions , and from five to seven between 2003 and 2005, as the Nippon-Ham Fighters moved from Tokyo to Sapporo prior to the 2004 season. The Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with

19470-483: The moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league, winning 11 league championships and eight Japan Series championships between 1982 and 1994. The Lions had a powerful lineup in this period, loaded with sluggers such as Koji Akiyama , Kazuhiro Kiyohara , and Orestes Destrade . Their defense also benefited from the services of skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige , Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcher Tsutomu Ito . Among

19635-410: The most successful franchises through the first two decades of the Pacific League's existence, taking two Japan Series championships in 1959 and 1964 , as well as 10 Pacific League pennants. Kazuto managed the team from 1946 to 1968, becoming the full-time manager after his retirement as a player in 1952. In 1964, the Hawks team sent pitching prospect Masanori Murakami and two other young players to

19800-468: The next year. The dispute received huge press coverage (which mostly favored Furuta and the players' union) and was dubbed one of the biggest events in the history of Japanese baseball. Proposals and amendments concerning interleague games, player drafting, and management were also discussed between the players union and the owners during this period. The strike was originally planned for all Saturday and Sunday games that month, starting from September 11, but

19965-477: The number to his successor. Ultimately, however, the man who replaced him as manager of the Hawks, Akiyama, declined to wear the number on the grounds that the honor of bearing it would be too great so shortly after Oh's departure. Instead, Akiyama wore the number 81. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have the largest number of mascots in NPB , with a total of twelve active mascots. Nine of them are traditional mascots that are

20130-495: The only teams taking advantage of this. As of 2023, the Hawks have three minor league teams, the Giants have two, and the other ten teams only have one minor league team each. Teams below the Eastern and Western Leagues play exhibition matches against various teams of collegiate, industrial , Shikoku Island League Plus , and other NPB minor league statuses. The Central League and Pacific League operate as separate entities, unlike

20295-472: The only time that the Central League has won more games. After 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in the Pacific League , dubbed the "Pacific League Championship Series". The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with the winner advancing to the five-game final against the top team. The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to

20460-503: The owners agreed to guarantee the survival of the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks , leaving the Central League with six teams and the Pacific League with five. A battle escalated between the players union and the owners, and reached its height when Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe controversially remarked that Furuta was "a mere player", implying that players had no say in what league would look like

20625-440: The pennant-winning Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the P.L. Climax Series Final Stage. The bright spark of the season came from rookie starter Shota Takeda , who went 8–1 with an ERA of 1.07. In 2014 the Hawks won the Japan Series in five games over the Hanshin Tigers . Manager Koji Akiyama retired after the season, and the team named his former teammate Kimiyasu Kudo to succeed him. Under Kudoh's stewardship, SoftBank won for

20790-532: The pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku , Osamu Higashio , Kimiyasu Kudoh , Hisanobu Watanabe , and relievers Yoshitaka Katori and Tetsuya Shiozaki . American expatriate players made their mark in NPB in the 1980s, with players like the Lee brothers ( Leron Lee and Leon Lee ), Greg "Boomer" Wells , Randy Bass , and Ralph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams. In 1995, star pitcher Hideo Nomo "retired" from

20955-512: The players' union (which was led by popular Yakult Swallows player-manager Atsuya Furuta ), concerning the merging of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave . The owners wanted to get rid of the financially defunct Buffaloes, and merge the two baseball leagues, since teams in the Central League saw much higher profits than the Pacific League , having popular teams such as the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers . After negotiations,

21120-407: The process. On October 10, 2022, the Hawks announced the formation of a yon-gun squad (third farm team), becoming the first team in NPB to begin operations on a third farm team, beginning play in 2023. Before the 2023 season, the Hawks added to their already loaded core in response to losing ace Kodai Senga to the New York Mets by signing elite contact hitter Kensuke Kondoh to a 7-year deal from

21285-431: The quarter-finals for the first time. Japan's first win in the Rugby World Cup was against Zimbabwe in 1991 , which was also one of the national team's first wins. They also caused significant upsets in the 2015 World Cup, beating two-time champions at the time South Africa , and the 2019 World Cup, beating second ranked in the world Ireland 19–12. The Japanese rugby team has been playing in international tournaments since

21450-458: The resulting abandonment of baseball by many fans in Japan also led to the sale of the Nishitetsu Lions and the Toei Flyers . From 1973 to 1982, in a forerunner to today's Climax Series playoff rounds, the Pacific League employed a split season with the first-half winner playing against the second-half winner in a mini-playoff to determine its champion. In 1975, the Pacific League adopted

21615-586: The role after the 2018 season. The Hawks went on a tear to begin the season, winning eight straight games, with Fujimoto being the first new manager to win seven consecutive games, and the first time since 1955 that the Hawks won eight straight games to open the season. A solid spring, including a Maddux no-hitter by Nao Higashihama on May 12 against the Saitama Seibu Lions, followed by a less than ideal summer filled with ups and downs, including going 1–9 in their annual Hawk Festival series and being

21780-532: The rotation. However, new closer Falkenborg had to sit out most of the season through injury, eventually handing over the role to Morifuku. Arakaki could not regain his former numbers. In the end, the losses could not be mitigated. Despite a tailspin to end the season, the Hawks snuck into the Climax Series, finishing 3rd in the Pacific League regular season standings, one game over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles , but eventually lost out to

21945-441: The salaries of players is often blamed, but from the start of the professional league, parent companies paid the difference as an advertisement. Most teams have never tried to improve their finances through constructive marketing. In addition, teams in the Central League historically saw much higher profits than the Pacific League , having popular teams such as the Giants and Tigers. The number of metropolitan areas represented in

22110-455: The samurai class. Yabusame also started as a sport in this period, but is now considered a sacred ceremony. In the Edo period , sports became a popular way to spend time. The only problem was that they were often accompanied by gambling. A notice to punish playing and betting on sumo without authorization was repeatedly posted to little effect. Kyūdō was encouraged by shōguns and daimyōs as

22275-413: The season with 55 home runs. League commissioner Hiromori Kawashima denounced the Hawks' behavior as "unsportsmanlike", and Wakana would be fired from the position as a result. Hawks pitcher Keisaburo Tanoue went on record saying that he wanted to throw strikes to Rhodes, but didn't want to disrespect the orders of his catcher. In 2002 , Venezuelan Alex Cabrera hit 55 home runs with five games left in

22440-478: The season with 60 home runs. In 2022 , Swallows infielder Munetaka Murakami broke Oh's record for the most home runs in a single season by a Japanese-born player, hitting 56 home runs in the regular season. Daiei had been under financial pressure to sell its stake in the team over the previous few years, with reports in 2003 suggesting the company would sell the team and the Fukuoka Dome . After filing for

22605-412: The season with 60 home runs. Three-term NPB commissioner Ryōzō Katō was forced to resign over the scandal when the changed baseball was revealed. Former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe 's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed expanding NPB to 16 total teams by adding two expansion franchises in each of the country's top-tier professional baseball leagues. The goal of such a move would be to energize

22770-608: The season, with several of those to be played against Oh's Hawks. Oh told his pitchers to throw strikes to Cabrera, but most of them ignored his order and threw balls well away from the plate, although this also had to do with Cabrera later on being revealed to have likely been on steroids, likely taken during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks after having been named to the Mitchell Report in 2007, and that other pitchers were intentionally walking him. After

22935-629: The sport, and it quickly spread throughout Japan. Since then, teams from Japan have traveled to learn from their American counterparts. Waseda University was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills. In 1905, the team traveled to the United States, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Japan made similar trips, and U.S. teams traveled to Japan to play. From 1913 to 1922, American MLB stars visited Japan and played against university teams. They also held clinics on technique. Herb Hunter ,

23100-577: The stadium from the GIC affiliate for 87 billion yen in March 2012, with the stadium being fully owned by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Marketing Corporation by July 1, 2015. The Hawks continued their winning ways after the sale of the team to SoftBank. Following the sale, the Hawks represented one of the richest teams in the world, with a player core still intact from the last years of the Daiei era. Particularly strong

23265-468: The success of its native skaters, but there have been avid fans in the country for international skaters for much longer. Skater Dorothy Hamill is known to have received pearls from the Japanese royal family in the 1970s. Figure Skaters in Japan also enjoy some level of celebrity – some like Mao Asada and Yuzuru Hanyu (the first Japanese male figure skater to win an Olympic gold medal) becoming household names and gaining large sponsorships. The NHK Trophy,

23430-444: The summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien"). These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on NHK. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It

23595-561: The team at the age of 84. Oh replaced then-manager Rikuo Nemoto, who was named team president and held that position until his death in 1999. Also tapped was Akira Ishikawa, a little-known former player, who was tasked with bringing in talented amateurs. He brought in the likes of former Hanshin Tigers catcher Kenji Johjima , Kazumi Saitoh , Nobuhiko Matsunaka , future Chicago White Sox and Chiba Lotte Marines infielder Tadahito Iguchi , shortstop Munenori Kawasaki , and future team captain and current manager Hiroki Kokubo . Supplementing

23760-540: The team to the best record in NPB. After sweeping the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Pacific League Climax Series, the Hawks took on the Chunichi Dragons to win the Japan Series, a rematch of the 1999 Japan Series. The Dragons pushed SoftBank to the full seven games, but the Hawks shut out the Dragons 3–0 in the seventh game to win their first Japan Series since 2003. The 2012 season started with losses for

23925-549: The team was bald, and Cardinals, which was rejected because the club wanted to retain their colors, so they settled on the Hawks moniker. After the JPBL was reorganized into Nippon Professional Baseball in 1950 , the Hawks were placed into the Pacific League alongside the Mainichi Orions , Hankyu Braves , Tokyu Flyers , Daiei Stars , Nishitetsu Clippers , and Kintetsu Pearls . Under player-manager Kazuto Tsuruoka (known as Kazuto Yamamoto from 1946 to 1958) they became one of

24090-412: The team was based in Osaka. The Hawks' 11 Japan Series championships, including seven championships between 2011 and 2020 , and 20 Pacific League pennants, with the most recent pennant coming in 2024 and most recent Japan Series in 2020, are second-most in Pacific League and third-most in all of NPB, only trailing the Saitama Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants. For various reasons, the Hawks experienced

24255-589: The team's popularity in the States were their kanji characters and their cumbersome Japanese name. They rectified both by renaming themselves the Tokyo Kyojin ['Tokyo Giants'] and adopting a uniform identical to the New York Giants ..." From 1936 to 1950, professional baseball in Japan was played under the banner of the Japanese Baseball League (JBL). The league's dominant team during this period

24420-508: The team, to sell the team, which he refused to do. However, Kawakatsu, who represented the most ardent supporter of Nankai's ownership of the Hawks, died on April 23, 1988, and the team was sold to the Daiei Corporation to become the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (福岡ダイエーホークス) after the 1988 season. Katsuya Nomura , Mutsuo Minagawa , Hiromitsu Kadota , and Chusuke Kizuka are among the more notable franchise players that were active during

24585-559: The team, which accounted for 98% of team ownership, for 15 billion yen. This deal did not include the Fukuoka Dome and surrounding Hawks Town complex, which was sold in 2003 to Colony Capital and then later sold to an affiliate of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation in 2007. SoftBank initially decided to lease the rights to the Fukuoka Dome for 4.8 billion yen per year for 20 years, but they would eventually purchase

24750-550: The tournaments, such as National High School Baseball Championship , have a very high level of popularity among fans, comparable to professional sports. The second Monday of October is a national holiday of Japan , Health and Sports Day . This date, originally October 10, commemorates the opening day of the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo . The event was documented in Tokyo Olympiad by filmmaker, Kon Ichikawa. Japan has hosted many international competitions including

24915-865: The two annual baseball tournaments, played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan. They are organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation in association with Mainichi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien"), and Asahi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Championship in

25080-426: The two leagues each scheduled between 130 and 140 regular season games, with the 146 games played by the Central League in 2005 and 2006 being the only exception. Both leagues have since adopted 143-game seasons, 71 or 72 each at home and on road, facing their five respective intra-league opponents 25 times each and facing their six interleague opponents three times each in late May to early June in interleague play, with

25245-417: The wind speed at 10 meters above the roof is 10 meters per second or slower. Since the Hawks moved to the Fukuoka Dome, they have led Pacific League in annual average attendance every single year except for 2021, where pandemic restrictions in Japan prevented them from reaching said goal. The Hawks front office adopted a strategy of drafting and developing younger players, supplemented by free agent signings,

25410-419: Was a staple of early television, and boxing and sumo were aired periodically. Initially, running live sports games was viewed with skepticism as it was believed that fans would rather stay at home if they could watch for free. But, as it actually increased interest and sold more merchandise, airing of sports on television became popular. Judo has been recognized as an official event in the Olympic Games since

25575-540: Was announced that Fujimoto was to step down as manager due to health concerns, and was replaced by the club's farm team manager Hiroki Kokubo . The Hawks once again were active in the 2023–24 off-season, trading pitchers Keisuke Izumi and Rei Takahashi for Yomiuri Giants slugger Adam Walker , acquiring first baseman slugger Hotaka Yamakawa after a scandal tarnished his image with the Lions, and extended foreign pitchers Liván Moinelo and Carter Stewart to long-term, record setting deals, as well as converting Moinelo from

25740-527: Was decided that any Central League team ending the season with a winning percentage below .300 would be disbanded or merged with other teams. The Shochiku Robins fell into this category, and were merged with the Taiyō Whales to become the Taiyō Shochiku Robins in January 1953. This enabled the Central League to shrink to an even number of six teams. In 1954 a new Pacific League team was founded,

25905-408: Was founded. The new league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors, despite many clubs in the J.League still being owned and subsidized by corporate entities. The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with Hideo Nomo "retiring" from

26070-513: Was named as his successor. In 2009 , the team cracked the playoffs once again on the backs of breakout seasons from surging starting pitcher D. J. Houlton , outfielder Yuya Hasegawa , Rookie of the Year Tadashi Settsu and another stellar season from ace Sugiuchi. However, the team still was unable to get out of the first stage, as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ousted the Hawks in a 2-game sweep. The Hawks finally reclaimed

26235-443: Was named the 1999 Japan Series 's most valuable player . The following year, the Hawks again made the Japan Series, but this time lost to the powerful Yomiuri Giants in six games. Despite the shaky financial ground that Daiei was on thanks to their rampant expansion in bubble-era Japan, the team continued to be competitive. The team won their second Japan Series in five years, defeating the popular Hanshin Tigers in seven games in

26400-577: Was one of the most important organizations in the world, and was called "the Mecca of MMA" because it brought together the best fighters in Japan and the world until its demise in 2007. Today there are promotions such as Rizin Fighting Federation (the most important in the country), Pancrase , Shooto and ZST . Baseball is historically the most popular team sport in Japan. It was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson , who taught at

26565-399: Was pushed back due to the agreement of another meeting between the union and the owners on September 10. The players decided to strike on September 18–19, 2004, when no progress was made in the negotiations, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions. The dispute officially ended after the two groups reached consensus on September 23, 2004. As part of the agreement,

26730-504: Was the Tokyo Kyojin , which won nine league championships, including six in a row from 1938 to 1943. (The team was officially renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947.) After the 1949 season, the JBL team owners reorganized into the NPB; Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata promoted a two-league system, which became the Pacific League (initially called the Taiheiyo Baseball Union ) and the Central League . (Nagata became

26895-421: Was the first time since 2008 that the Hawks failed to maintain a .500 winning percentage season, as manager Kimiyasu Kudoh stepped down after the conclusion of the 2021 season. Following Kudoh's departure, farm team manager Hiroshi Fujimoto was promoted to the majors to be the new manager for 2022 . Yuki Yanagita was named team captain by Fujimoto, becoming the first team captain since Seiichi Uchikawa gave up

27060-468: Was the team's starting pitching behind Saitoh, Tsuyoshi Wada , Nagisa Arakaki , and Toshiya Sugiuchi . In 2005, the Hawks finished in first place during the regular season, but fell to the eventual Japan Series champions, the Chiba Lotte Marines in the second stage of the Climax Series . In 2006, a dramatic pennant race led to an even more exciting playoff run that ended in the Sapporo Dome at

27225-459: Was the valor of Tatsu Yamashita which carried the team to glory and honor, establishing a legendary sports empire. The change in the club's financial performance led Nankai Electric Railway to question the value of maintaining ownership, even after considering the value the team represented as an advertising tool. The company's board of directors and union leadership put pressure on Den Kawakatsu, then-president of Nankai Railway and primary owner of

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