The sport of baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, and the first formal team was established in 1878. It has been a popular sport ever since. It is called in Japanese, combining the characters for field and ball. Hiroshi Hiraoka, who was in America studying engineering, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japans national railways in 1878. He and his co-workers created the first baseball team the Shimbashi Athletic Club and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However it wasnt until the team from Tokyo University started playing when the sport took hold in Japanese Culture. Baseball as a sport easily made it into the hearts of the Japanese because there is this psychological similarity of the ball game to the native sports of Japan namely sumo and the martial arts. If analyzed carefully baseball is a basic one on one battle between the pitcher and the batter which is very similar to how the sport of sumo and martial arts focus on the same aspects. Baseball requires timing, speed and precision, so does the native Japanese sports.As the country developed into a modern Japan, so did the popularity of baseball. It started off in schools and made its way to become leagues in the country. But the journey was not that easy. As we know, Japan is considered to be one of the most closely knit countries in terms of culture and religion. Many criticized the sport in the early part of the twentieth century saying that it leads to mental pressure and other negative aspects concerning the human body.Matsutara Shoriki, an owner of a famous newspaper in Japan was in favor of the sport and was more influential than the other critics. He sponsored a game which brought famous players like Babe Ruth and Jimmy Fox to play Nike Free 3.0 Amphibious against Japan's College league. The Americans won which inspired the fans. This event led to the formation of the first professional Japanese Baseball team known as the Great Tokyo baseball club in December 1934. Shoriki was named as the father of Japanese baseball.It was in 1936 that the first baseball league of Japan was formed the Japan Pro-Baseball League (PBL).When war Nike Free Schuhe broke out in Japan, the country suffered great physical damages, the people however used baseball to boost up the morale when it resumed on the 1950s. The game was even made more popular within this decade with the help of television. It opened the doors to a more diverse audience in the country.Today as we see it in cable sports channels, baseball still is considered as one of the favorite past time of the Japanese. Some Japanese players are even made part of US teams.After all of this, the players Nike Free Herren decided to strike anyway, due to the fact that there was not enough time left in the season to discuss the problem. The fans of the league highly supported the players, and this made the owners review the idea of finding another team for the following season.In 2005 the Japan Samurai Bears began play in the Golden Baseball League, becoming the first Japanese team in an American professional baseball league.
