Research Paper! Popular Sports in Japan

Baseball
In 1872, baseball was introduced to Japan by Horace Wilson. He was a teacher in Tokyo and was unable to make a team until 1878. The first baseball team in Japan was called the Shimashi Athletic club, and has been an ever growing, extremely popular sport ever since. The sport became most popular when the students from Tokyo University began playing. In 1896 the team defeated a team from America and this was the first recorded international baseball game in Asia. After the victory other universities in Japan began to get more interested in the game of baseball and even traveled to America to learn more about the sport. Waseda University was one of the first teams to actually travel to the United States to learn the game and improve their skill level. When they arrived they played different teams all around the country. They were not the only team in Japan to do this, but they were one the first which is why they are recognized for their efforts. In Japan, baseball is also popular in junior and senior high schools.
In 1913 and 1922, American baseball players traveled to Japan to play against the teams at the Universities. They held clinics in order for the players to improve upon their new found skills in the game of baseball. Herb Hunter, a major league baseball player, made eight trips to Japan to organize and help the Japanese improve their skills.
The Professional baseball league in Japan is called the Nippon Professional Baseball. The league has to leagues within itself, the Central and Pacific leagues. Each of these leagues has six teams. Very similar to Major League Baseball in America, the Pacific League uses the designated hitter style of play and is played for eight months with a championship that is held in October. Teams in Japan only play 144 games while in American the Major League teams play 162. Also, as in American baseball, the teams are owned by corporation or individuals, the difference is they call their teams by the name of the owner, not where they are from.
There are some major differences of the Nippon League and the Major league baseball. In the Nippon league it is allowed to games to end in a tie which means the time limit of the game is much shorter than in the United States considering ties are not allowed in American baseball. Except for in the playoffs, games in Japan are not allowed to go any longer than twelve innings because trains as a means transportation are very popular and people may miss the last train if the baseball game extends beyond operating hours. The baseball that is used in Japan in smaller along with a smaller strike zone and size of the field. There is also a rule that in Japan no team may allow for than four foreign players on their team at a time.
High school baseball, similar to in America, is very popular in Japan. There are two annual high school baseball tournaments that are very popular. These tournaments are nationwide and are equal to the popularity of professional baseball. The major games of the tournaments are often times shown on television. The tournaments have now become seen as more of a tradition than a baseball tournament.
Since the World Baseball Classic has been created, Japan has won both times in 2006 and in 2009.

Sumo Wrestling
Another extremely popular sport in Japan in sumo wrestling. Sumo is not only used as a trial of strength, but it is also tied in with the Shinto ritual and is even sometimes carried out as a ritual in shrines. The imperial court used this popular ritual when representatives of the different provinces were ordered to attend the matches and fight in the court. These rituals were referred to as sumo parties.
Throughout Japanese history the popularity of sumo just continued to grow as the rules grew and changed over the years. In the original versions of sumo the object was to throw your opponent while now the main goal is to just put your opponent over the line. The roots of sumo can probably be traced back to the samurai who needed to find another way of finding to determine outcomes.
The professional sumo wrestling association members are called oyakata and are all former wrestlers. These people are the only individuals are able to train the new fighters. All wrestlers become members of a training stable run by one oyakata. Right now there are approximately 700 wrestlers split amongst 54 training stables.
Professional sumo tournaments are extremely popular in Japanese culture especially for the male in the family. There are six major sumo events each year. All tournaments begin on a Sunday and last for fifteen days so they that also end on a Sunday. The wrestlers in the top two divisions have one match per day. The matches are schedules so that the highest ranking wrestlers are the last event of every day. If at the end of the tournament two wrestlers are tied for first they will meet in a match to determine who the winner of the entire tournament is.
Sumo wrestling is considered a version of martial arts even though it is much different than the traditional Eastern styles of martial arts. In traditional martial arts ranks can be gained by years of practice and time and devotion, in sumo wrestling ranks may be obtained simply in the span of a month or two. The only way of achieving of goal in sumo is to win a tournament, in traditional eastern martial arts there are ways of obtaining higher ranks through belts and other achievements.
Amateur sumo wrestling is not uncommon either. Students in high school and college and even grade school participate in sumo wrestling in Japan. There are tournaments for amateur levels just as in professional sump wrestling. Amateur sumo wrestling clubs are actually gaining a bit of popularity in the United States and there are competitions being held in the country. It is also gaining popularity in Europe where they are also holding tournaments.

Research Topic: Sports in Sendai

Soccer, baseball and figure skating are the prevalent sporting events in Sendai. The first professional sport in Sendai was soccer and it did not arrive until 1994. I would like to do extensive research on why Sendai was ignored by the professional sporting world until 1994. Also, I would like to learn why soccer, as opposed to baseball and figure skating, was the first professional sport in Sendai. I chose to research sports becuase I have played sports my entire life and I wanted a research topic that interested me. Also, I would like to attend a sporting event while in Sendai.

5 Things I Want To Do In Japan

1. Try foods that I would never try at home.
2. I would like to visit a national park-no specific one- I just love nature.
3. I want to see Mount Fiji.
4. I would like to go to Disneyland.
5. I want to visit as many museums as I possibly can.

The way in which I hope to achieve all of my goals is to find someone who has already experienced these goals. I hope that they can help me to visit these places as well as recommend restaurants to me. Toward the end of our trip when we are spending the finals days in Tokoyo, I plan on visiting Disneyland. I go to the Disney World in Florida once a year, so I would like to go to Disneyland in Tokoyo so that I can see how the Japanese interpret American culture. I hope that my homestay family will be able to help me accomplish these goals.

Popular Cuisine in Japan

Proper table etiquette in Japan is a bit different than that of table etiquette in America. A hot towel is always provided before a meal to wipe your hands, and it is considered extremely rude to wipe any other part of your body other than your hands. Rice bowls are eaten by holding your bowl with the left hand and holding the chop sticks with the right hand or the opposite if you’re left handed. Soy sauce is never placed directly onto a dish unless it is tofu, otherwise is it served in a side dipping dish. Chopsticks are never left sticking vertically into a bowl of rice. It is bad manners to stab at food with chopsticks and to bite chopsticks. A communal dish is also very common. Unless sharing a meal with close family or friends it is polite to turn your chopsticks around to serve yourself because it is more sanitary. It is important to eat everything that is given to you. It is considered extremely rude to leave food on your plate, ask for substitutions, or say that you don’t like something.

It is very popular in the summer time in Japan to eat cold ramen noodles and tofu.


There are a variety of popular food dishes that are served in Japanese restaurants and homes many of which all start with a rice bowl. The rice dishes in Japan usually consist of a bowl of white or fried rice. Sushi can also be categorized as a rice dish because it is wrapped in rice. Other rice dishes include; onigiri which is a rice ball wrapped in sushi, kare raisu which is rice cooked with curry, chazuki which is a bowl of white rice cooked with green tea and other ingredients, and kayu which is a watery cooked rice that resembles oatmeal.




Fish dishes are very popular in Japanese culture and can be prepared in many different ways such as raw, dried, boiled, grilled, deep fried or steamed. A couple popular sea food dishes are sashimi which is a platter of raw fish served with soy sauce and wasabi, and yakizakana which is grilled fish.




There are various native noodle dishes in Japanese cuisine. Noodle dishes are also very popular in Japanese culture. Soba which is a native Japanese dish is a thick noodle similar to spaghetti and can be served hot or cold and with a topping often. Another popular Japanese noodle dish is udon which is a thick noodle made of wheat flower and can also be served hot or cold.





Hot pot dishes are also popular for a main course. Some of these dishes include fish, meat, eggs, tofu, vegetables and mushrooms. Some hot meat dishes include grilled chicken pieces on skewers, deep fried pork cutlets usually served with shredded cabbage and nikujaja which is a homemade meat dish served with potatoes.