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.