In 2006, Japan won the World Baseball Classic, the first international baseball tournament to feature professional players from around the world.

In Japan, yakyu (baseball) is one of the most popular sports: many children dream of becoming a professional baseball player when they grow up. Even now I can hear children playing baseball in my neighbourhood park. I did that with my friends too as a kid. I also have many memories of playing catch with my dad.

Kōshien is the name of the stadium that hosts the national high school baseball tournaments. These tournaments are a national tradition and Kōshien is the dream stage for young baseball players. Two tournaments are organized annually in the spring and summer, and more than 4,500 high schools participate. Only 49 of them will be able to play at Kōshien stadium (one school for each of the 47 prefectures in Japan, except for Tokyo and Hokkaido, which have two positions). Teams are eliminated from the tournament after one loss, so players are serious for every single moment and games are often filled with emotional intensity.

NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), often called puro yakyu, is the highest level of baseball in Japan. It consists of two leagues (Central and Pacific) and both leagues are comprised of six teams. About 130 games are scheduled during the season, which starts in late March and ends in mid October. Recently, some of the premier baseball players from the NPB, such as Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka, played in American Major League Baseball. They established impressive records for themselves, proving the high skill of Japanese professional baseball players.