RSS Feed

Tech Support

In Japan, the number of high school baseball players is decreasing due to the influence of low school graduates. In some provincial teams, baseball teams are abolished due to lack of applicants, or high school girls' managers are guarding the teams alone. In addition, a growing number of high school students are participating in championships by forming a joint team with nearby high schools due to lack of vice-president.

However, the case of prestigious schools is different. There is clearly a polarization phenomenon in which applicants are still flocking. The phenomenon is showing off an unchanged trend by recruiting baseball team members nationwide.

A case in point is a high school team named 八戸学 Kosei, which was recently reported by the media "Number." They are regular customers of Koshien, who is commonly referred to as Kose. This year's summer competition failed the regional preliminary round, but the spring competition advanced to the second round.

Nakai Munemoto, the school's coach, said, "I'm worried because the number of registered baseball teams is only 124. There were 151 students last year and 170 the year before, but the number has decreased significantly. We are recruiting students desperately for our staff." The school is known to have around 800 students in its entire school.

Of course, the operating system is quite different. However, the figure is quite significant compared to that of Korean professional baseball teams. In the case of KBO, each team has around 60 registered players (as of the opening day of 2024). Lotte and Samsung have 61 players, the largest number. Last year's LG, the champion of last year, had the lowest number of players at 54.

What's more surprising is that most of the baseball team is living in a dormitory called Yo (寮, Ryo).

According to Nakai, the team members are evenly mixed with Kanto, Kansai and neighboring regions (Tohoku). Given such a situation, it is natural. If we look at it as a team of players from the metropolitan area and Honam region at a school in Yeongnam region.

The accommodation life is interesting. A single room is assigned to 55 students in the third grade. In principle, 36 students in the second grade and 33 students in the first grade should have one room for two. The school boasts that "it used to be a little stuffy, but with the new dormitory, it became a very pleasant environment." (Other schools have many types of one room with three people.)

People are also free to live in the home, which is highly disciplined. "Wi-Fi is working well all over the building. There is no restriction on the use of mobile phones at all," is an old principle of the baseball ministry. It is different from other schools that ban or collect them at night.

"You have to leave it to yourself. It's meaningless if you don't realize it, and if you are forced to do it," Nakai said. "These days, we are living in the age of information. You can get many useful things (related to baseball) through mobile phones."

Of course, there is one premise. He added, "I tell you to be careful not to lean too much into things like hitting theory on YouTube. Don't believe that you are a famous person. I advise you to ask us (directors and coaches) if you ask them on YouTube."

The same applies to SNS. In principle, there are no restrictions on creating an account and activities. However, if there is a problem, it is strictly dealt with. I take a pledge from the time I fill out the application. If it goes against the line, I may have to quit the baseball team.

There is an unusual preparation for baseball team activities. It is a haircut equipment. It is 'barigang' in Japanese. It implies a hairstyle. In other words, it means you have to shave your head.

Nakai said, "First of all, there are no barbershops around our accommodation. And I think this is a place where we come to practice. You may think it's an old way of thinking, but it's a necessary measure."

An OB player (outfielder Takumi Kimura), who is from this school and currently works for a social baseball team, recalls his old memories like this.

"What was hard was mealtime. I have to eat three bowls of rice every morning and evening. The head teacher is watching me from the side. If I don't get on time, I can't get on the bus to school. If I miss it, I have to call a taxi. Thanks to this, I gained 10 kilograms after finishing the first grade."

There's more. "I have to do weight training until the summer vacation of my freshman year. If you don't weigh 80kg with bench press, you'll be scolded by your seniors. Some say, "You'll get kicked out of the baseball team if you don't."

"How many times did a Japanese high school team participate in the Koshien finals?" is an important history for the Japanese high school team. As for Kosei, he has played 20 times in total. Although he has no championship, he has won the runner-up prize three times. His performance is quite consistent for a team from the Tohoku region (Aomori Prefecture), which is not a densely populated region like Kanto and Kansai.

Several famous players have also been produced. Examples include Hayato Sakamoto, 35, the fourth batter and shortstop of the Yomiuri Giants (both serving as third baseman since last year). He has surpassed 2,352 hits in total, ranking 13th in all time. He is a star player of the NPB in name and reality.

Trans people can only exist by sticking to a rigidly enforced set of moving moral goalposts' is in fact a terrifying way to operate a community." --@ItFucksMonsters "ngl just one of the scariest points a short while ago has been me putting up ''the fascists are gonna destroy us no make any difference how respectable we are, I'm gonna do drugs and have weird sexual intercourse til I'm executed,'' and possessing a pal url me a letter involving two gay guys in 1930's Germany that was fundamentally that. It is only immediately after the Romantics had taught us the impossibility of a transubstantiation of things from previously mentioned, that the adverse eucharist of the outlaw and the sensualist became an aesthetic probability. Munroe Bergdorf "The towers are gone now, minimized to bloody rubble, alongside with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other place. Make no mistake about it: We Are At War now -- with any individual -- and we will continue to be At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives." --Hunter S. Thompson "Kneel prior to my deficiency of shame!" --Jason Murphy "Unlimited proceeds implies no sport over. The game is only about when you say it is in excess of." --J. Chlamydia is the most commonly documented STI in the United States.

Whoa plenty of terrific info!