# Japanese Major League Baseball customs **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [August 28, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475 "2022-08-28T16:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/1 "2022-08-28T16:40:01Z")
Yesterday was _all Ichiro, all the time_ in Seattle due to him being inducted in the Mariners Hall of Fame. Anyway, they replayed his last game, which was against Oakland, but played in Tokyo at the start of the 2019 season. The announcers mentioned that in the Japanese league, games can end in a tie and they don’t have extra innings. Also, they bunt a lot more than they do in the MLB It got me wondering, what else is different in Japanese baseball? Do they have the 7th inning stretch? Do they boo when the pitcher throws the first? Do they play the national anthem? Are games mostly at night, or are there more day games? Grass or artificial turf? How many games in a season? what’s their playoff structure like? I assume they have their equivalent to the World Series. Generally, I’m wondering what customs or rules would we notice are different? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/2 "2022-08-28T17:14:13Z")
Wikipedia has a pretty good breakdown. > **[Nippon Professional Baseball](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Professional_Baseball)** > > Nippon Professional Baseball (日本野球機構, Nippon Yakyū Kikō) or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning Professional Baseball. > Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation of the "Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club" (大日本東京野球倶楽部, Dai-Nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu) in Tokyo, founded in 1934, and the original circuit for the sport in the Empire two years later – Ja... — 143 game season — Most stadiums use turf — NPB uses a similar wild card round-league championship-Japan Series format that MLB does ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/3 "2022-08-28T19:10:38Z")
I attended a Yomiuri Giants night game 22 years ago. What I remember: -Gleaming clean stadium with turf -Enthusiastic organized fan cheering. We were near the Yokohama visiting team cheering section and they’d brought bullhorns, noisemakers, flags, a trumpet. It took us a while to realize that as each player came up to bat, they were greeted by name with individualized cheers. and tunes. Yokohama had an American player, Bobby Rose, [Bobby Rose (baseball) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Rose_(baseball)), no relation to Pete, and their cheer for him sounded like **Rosé** , the wine. [Organized Japanese Baseball Cheers at the Sapporo Dome - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ0xWuUVPnk) -The “beer girls”. After walking around in shorts for a day I realized there were very few adult women in the city in shorts; a friend who lives there told me later that shorts are beach wear or just for teens and younger. Then at the game we saw the perky beer girls, wearing shorts as their unform, walking up and down the steps with kegs on their backs. Here’s a story about them: [Japanese beer-vending girl refill teams have the speed and precision of an F-1 pit crew【Video】 | SoraNews24 -Japan News-](https://soranews24.com/2017/08/25/japanese-beer-vending-girl-refill-teams-have-the-speed-and-precision-of-an-f-1-pit-crew%E3%80%90video%E3%80%91/) And a couple of good blogs about baseball in Japan: [My day with the Yomiuri Giants - May 25, 2019 – Steven On The Move](https://www.stevenonthemove.com/yomiuri-giants/) (This one says that they don’t play the national anthem) [Sarah Emery | SarahWithASmile | Expat lifestyle](https://sarahwithasmile.com/baseball-in-japan/) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/4 "2022-08-28T19:59:17Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > I attended a Yomiuri Giants night game 22 years ago. What I remember: I attended a Giants game at the Tokyo Dome 9 years ago and my memories are similar to yours. Besides the Beer Girls (See below), the most memorable thing was the designated sections for each team’s fans in the outfield bleachers and what happened to the ball if a player hit a home run into the seats of the opposing team’s fans: It was ALWAYS thrown back on the field in disgust. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vcW3wJ5yqfQ/hqdefault.jpg "Beer Girls at the Tokyo Dome") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcW3wJ5yqfQ) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/5 "2022-08-29T17:41:42Z")
One thing my husband remembered about baseball in Japan: the strict limit on the number of foreign players. “Currently there is no limit to the number an organization can sign. However, only 4 foreign players are allowed on the 25-man game roster, with a maximum of 3 position players or 3 pitchers. There can not be 4 position players or 4 pitchers at one time. 3 position players and 1 pitcher, 1 position player and 3 pitchers, or 2 of each are all possible.” > **[Foreign Player Restrictions? - Japanese Baseball](https://www.japanesebaseball.com/faq/gaijin.jsp)** > > Professional baseball in Japan and Asia This means a cap of 16% non-Japanese players. In contrast, MLB currently has 28% non-US players. I don’t know if there’s a MLB cap? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/6 "2022-08-30T02:50:15Z")
From ages ago, I remember fans of the losing team pretty much always showing an abnormal disgust with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Any momentos or club affiliation thrown off with distaste. Looked like a buncha toddlers that had their cookies taken away. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/7 "2022-08-30T02:54:47Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > This means a cap of 16% non-Japanese players. In contrast, MLB currently has 28% non-US players. I don’t know if there’s a MLB cap? There is not. Nippon Professional Baseball has that cap in order to limit their teams from widely competing for foreign players (and overspending on them); I would not be surprised if there is also a desire to keep the league primarily Japanese. (FWIW, the Canadian Football League has a similar limit on non-Canadian players, for much the same reasons.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/8 "2022-08-30T04:44:34Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The announcers mentioned that in the Japanese league, games can end in a tie and they don’t have extra innings. They do have extra innings, just a limited number. A tie after 12 innings in the regular season, 15 in playoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/9 "2022-08-30T04:53:56Z")
Are there rule differences that would make bunting more advantageous in Japan? Different player profiles? Or is one of the league being non-optimal in strategy? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/10 "2022-08-30T05:16:35Z")
While they certainly do bunt more, there are no rules differences suggesting a good reason to do that, so I’m not sure what it is. Other than that there’s not much difference in strategy, aside from their absolute dedication to six-man rotations. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/11 "2022-08-30T05:26:35Z")
Umpires in Japan don’t get much respect: > **[Shocked by assault during game, American ump in Japan quits](https://apnews.com/article/4d5272d157420228f4c5dbaa5af85125)** > > TOKYO (AP) \_ As the only American professional baseball umpire working in Japan, Mike DiMuro didn't expect to get much respect. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/12 "2022-08-30T05:27:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Nippon Professional Baseball has that cap in order to limit their teams from widely competing for foreign players (and overspending on them); I would not be surprised if there is also a desire to keep the league primarily Japanese. Incidentally, it’s possible for a foreign player to eventually count as, well, not foreign; a foreign player with a certain amount of service time counts as Japanese-born. Is it seven years? Eight. Something like that. A player really dedicated to playing there like Tuffy Rhodes or Alex Ramirez will end up not counting against the foreign player limit - which of course makes them suddenly much more valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/13 "2022-08-30T12:59:43Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Are there rule differences that would make bunting more advantageous in Japan? Not sure about rules, but the all-dirt infields must make bunts a different proposition. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/14 "2022-08-30T13:16:48Z")
Dave Barry wrote about attending a game in Japan. To paraphrase: “I bought a hot dog. Now I know what they do with the whales they catch.” (He also remarked about the sinus-searing mustard it came with.) Wasn’t there a player from America on one of the teams who was routinely walked so he would not surpass some record of a player from Japan? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/15 "2022-08-30T14:38:18Z")
Thanks everyone. Good information. If I’m ever in Japan, I’ll try to catch a game. And, what about the 7th inning stretch? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/16 "2022-08-30T14:53:32Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > And, what about the 7th inning stretch? I think there is a short break in the 5th inning when everybody stretches and uses the restroom while the field is groomed. No stadium-wide sing-along like in our 7th inning stretch but the dedicated fan sections take turns doing that through the entire game. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/17 "2022-08-30T15:27:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Thanks everyone. Good information. If I’m ever in Japan, I’ll try to catch a game. I’m still sad my plans to catch a Swallows game at Meiji Jingu fell through. There’s that weird oddity of an outside stadium with artificial turf and I have gotten the impression that the Swallows are the equivalent of the Mets in Tokyo. So I’m also sad that they plan on demolishing it, especially with this bit of history. > [@](#): > > As the second oldest baseball stadium in Japan, Meiji Jingu Stadium is one of the few professional stadiums still in existence where [Babe Ruth](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth) played. (The only other ones are [Wrigley Field](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrigley_Field) in Chicago, and [Fenway Park](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenway_Park) in Boston.) In 1934, Ruth joined several other famous baseball players from the U.S., such as [Lou Gehrig](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig) and [Jimmie Foxx](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Foxx), in a 22-game tour of Japan. [Matsutarō Shōriki](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutar%C5%8D_Sh%C5%8Driki), popularly known as the father of Japanese professional baseball, organized the American tour; he survived an assassination attempt for allowing foreigners to play baseball in Jingu Stadium.[[2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Jingu_Stadium#cite_note-Economist-2) He received a 16-inch-long wound from a [broadsword](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadsword) during the assassination attempt. ---
**Author:** ![ThatCanadianGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ThatCanadianGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatCanadianGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/18 "2022-08-30T18:49:20Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Wasn’t there a player from America on one of the teams who was routinely walked so he would not surpass some record of a player from Japan? I believe that was Tuffy Rhodes but the record has since been broken. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/19 "2022-09-01T18:20:19Z")
> [@ThatCanadianGuy](#): > > > [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > > > Wasn’t there a player from America on one of the teams who was routinely walked so he would not surpass some record of a player from Japan? > > I believe that was Tuffy Rhodes but the record has since been broken Also Randy Bass. In 1985, he had hit 54 home runs for the Hanshin Tigers, one short of legendary hitter Sadaharu Oh’s single-season record. When he faced the Yomiuri Giants in the season’s final series, their manager - Oh, himself - ordered his pitchers to intentionally walk Bass every time he came up. I remember reading this years ago in _Smithsonian_ magazine. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475/20 "2022-09-01T18:22:49Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Also Randy Bass. In 1985, he had hit 54 home runs for the Hanshin Tigers, one short of legendary hitter Sadaharu Oh’s single-season record. When he faced the Yomiuri Giants in the season’s final series, their manager - Oh, himself - ordered his pitchers to intentionally walk Bass every time he came up. > > I remember reading this years ago in _Smithsonian_ magazine. Here is a contemporary article about that > **[JAPANESE PROTECT OH'S RECORD (Published 1985)](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/26/sports/japanese-protect-oh-s-record.html)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-major-league-baseball-customs/970475.md?page=2)