High school ballplayers march in step at the opening ceremony on Aug. 8, 2007 at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

The first National High School Baseball Championship, which was created to foster healthy youth development, took place in 1915 at the Toyonaka ground in Osaka Prefecture, under the auspices of The Asahi Shimbun. In 1924 Hanshin Koshien Stadium was built especially for the high school students. Ever since, the stadium has been the scene of countless baseball dramas that have been played out by young ball players. After being interrupted during the war years, the championship tournaments resumed in 1946. Since then, The Asahi Shimbun has, together with the Japan High School Baseball Federation, continued to support the tournament.

Starting out with 73 schools in the first championship, the number of participating high schools reached 4,081 in the past 89th championship tournament. From mid-June, regional tournaments take place nationwide to decide the teams which will advance to Koshien. The Asahi Shimbun’s news networks at local bureaus assist the prefectural high school baseball federations in organizing the regional championship, as well as reporting on it. When teams advance to Koshien Studium after winning their regional tournaments, reporters from each region follow their local champions and provide exhaustive coverage of their performance at the ballpark.

The Saga Kita team celebrate in winning their first-ever championship title, on Aug. 22, 2007 at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

Koshien has witnessed numerous dramas, and the excitement of the games has been conveyed from one generation to the next. In the 89th championship, Saga Kita left its impressive mark. After winning the opening game which was held on the first day of the tournament, Saga Kita played against Ujiyamada Shogyo from Mie Prefecture in the second round. The two schools battled to a tie after 15 innings, then had to play each other again in a rematch, which Saga Kita won. Then the Saga Kita boys won a hard-fought 13-inning game against Tokyo’s Teikyo in the quarterfinals. Thus, Saga Kita played from the opening game and lasted through the final game at Koshien Stadium, piling up a record-making 73 innings in seven games in one championship tournament.

In past tournaments, there were two championship games that had to be replayed because the first one ended in a tie. In 2006, Waseda Jitsugyo from western Tokyo and Komadai Tomakomai from southern Hokkaido’s spirited game ended in a draw in the 88th National High School Baseball Championship tourney. In the replay, Waseda Jitsugyo beat the Komadai Tomakomai boys dashing their hopes of attaining a third consecutive victory at the Koshien. In the 51st championship held in 1969, Matsuyama Shogyo of Ehime Prefecture and Misawa of Aomori Prefecture ended in a draw after 18 innings in the championship game (the rule then was to stop play after 18 innings, then determine the title in a replay). The final game was held the following day, with Matsuyama Shogyo winning the championship flag.

According to a survey conducted by the Japan High School Baseball Federation, the total number of baseball team members in high schools nationwide is 168,501, marking a new record for the tenth consecutive year. With consolidation of schools taking place, the route to Koshien is now open for combined teams from two or more schools. There were 46 combined teams that entered the 89th championship tournament.

The high school baseball championship tournament will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2008. Being true to the fundamental principle of high school baseball, to support baseball as part of education, The Asahi Shimbun will continue to help high school ballplayers pursue their dreams.