As for modern sports, baseball, which is played throughout the country at both amateur and professional levels, enjoys the rank of national sport. During the baseball season, which lasts from spring through fall, games are aired on television nearly every day. Baseball stars can become national heroes. Two players, Oh Sadaharu and Kinugasa Sachio, have been the recipients of the People's Honor Award. Professional baseball was inaugurated in Japan in 1936 with one league.
Baseball is a national pastime.
Twice a year, once in the spring and again in the summer, the eyes of the nation are riveted on Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, where the national high-school baseball tournament takes place. This tournament, which overflows with youthful enthusiasm, is a major event in the Japanese sporting calendar. Supporters from around the country converge on the stadium to cheer on their hometown team, and the media covers the games in detail. Many a professional star is born at Koshien. Golf has also established itself as a popular sport in Japan.