The is a

baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

in Shinjuku,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History A ...

, it is the home field of the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team. It also hosts college baseball, including the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League and the

Tohto University Baseball League Tohto University Baseball League (東都大学野球連盟, Tōto daigaku yakyū renmei) is an intercollegiate baseball league that features 21 prominent universities in the Tokyo area. Game History Tohto University Baseball League was est ...

. Redevelopment plans call for the stadium and the adjacent

Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium (also called Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium) is a rugby union stadium located in the Aoyama district of central Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List ...

to be demolished and replaced with new facilities.

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 George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

played (the only other ones are

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

in Chicago, and

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

in Boston). In 1934, Ruth joined several other famous baseball players from the U.S., such as

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

and

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

, in a 22-game tour of Japan.

Matsutarō Shōriki was a Japanese media mogul and politician. He owned the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' newspaper, the main mouthpiece for the military dictatorship during the war, after the war it gained Japan’s highest readership while openly distributing nationalistic ...

, 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."Matsutaro Shoriki: Japan's Citizen Kane,"
''The Economist'' (Dec 22, 2012). He received a 16-inch-long wound from a broadsword during the assassination attempt. In 1964, the

called Meiji Jingu Stadium home, replacing

Korakuen Stadium was a stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1937, it was originally used for baseball, and was home to the Yomiuri Giants for nearly 50 years. For various periods of time, it was also the home stadium of six other professional Japanese baseba ...

, majorly because the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

and the then named Toei Flyers (now Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters), also called it home, which made it quite overcrowded with teams. They have stayed there since. The stadium was also used for an exhibition of baseball when Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics. The United States team of college baseball players, including eight future major league players, defeated a Japanese amateur all-star team, 6–2. In 2019, the Meiji Jingu Gaien, the Japan Sports Council, Mitsui Fudosan and Itochu Corp. groups agreed to redevelop both Meiji Jingu Stadium and the

. Under the plans, Meiji Jingu Stadium will be demolished and rebuilt on the site of the rugby ground. The replacement rugby stadium will be built on the current site of the Meiji Jingu Stadium Number 2 field. Officials have announced that the new stadium will have a roof over the field and stands.

In popular culture

Meiji Jingu Stadium makes frequent appearances in baseball-themed manga and anime, including the series '' Ace of Diamond'' and '' Gurazeni''. The latter features the stadium's fictional home team, the "Jingu Spiders". Meiji Jingu Stadium is mentioned in the 1937 novel ''How Do You Live'' by Genzaburo Yoshino. The stadium is also featured in the short story ''The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection'' by Japanese writer

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

, from the 2020 short story collection '' First Person Singular''.

Nogizaka46 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, created as the of the group AKB48. They are the first group from the Sakamichi Series, which also includes sister groups Sakurazaka46 (formerly Keyakizaka46), Yoshimotozaka46, a ...

considers Meiji Jingu Stadium their home field. Since 2014, they have visited it every year during their National Summer Tour, with the exception of 2021. Meiji Jingu Stadium appears in Season 2 Episode 8 of the '' Love Live! Superstar!!'' anime. It is briefly considered for Liella!'s performance; however, their attempt to use the space is denied. Neighboring Japan National Stadium appears in Season 2 Episode 11 under the similar but fictional name "Jingu Stadium".

References

External links

Meiji Jingu Stadium
Japanese) Baseball venues in Japan Cricket grounds in Japan Rugby union stadiums in Japan Tokyo Yakult Swallows Sports venues in Tokyo Buildings and structures in Shinjuku {{Japan-baseball-venue-stub