Stepping Up to the Plate: The Top Prefectures for High School Baseball in 2024 – Osaka Takes the Lead
Ranking of Japan’s Strongest High School Baseball Prefectures
High school baseball is a highly competitive sport in Japan, with the spring Senbatsu (National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament) and the summer Koshien (National High School Baseball Championship) being extremely popular among people of all ages and genders. These events are even broadcast on television, showcasing the talent and dedication of Japan’s young baseball players.
The NetLab Research Team conducted a survey from April 10th to April 17th, 2024, asking 1,096 respondents which prefecture they think has the strongest high school baseball teams. The results are as follows:
Survey Overview
| Survey period: | April 10th to April 17th, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Number of valid responses: | 1,096 |
| Question: | Which prefecture do you think has the strongest high school baseball teams? |
5th place: Hyogo Prefecture
In fifth place was Hyogo Prefecture. Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, is known for having the Hanshin Koshien Stadium, and the prefecture is home to a number of strong schools. Among them, Hotoku Gakuen High School is famous as a prestigious baseball school that has participated in many national high school baseball championships and the spring high school baseball tournament. Also of note is Yashiro High School, which has won the Hyogo Summer Tournament for two consecutive years since 2022.
4th place: Kanagawa Prefecture
In fourth place was Kanagawa Prefecture. Toko Gakuen, Yokohama High School, Tokai University Sagami High School, and Keio High School are known as the four heavenly kings of Kanagawa Prefecture. Keio High School won the 105th National High School Baseball Championship in 2023, attracting a lot of attention. Kanagawa Prefecture is home to the Yokohama DeNA Baystars and is famous as a baseball-loving area. The prefecture is known as a place with many strong schools, with the Kanagawa Tournament games also attracting attention.
3rd place: Wakayama Prefecture
The third place was Wakayama Prefecture. Speaking of Wakayama Prefecture’s regular Koshien schools, Chiben Wakayama High School is famous, and since the beginning of the Reiwa era, it has won the 103rd National High School Baseball Championship. Wakayama Prefecture also has many other famous high schools such as Wakayama Higashi High School and Hatsushiba Hashimoto High School.
2nd place: Hiroshima Prefecture
Second place went to Hiroshima Prefecture. Hiroshima Prefecture is home to many strong schools. Koryo High School in particular is the high school that has participated in the Koshien tournament the most. They have won the spring tournament three times and have been runner-up seven times in total in both spring and summer tournaments. Hiroshima Commercial High School is also known as a strong school that has won the spring and summer tournaments seven times in total, symbolizing the high level of high school baseball in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Another characteristic of Hiroshima Prefecture is that it is home to many strong schools, including Kureko High School and Onomichi High School.
1st place: Osaka Prefecture
Coming in first place was Osaka Prefecture. Osaka Prefecture has won the Summer Koshien Tournament a record 14 times. Osaka Toin High School has participated in the Spring Tournament 15 times, winning four of them, and has also participated in the Summer Tournament 12 times and won five of them.
PL Gakuen was also very famous from the 1970s to the 1980s, and the team led by Masumi Kuwata and Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who were first-year high school students at the time, won the Koshien in 1983. Furthermore, after Kuwata and Kiyohara had left the school, the team won back-to-back spring and summer tournaments in 1987, and Osaka Prefecture’s high school baseball has produced many legends.