Job Discussion Forums

[Mangy]

Greetings everyone, I am looking to teach abroad in Asia this fall, but I would like to be someplace with a strong baseball presence.

Does anyone know if Japan has amateur adult baseball leagues? I want to play.

Thank you.

[Baribari]

I can't imagine it wouldn't...

OTOH, if you join a college club or something (if by some chance you're studying abroad instead of working), don't expect to do much playing unless you make it as a 'regular' (1st stringer).

Amateur adult leagues probably have something similar... but that's just my guess.

[johanne]

If you're just looking for fun, you can find adult leagues that meet up once a week for a friendly game and have the occasional practice. My husband was in this kind of league for several years. Everyone got to play and then they all went out for a beer and some food afterwards. It was very low key and he enjoyed it a lot.

How's your Japanese? If you don't have any your options may be more limited.

[thermal]

I'm playing amateur baseball in Japan.

Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, so there are leagues all over the place. The hard part is finding a team. I actually had no interest in baseball before I came to Japan, but saw it on TV and thought it looked really fun. An acquaintance had a team and invited me to join them for practice. From there I was invited to join and played since then.

It will be hard if you don't speak Japanese, since I imagine that guys that can speak English and play baseball is pretty small. However if you are more looking for social baseball you can probably find groups that have English speaking Japanese.

In terms of areas, everywhere has baseball, but you will probably find it easier to find a team near the bigger cities. At the moment I am looking to play futsal and I found a gym that has social futsal (indoor soccer) that is played with whoever comes. Events like this will probably be non existent or hard to find in the more rural areas of Japan. You can of course find a team like I did through an acquaintance, but I feel I was a bit lucky with this in my small town.

There are probably even gyms with English speaking staff in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo, so if you are lucky enough to get on them they should be able to give you the low down on what your options are for your city (I actually found out about the futsal event at a different gym. They have information on each other). If you speak Japanese fairly well then you can call gyms all over and find out your options.

[Berzerker]

Yeah, there is heaps. I recently attended a men's tournament in Southern Chiba, with 50 teams. Each team from within a few small cities very close to one another. Competitive, but not crazy competitive. They were having lots of laughs and fun. I have a friend on one of the teams and they asked me to join them in the future and I'm fairly certain I will.

[Hoser]

Where do people play baseball for fun anyways? For a nation that supposedly loves baseball, the only baseball fields I have ever seen were on high school property or actual stadiums. I've yet to find a park with a baseball pitch where anyone can go and play when they feel like it.