If China’s national game is table tennis, then the Japanese national game is definitely baseball.
A certain institution in Japan once did relevant research, and found that whenever Japanese people mentioned sports, regardless of gender, baseball was the first sport that popped up.
Not only that, the Japanese high school baseball game known as Koshien is regarded by the Japanese as synonymous with blood and hard work, and has become an indelible memory of countless Japanese young people. At the same time, in the streets and alleys of Japan, we can often see a group of children who are not much taller than the bat, waving the bat methodically under the guidance of their parents.
In this way, Japan’s baseball culture has been handed down from generation to generation to the next generation, and baseball has become a well-deserved national sport in Japan. Then, why is the baseball of the Japanese fire so tepid on the mainland?
First of all, Japanese baseball culture is also influenced by American culture. Actually, not only Japan, but also Koreans like baseball very much. This is caused by historical factors. The earliest baseball was not the national game of Japan, but the national game of the United States. The Japanese didn’t like baseball at all, but under the influence of American culture, the Japanese gradually could not live without baseball.
And what about us? What does it matter to us that Americans like baseball? Naturally, we are not greatly influenced by baseball culture.
Secondly, compared with football, baseball costs too much money.
What are the requirements for football? Just find a vacant lot, have a football, even take a cloth pocket or a small tennis ball, and several children can play a ball happily together.
A basketball with a higher demand for the venue just needs a basketball shelf, a ball and half a piece of basketball field, so that a bunch of boys can have a sweaty afternoon.
But what about baseball? If you want to play baseball, you must have at least a baseball bat and a baseball glove. The sum of these two things is a big expense. Can you play baseball when the things are ready? Far more than that, if it’s just pitching and catching the ball, two people can find a clearing to play.
But if you want to organize a slightly formal baseball game, where to find a qualified venue is a big problem. If it’s just a few friends playing and no outfield is needed, then a few bases in the pitcher’s mound and infield are also important, right? In the long run, it will take up half of the baseball field. Considering that there are not many decent football fields in various places nowadays, let alone a special baseball field.
Subsequently, the characteristics of baseball itself are not conducive to its own promotion.
Compared with traditional ball games, the threshold of baseball is really too high. Football and basketball, as long as they are healthy and normal people, can participate and have fun even if they have not received special training.
And baseball? Without the professional guidance of the coach (the three skills of baseball pitching, hitting and fielding are relatively independent and need to be studied and trained separately) and a certain period of training, it is really difficult for a novice to throw the ball into the strike zone and master the correct swing posture.
To put it simply, a novice wants to experience the fun of baseball, which requires much more investment in the early stage and is not easy to get started.. The number and quality of grass-roots coaches in China baseball are far from enough, which makes it difficult for children to truly experience the charm of this sport and fall in love with it.
In a word, baseball, the national sport of Japan, seems to be a little acclimatized here. After all, for us, table tennis is more enjoyable to play.