Spring Koshien Tourney

Official Name: 選抜高等学校野球大会 (Sembatsu Kōtōgakkō Yakyu Taikai) = National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament

Also known as: センバツ (Sembatsu), 春の甲子園 (Haru no Koshien) = Spring Koshien

Sponsored by: Mainichi Newspaper and the Japan High School Baseball Federation

Most recent winner: Toho High School – Aichi (2019)

Tournament dates in 2019: March 23 – April 3

Number of Participating Schools: 36

Played at: Yamamoto Stadium (Nagoya, 1924); Hanshin Koshien Stadium (1925-41, 1947-present)

Years Not Played: 1942-46 (World War II); 2020 (COVID-19 = coronavirus)

Most Successful Prefecture: Aichi (11 championships)

Prefectures Without Championships: Fukuoka, Gunma, Chiba, Hokkaido, Miyagi, Tottori, Aomori, Iwate, Yamanashi, Akita, Miyazaki, Yamagata, Ishikawa, Toyama, Fukushima, Shiga, Shimane, Saga, Niigata

How It Works

Unlike the summer tournament, in which the winners of prefectural tournaments advance, this one has schools being chosen by a committee. Their selection standards include:

（1）Meeting the requirements for participation in the tournament in that particular year, according to stipulated regulations.

（2）Not in violation of the spirit of Japanese student baseball.

（3）Having the school spirit, dignity, and skill befitting of high school baseball, and receiving the recommendation of the prefectural baseball association.

（4）As for skill, the school’s performance from the end of the summer tournament through November 30, though wins and losses are not the sole determiners.

（5）There is no qualifying tournament for entry into the spring invitational, however, any local tournaments in the fall will be part of the consideration process.

Because there are a maximum of 32 schools in the tournament (36 in special years), obviously not all prefectures are represented. Regions are represented as follows:

– Hokkaido: 1

– Tohoku (Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, Fukushima): 2

– Kanto (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi): 4 or 5 + Tokyo: 1 or 2 = 6

– Tokai (Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, Mie): 2

– Hokushin-etsu (Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano, Niigata): 2

– Kinki (Shiga, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo): 6

– Chugoku (Okayama, Tottori, Hiroshima, Shimane, Yamaguchi): 2 or 3 + Shikoku (Tokushima, Kagawa, Kochi, Ehime): 2 or 3 = 5

– Kyushu (Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa): 4

That brings the total to 28. There are also special spots awarded: one to the area in which winning school of the Meiji Jingu Tournament (held in November) is; and three to schools in what’s called the “21st Century Slot.” These spots go to schools who either… (a) have very few members in their baseball club, (b) don’t have a baseball field at their school, (c) are in an area that is prone to major snowstorms; (d) have overcome some sort of natural disaster or calamity, or (e) have contributed to the community through volunteer activities unrelated to baseball.

Once the 32 teams have been chosen, the tournament brackets are determined (by draw) about a week before the tournament is scheduled to start. There are rules for the draw, though:

In the case that two schools from the same prefecture are in the tournament, they will not face each other until the final, should they both advance that far. Schools from the same region (see above) cannot face each other until the quarterfinals.

For the opening rounds, there are three games played per day, with the first game starting at 9:00 am. As the tournament goes on, the number of games is reduced, and the quarterfinals are played on two separate days (two games per day).

Each game starts with a siren that sounds like an air raid alert. Each game ends with that same siren, but with the teams lined up face-to-face with each other in front of home plate. Soon thereafter, the winning team sings its school song, and the losers fill their cleat bags with dirt from the Koshien infield.

Ticket Info

I used to believe you could only get tickets on game day, and only by getting there early and waiting in line. However, it is possible to get them via Ro-chiketto (Lawson) here (link is for 2018 tournament). Only tickets for games through the end of March are available, though. This means the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals cannot be bought in advance!

To get game day tickets, get to the stadium early (first game starts at 9). Depending on the date, you may be able to just walk up any time during the day and get yours, but do so at your own risk. The earlier you get there, the better your chance of getting the tickets you want!

In 2018, the ticket prices were as follows:

Behind home plate, non-reserved seating: ¥2,000

1B and 3B infield, non-reserved seating: ¥1,500 for adults, ¥600 for kids 4-12

1B and 3B Alps, non-reserved seating: ¥600

Outfield, non-reserved seating: FREE

Hanshin Tigers Players’ Accomplishments