Why are there so few professional Japanese baseball teams?

Question

I've done some research about Japanese baseball and I'm glad to see more semi-pro teams and leagues emerging. I don't like the fact that so much baseball history is centered in Tokyo with the Giants trying to suck all the life and oxygen out of the game. I think that there are really too few teams and it is no surprise to see the rise of popularity on Japanese soccer.

I read about the players stike of 2004 that the league dropped the fee required to start a baseball team. Just curious, has it ever been reported what the amount of this fee is? Anyone intimately familiar with Japanese baseball?

Answer 1

Well if you compare the size of Japan and the US, it makes more sense

Japan has 12 teams I think and only so much of the land is good enough to play baseball on

In the US, there is tons of land waiting for baseball making it logical to have 30 teams

Answer 2

There are plenty of professional baseball teams in Japan.  With an area smaller than California, Japan is represented with 12 teams in their major league and 12 teams in the minor league.

Answer 3

The teams are owned by corporations. And a lot of corporations don't like to bear the expense of owning and paying for a team. Two teams recently consolidated into one team: the Kintetsu Buffalo and the Orixx Blue Wave. The climate of Japan also calls for domed stadia in several cities because of seasonal effects in the early part of the baseball season. The Nippon Ham Fighters who play in Sapporo Hokkaido are a good example of that since the weather there is similar to Minneapolis at that time of year. Yokohama and other cities also face the rainy season in mid-season. And I mean rain! So, Yokohama has a dome for the Bay Stars as does the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo. In a nation with no domestic oil or natural gas supplies, just having enough electric generator capacity to run the lights and the climate control inside those domed stadia comes with a big price tag.

The baseball history of Japan is not centered in Tokyo or with the Yomiuri Giants. It is actually centered at Koshien Stadium in Osaka, the oldest ball park in the Japanese Baseball Leagues. That stadium is the one that Babe Ruth barnstormed at. It has no infield grass, so it looks like a softball diamond. But, every Japanese player knows about the "sacred dirt" of Koshien. That stadium is the site of the High School Baseball Championship Tournament. Much like Omaha hosting the NCAA World Series. Every player who has ever signed with an MLB team in the States has taken a small baggie full of Koshien dirt with him as a good luck sign.