Baseball is the national sport of the United States. Sumo wrestling has been regarded as the Japanese national sport. Baseball is so popular in Japan that it has come to be called the second national sport of Japan. It has long been played only by boys, but recently there are many girls who play softball or even baseball. Many girls go to ballparks to cheer for their favorite professional baseball teams.
Soccer, which has been the national sport in many of the European and South American countries, has gained much popularity among Japanese youngsters, both boys and girls. In 1993, the J-League, the Japanese professional soccer league, was formed and supported by enthusiastic soccer fans. In 2002, Japan and Korea co-hosted the first World Cup tournament ever to be held in Asia.
Tennis is also very popular, especially among young ladies. Excellent achievements by Japanese female professional tennis players in recent international tennis tournaments have attracted more girls to tennis and aspired them to become professionals.
In Japan, in addition to these three sports, golf has also professional players.
Basketball, American football, and ice hockey, which are professionalized in the States, are played only by amateurs like college and company teams.
Many colleges and companies also have rugby, volleyball, handball, and field hockey teams.
Table tennis and badminton are also popular.
In winter we enjoy skating, skiing, and snowboarding. Snowboarding originated in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and gained popularity rapidly. Most winter resorts now have special areas for snowboarding.
I myself like playing those sports in which players hit an oncoming ball with some kind of tool, such as a baseball with a bat, a tennis ball with a racket, or a ping pong ball with a paddle.
When I can't play baseball on the team, I often go to the batting center to practice batting.
Last night, or maybe early this morning I had a wonderful dream.
I was on my high school baseball team. Our team was playing the final in the inter-high baseball championship at the Koshien Ballpark. In that game, I batted fourth and played first base. I had been at bat three times by then.
The first time at bat, I struck out. The second time, I hit a double between left and center fields, and I came home on a single by the next hitter. The third time I was intentionally walked.
When I was at bat the fourth time in the bottom of the ninth inning, we were three runs behind with the score three to six. The bases were fully loaded. The count was three balls two strikes.
Can you imagine what happened? I hit the next ball with all my might. The ball flew high into the left field. At first I thought it might be caught by the left fielder, but to our greatest joy, the ball went over the fence accompanied by the roar of applause.
It was a come-from-behind game ending grand slam. I ran around all the bases slowly and was welcomed by all my teammates at home plate.
A flock of newspaper and TV reporters crowded around me to hear how I was feeling then, what kind of pitch I hit, and so on.
I was the hero of the game. My big picture was in the newspaper the next day.
Then suddenly I was woken up by my mother's voice, "Koji! It's time to get up." It was a dream, but it was an exciting one. I was excited even after I woke up.
Baseball and softball were not the only kinds of sports I played in my school days. In my junior high school days, I belonged to the soft tennis club. When I was a high school student, I started playing standard tennis. But I didn't belong to the club.
There were only two tennis courts in the school. The first year students of the tennis club were seldom allowed to play. They only watched the second and the third year students play, standing behind the courts, and were assigned to pick up the missed balls.
I play tennis on Sundays at the tennis club of which my parents have had memberships. My parents form a pair and like playing doubles, but I always prefer singles.
I'm not good at delivering service. I often lose my serve.
I'm afraid that I may lose my serve because of a double fault after I have failed in my first service. This thought always causes me psychological pressure and I lose my serve.
In that case I feel sorry for my partner. That's why I don't like playing doubles.
As a spectator sport, I like watching sumo very much. If I am asked who is my favorite sumo wrestler, I always say it is the strongest wrestler at the current tournament.
When Takanohana scored a perfect 15-0 record in two consecutive tournaments, he was my favorite.
I also like watching the marathon and ekiden races, although I don't like running long distances. In my school days, we had a marathon race every winter.
Of course our race was not 42.195km but only 10 km or so. But since I don't like running long distances, I didn't want to participate in it. I always wished I had a bad cold suddenly on the day of the marathon. But fortunately or unfortunately I didn't catch a cold and had to run the marathon. My goal was only to finish the race. Time or ranking did not matter to me.
So I respect the marathon runners who run as long as 42.195km. My favorite marathon runner is Naoko Takahashi. She won Japan's first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's athletics. She is also the first woman that broke the barrier of 2:20:00. She always says she enjoys running and she likes practicing.
But we know the marathon races require energy and endurance. Now that she has achieved her goal, she sets another goal. She is great. Let's cheer for her!
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