15/05/2026 1 Minute Read

Samurai Japan and Baseball Around the World exhibition opens at Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Baseball was first introduced to Japan in 1872, with the country staging a High School National Championship since 1915 and operating a professional league since 1936. The National Team began activities in 1954 and became known as Samurai Japan in the third millennium. The trophies from the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2024 and WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2023 will also be on display.

The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located at the famous Tokyo Dome, will open a special exhibition Samurai Japan and Baseball Around the World from Friday, May 15, to Monday, August 31 to showcase how baseball spread from the United States to the rest of the world and became an international sport.

With World Baseball Softball Day celebrated on 10 May, the exhibition is perfectly timed to trace the history of one of the most famous brands in international baseball - Samurai Japan. The brand was first used during the 2009 World Baseball Classic and in 2012 became the official definition of the programme behind the Japanese Baseball National Teams.

🔙🇯🇵 2019–2023: Remembering the Era of Samurai Japan
🔛🔥 From November 2019 to March 2023, Japan's senior team put together one of the most impressive streaks in the modern era of baseball.
📰 More details here
🔗 https://t.co/XnGrLfwB16 pic.twitter.com/5kWjFMCRP3
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) March 24, 2026

"The content is designed to be enjoyable for people of all ages, from children to adults, and for both baseball enthusiasts and those just starting to learn about it," stated the official website.

Japan has fielded a National Team since the first Asian Baseball Championship in 1954 and has participated in the WBSC Baseball World Cup (then the Amateur World Series) since 1972 - claiming nine medals in the process.

Professor Horace Wilson introduced baseball to Japan during his classes at Kaisei School in Tokyo (today the Tokyo University) in 1872. The National High School National Championship (known today as Koshien) started in 1915.

After a Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star team, led by legendary players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, played in Japan in 1934, the Tokyo Kyojin became the first professional team in 1935. They would later evolve into the Yomiuri Giants.

The Japanese Baseball League began competition in 1936 and evolved into the current Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the two-league format, the Central League and the Pacific League, in 1950.

The WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup 2024 and the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2023 Championship Trophies are among the items on exhibition.