Meiji Jingu Stadium

Meiji Jingu Stadium

Meiji Jingu Stadium
Location	Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Public transit	Tokyo Metro: Ginza Line at Gaienmae
Owner	Meiji Shrine
Capacity	37,933
Field size	Left Field - 97.5 metres (320 ft) Left-Center - 112.3 metres (368 ft) Center Field - 120 metres (394 ft) Right-Center - 112.3 metres (368 ft) Right Field - 97.5 metres (320 ft) Height of outfield fence - 3.5 m (11.5 ft)
Surface	Artificial turf
Construction
Broke ground	December 1925
Opened	October 23, 1926
Construction cost	530,000 Yen
Tenants
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League (1926-current) Tohto University Baseball League (1932-current) Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Central League) (1964-current) Embe Burucut RFC (Suntory Super Rugby) (2013-current)

Meiji Jingu Stadium (明治神宮野球場, Meiji Jingū Yakyūjō) is a baseball stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the Meiji Shrine, it is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team. It also hosts college baseball, including the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League and the Tohto University Baseball League.

History

The second oldest baseball stadium in Japan, Meiji Jingu Stadium is one of the few professional stadiums still in existence where Babe Ruth played. In 1934, Ruth joined several other famous baseball players from the U.S., such as Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, in a 22-game tour of Japan. (Matsutarō Shōriki, popularly known as the father of Japanese professional baseball., organized the American tour; he survived an assassination attempt by right-wing nationalists for allowing foreigners to play baseball in Jingu Stadium. He received a 16-inch-long wound from a broadsword during the assassination attempt.)

Jingu Stadium was also used for an exhibition of baseball when Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympic Games. The United States team of college baseball players, including eight future major league players, defeated a Japanese amateur all-star team in Tokyo, 6-2.

Field

• Surface - artificial turf

External links

• Meiji Jingu Stadium(Japanese)

File:Meiji Jingu Stadium.JPG

Tokyo Yakult Swallows fans at the right field bleachers

Preceded by Komazawa Stadium	Home of the Toei Flyers 1962 – 1963	Succeeded by Korakuen Stadium
Preceded by Korakuen Stadium	Home of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1964 –	Succeeded by N/A