Ex-Player Breaks Down the Criticism of University Baseball Clubs
Author Tsukasa Nakano on “Baseball for the Cultural Crowd: Dissecting ‘Baseball Clubs Are Trash’”The trigger was Matsuko Deluxe
On December 1, two third-year students from Koryo High School’s baseball club were referred to the Hiroshima Prefectural Police on suspicion of assault after upperclassmen physically abused underclassmen.
The violence issue at Koryo, first revealed via a social media post in July, is still under investigation by a third-party committee set up by the school and is not just a matter of past events. Amid this, the book Baseball for the Cultural Crowd: Dissecting “Baseball Clubs Are Trash”, released in March, has been drawing attention. The author, writer Tsukasa Nakano, reflects on it.
“The release coincidentally fell on March 18, the opening day of the Spring Senbatsu Koshien tournament. Some baseball insiders wondered if the release date was deliberately chosen to coincide with the tournament, and friends in baseball circles asked, ‘Why such a title?’ At first, reactions focused more on the timing and the title than on the book’s content.
The atmosphere changed after the Koryo issue came to light. Since then, more people have picked up the book, curious about how modern baseball clubs are structured,” Nakano said.
We spoke with Nakano, who takes aim at the old-school structure of baseball clubs.
Before diving into the main topic, we asked about the fiery, straight-to-the-point title, “Baseball Clubs Are Trash”, wondering if it came from personal grudge. Nakano laughed and denied it.
“I’ve been part of baseball clubs in high school and college, and I even coach a middle school baseball team now, so I really like baseball (laughs). The title traces back eight years. In 2017, on a TV program, Matsuko Deluxe said, ‘(People from baseball clubs, common in the media industry) are nine times out of ten trash,’ which went viral on social media.
Matsuko’s words might have put into words the discomfort many people already felt. It’s provocative, but I personally think there is some truth to the idea that ‘baseball clubs are trash.’”
What is the basis for calling baseball clubs trash? Nakano prefaces that the causes are complex and cannot be summed up in one word, but he points out two major structural problems: the player system and the closeness to private school management.
“The player system is the idea of concentrating resources on a small number of chosen players from among many club members to strengthen the team. Baseball, in particular, tends toward this system. Baseball covers a huge field with only nine players. There’s physically no room for everyone, from regulars to beginners, to occupy the field. Practice is one thing, but in a game, the number of players is limited.
At top schools, for example, a hundred substitute players may line up in the stands. They support the dozen or so players who actually play in the game and sweat alongside them as teammates. While this phenomenon is often romanticized, there’s little debate about whether a sport where 100 people are relegated to cheering while a dozen play can truly be called a team sport.”
If the team wins, all is forgiven. Victory validates the effort, and any doubts vanish. Nakano continues.
The Origins of “Batchikoi!”
“I think it’s easy to imagine how closely baseball clubs are tied to the management of private schools. In the context of declining birthrates, schools have two main ways to attract students: either improve educational content to boost advancement rates, or increase the school’s visibility by winning in sports.
Among amateur sports tournaments, the attention Koshien receives is far above the rest. Schools have to win to participate in Koshien, win at Koshien, raise the school’s profile, and fill their enrollment quotas. There are quite a few schools that end up relying on the baseball team’s success for advertising and strengthening internal cohesion.”
Because of this background, baseball teams are often given preferential treatment. Over time, this has become normal, and many alumni graduate without even knowing why the team was favored. Nakano goes further, pointing out, “At the root of this is a culture within baseball teams of continuing traditions without questioning them.”
The tendency to continue things without questioning them is not limited to the preferential treatment of baseball teams at some elite schools. Baseball has over 100 years of history, and in that time many customs have survived in form only, with their original meaning forgotten.
“In baseball, there’s this mysterious cheer called ‘Batchikoi!’ You also have the custom of bowing when entering the field. I believe these customs, which evoke an image of sports-club culture, gradually took root in the early 20th century.
One major turning point was 1896. The tennis club at the Old First High School, which was central to the spread of baseball in Japan, was disbanded because tennis is effeminate. This alarmed the baseball team at the time. Back then, baseball had only recently been introduced from America, and it was seen as a trendy, cutting-edge recreation for young people who followed the latest fads.
Fearing disbandment, the First High baseball team shifted from enjoyable baseball to what was essentially a form of hardcore, soul-driven baseball, almost like an extension of martial arts.”
Nakano believes this is the root of the tradition of loud cheers and bowing. “In modern times, these customs aren’t strictly necessary, but they remain as traditions under the idea that that’s what a baseball team is.”
He is not saying that cheering or bowing is bad. “Questioning traditions that have continued for so long—this may be the key to changing outdated baseball teams,” Nakano says.
The year 2025 has made visible the persistence of problematic sports-club culture in schools across Japan. Analyzing Baseball for the Culture Club: Dissecting Baseball Teams Are Trash may be the first step toward updating baseball teams for the Reiwa era.
Interview and text by： Keitaro Haga