Summer Koshien — the national high school baseball tournament held at the Koshien Stadium in August — is "all harm and no benefit," sports writer Shin'ya Kobayashi said, arguing that tradition and adult convenience keep the event in the hottest weeks of the year even as players suffer.
Kobayashi made the remark in a two-part interview published by the Daily Shincho. He said heat measures are in place at Koshien itself but not at the regional qualifying venues, where most of the tournament's games are played.
"From what players told me, the practice grounds they use between games at Koshien are so hot it feels like the dirt is burning," he said.
Why the summer date holds
Kobayashi tied the summer schedule to arrangements that have little to do with the players. Koshien Stadium is conventionally handed over to the Hanshin Tigers — the professional team that plays its home games there — during the tournament, so any shift would require the agreement of professional baseball.
He questioned whether the tournament needs to be tied to Koshien at all. NHK, which broadcasts the games, also has a stake: for the roughly two weeks of the tournament it does not have to produce its regular programming, Kobayashi said.
He said he understood the broadcaster was stretched when the tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Japan High School Baseball Federation, for its part, is not an organization that changes course on its own initiative, he added.
“For the players' sake, there should be a way, for example, to hold it in autumn over about four weeks, using the weekends.”Shin'ya Kobayashi, sports writer
The interview was published as the second of two parts. The first covered decisions to give up on things in ordinary life, such as buying a home.