The Summer Koshien (夏の甲子園 Natsu no Kōshien) otherwise known as the National High School Baseball Championship (全国高等学校野球選手権大会 Zenkoku Kōtō Gakkō Yakyū Senshuken Taikai), is an annual baseball tournament held in the Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the Koshien district of Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo, Japan.
It takes place during the summer school vacation period, culminating in a two-week final tournament stage in August in which 49 teams from the 47 prefectures in Japan that won their nation-wide qualifiers will battle through single elimination rounds.[1]
Every prefecture has one team qualify for Summer Koshien by winning their regional tournament[2], with two exceptions. Tokyo is divided into Western and Eastern regions, and Hokkaido is divided into Northern and Southern regions. Hence, both of these prefectures have two representatives every year.
The placement of all 49 teams are determined by lottery, 34 teams face off in the first round while 15 teams receive byes directly into the second round. The second round then begins with 32 teams. This means depending on the lottery, a team must win five or six games to become the champions.
In Act I, Koshien took place from August 7-21 and the qualifying tournaments occurred over a 3 week period that ended on July 31.
Participants
| 89th Summer Koshien | ||
| Teams | Rank | Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| Ichizen High School | First Round | Kagawa |
| Ikuei High School | Best 4 | Miyagi |
| Inashiro Industrial | Runner-up | Tokyo - West |
| Komadai Fujimaki | Champion | Hokkaido - South |
| Osaka Kiryu High School | Second Round | Osaka |
| Seihou High School | Best 16 | - |
| Teito High School | Best 16 | Tokyo - East |
| Yousei High | Second Round | - |
| 88th Summer Koshien | ||
| Teams | Rank | Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| Inashiro Industrial | Best 16 | Tokyo -West |
| Yatsuhiro Technical | - | - |
| Osaka Kiryu | Runner-up | Osaka |
| 83rd Summer Koshien | ||
| Teams | Rank | Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| Ouya Metropolitan High School | - | Tokyo - East |