Location | Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan |
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Coordinates | 35°40′28.3″N 139°43′01.4″E / 35.674528°N 139.717056°ECoordinates: 35°40′28.3″N 139°43′01.4″E / 35.674528°N 139.717056°E |
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) |
The 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.
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.