Yakyuken (野球拳?) is now widely known as a Japanese strip game variation of rock–paper–scissors wherein the loser of each round removes an article of clothing, similar to strip poker. Yakyuken gets its name from a Shikoku chant associated with the non-erotic version of the game which is still a local performance art today. It became a part of culture in Japan due to mass media influence, and in other Asian countries after the influence of TV variety shows and Soft On Demand. Numerous hentai games have been made featuring the Yakyuken gameplay, and several American studios, such as Lost Bets Productions, focus on the filming and marketing of Yakyuken and other related strip games.
The term initially originated from a Shikoku baseball game in October 1924, between the local teams of Ehime and Kagawa. The Ehime team lost the game 0-6, and its manager, senryū poet Goken Maeda (前田伍健), improvized a cheerleading dance from the tune of classical kabuki Botan ni Chōougi no irodori (牡丹蝶扇彩) to boost the morale of his humiliated team. This dance later became an iconic feature of the Ehime team.
In 1954, singers like Ichiro Wakahara (若原一郎) and Terukiku (照菊) from King, Yukie Satoshi (久保幸江) and Kubo Takakura (高倉敏) from Nippon Columbia, and Aoki Harumi (青木はるみ) from Victor Japan each adapted the dance and its lyrics into record singles named Yakyuken (lit. "baseball fist"), and the term quickly became known nationwide. In 1966, the city of Matsuyama, where the cheerleading dance originated, introduced it as a representative taiko dance for Matsuyama in Shikoku's annual August banquet. In 1970, the banquet dance was transformed into the more popular sansukumi-ken parlour game that continued to today, which the Matsuyama people regarded as Honke (lit. "senior branch" or "orthodox") Yakyuken.