With 20 days to go until the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup 2023 - Group B | presented by CARNEXT takes place in Miyoshi City, Japan, the WBSC takes a look at how women's baseball continues to go from strength to strength in the host country despite a number of challenges in recent years.
Japan, the No. 1 programme in the world, has been on top of the world rankings since they were introduced in 2012 and will be strong favourites when the IX Women's Baseball World Cup 2023 - Group B takes place from 13 to 17 September.
This can be put down to the Japan Women's Baseball League, which was born as the Girls Professional Baseball League in 2009. When the league was discontinued in 2021, many believed it would prove a hard blow to women's baseball development in the country.
But as Ayako Rokkaku, a four-time Women's Baseball World Cup winner and a silver medallist at the inaugural Baseball5 World Cup, explains it has been the opposite, especially at collegiate level.
"The number of teams (at collegiate level) grew from eight to thirteen in 2023," Rokkaku said. There's plenty of activity at the high school level as well. Over 50 teams are active, and 46 participated in this spring's finals at the Tokyo Dome.
"The summer finals are played at Koshien, and 59 teams participated this year," Rokkaku added.
Meanwhile, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture will host the Women's Baseball National Championship from 7 to 11 October at the Bocchan and Madonna Stadium.
"The event will involve 28 teams," explained WBSC Women's Baseball Commission Chair Hiroko Yamada. "The top eight teams of the Club Championship, plus six teams selected in the Regional Leagues, will compete with the top six teams of the University Championship and the top eight finishers of the High School Championship."
With all these ground swell, Rokkaku for one is very optimistic about the future of Women's Baseball in Japan. "Ten years ago, we had five high school teams and most girls who played baseball practised with the boys' teams. They couldn't play games since high school competition was only for boys. Now we have 59 teams," she said. "In saying that, we still have areas to improve. The main problem is what to do after high school. Girls who want to play baseball do not have a lot of options yet."
The Women's Baseball Federation of Japan (WBFJ), which is a branch of the Baseball Federation of Japan, has an ambitious plan involving NPB clubs. The goal is to start a new, healthy, sustainable professional league, with each NPB club having a women's section.
Rokkaku herself plays for the Seitama Seibu Lions. They lost the final of the Club Championship against the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The Hanshing Tigers are the other NPB franchise with a women's team.
The Giants women's team competed for the first time in 2023. Still, the Club Championship was in its 18th season. The teams active under WBFJ are 102, including 23,000 players in Japan.
"There are approximately 10 Company teams," added Rokkaku. "Their players are semi-professionals. All the rest is amateur."
With Japan Olympic champions in men's baseball and women's softball, Rokkaku, who has played baseball, Baseball5, softball and is a WBSC Ambassador, says there is plenty of choice for players growing up.
"My older brother played baseball so all I wanted to do was play baseball but I tried softball recently, and I liked it. Let's say I love all diamond sports."
Rokkaku won't compete in the IX WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Group B from 13 to 17 September because "I believe there's a lot of better players in Japan."
