Editing Sports in Japan (section)

==Popular team sports==
===Baseball===
{{Main|Baseball in Japan}}
[[File:Japan Baseball.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The [[Japan national baseball team]] huddles around their manager after losing to [[Cuba national baseball team|Cuba]] in the [[2006 Intercontinental Cup (baseball)|2006 Intercontinental Cup]].]]

[[Baseball]] is historically the most popular team sport in Japan. It was introduced to Japan in 1872 by [[Horace Wilson (professor)|Horace Wilson]], who taught at the Kaisei School in [[Tokyo]]. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called {{Nihongo|2=野球|3=yakyū}} in Japanese, combining the characters for "field" and "ball".

Hiroshi Hiraoka, who was in the [[United States]] studying engineering, introduced the game to his co-workers at Japan's national railways in 1878. He and his co-workers created the first baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, and dominated other teams which popped up in Japan. However, it was not until 1896 that a team from Ichikō, the elite [[University of Tokyo]] preparatory school, defeated a team from the [[Yokohama Country & Athletic Club]] 29 to 4 that the sport took a dominant hold in Japanese popular culture.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reiss|first1=Steven|title=Sport in Industrial America, 1850-1920|date=2013|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-118-53771-8|page=Chapter 6}}</ref> The match was the first recorded international baseball game in [[Asia]]. After that victory, several other universities in Japan adopted the sport, and it quickly spread throughout Japan. Since then, teams from Japan have traveled to learn from their American counterparts. [[Waseda University]] was one of the first teams to cross the ocean to improve their skills. In 1905, the team traveled to the United States, where it played college teams from around the country. Other universities in Japan made similar trips, and U.S. teams traveled to Japan to play.

From 1913 to 1922, American [[Major League Baseball|MLB]] stars visited Japan and played against university teams. They also held clinics on technique. [[Herb Hunter (baseball)|Herb Hunter]], a retired major league player, made eight trips to Japan, from 1922 to 1932 to organize games and coaching clinics.

Baseball is also played in Japan's junior and senior high schools. Each year in March and August, two tournaments are held at Koshien Stadium for senior high school teams that win a prefecture tournament.  References to [[High school baseball in Japan|high school baseball]] ({{Nihongo|2=高校野球|3=kōkō yakyū}}) generally refer to the two annual baseball tournaments, played by high schools nationwide culminating at a final showdown at Hanshin Kōshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan. They are organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation in association with Mainichi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament in the spring (also known as "Spring Kōshien"), and Asahi Shimbun for the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer (also known as "Summer Kōshien").  These nationwide tournaments enjoy widespread popularity, arguably equal to or greater than professional baseball. Qualifying tournaments are often televised locally and each game of the final stage at Kōshien is televised nationally on NHK. The tournaments have become a national tradition, and large numbers of frenzied students and parents travel from hometowns to cheer for their local team. It is a common sight to see players walking off the field in tears after being eliminated from the tournament by a loss.

===Association football===
[[File:Japan national football team World Cup 2018.jpg|thumb|[[Japan national football team]]]]
{{main|Football in Japan}}

[[Association football]] is the second most popular team sport in Japan, behind Baseball. The [[Japan Football Association]] (JFA) is the governing body of Japanese football. The JFA organizes the [[Japan national football team|men's]], [[Japan women's national football team|women's]], and [[futsal]] national teams.

Association football was introduced to Japan during the [[Meiji period]] by [[O-yatoi gaikokujin]], foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government, along with many other foreign sports, like [[baseball]]. The first Japanese football club is considered to be [[Tokyo Shūkyū-dan]], founded in 1917, which is now competing in the Tokyo Prefectural amateur league.

In the 1920s, football associations were organized and regional tournaments began in universities and high schools, especially in Tokyo. In the 1930s, the [[Japan national football team]] was organized and drew 3–3 with [[China]] to win their first title at the [[Far Eastern Championship Games]]. The Japan national team also competed in the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin Olympic Games]], the team had a first victory in an Olympic game with a 3–2 win over powerful [[Sweden]].

The Japan national team is very successful at an international level, and has competed in the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998]], [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]], [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]], [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010]], [[2014 FIFA World Cup|2014]], [[2018 FIFA World Cup|2018]], and [[2022 FIFA World Cup| 2022 ]][[FIFA World Cup]]s. Its best result was reaching the Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018, and 2022. The Japanese national team has also competed in six AFC Asian Cups, with the team being the Champions in [[1992 AFC Asian Cup|1992]], [[2000 AFC Asian Cup|2000]], [[2004 AFC Asian Cup|2004]] and [[2011 AFC Asian Cup|2011]] AFC Asian Cups. The team's highest ranking was 9th in the world in February 1998. Japan has competed in many other footballing events including the [[Confederations Cup]], the [[East Asian Football Championship]], and the [[Copa América]].

The [[J.League]] is the most popular football league in Japan and has grown rapidly in just a few decades-with teams such as [[FC Tokyo]] and [[Kashima Antlers]] regularly competing in continental competition and the league drawing the talents of [[Andrés Iniesta]] and [[Fernando Torres]].

The women's national team has enjoyed major success at the [[FIFA Women's World Cup|World Cup]], winning the [[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup|2011 edition]] in Germany and finishing as runner-up in the [[2015 FIFA Women's World Cup|2015 edition]] in Canada.

The national team's colors are blue and white, Japan's main colors in most international sporting competitions.

===Basketball===
{{main|Basketball in Japan}}
[[Image:Yuta Tabuse (2008).jpg|thumb|140px|right|Yuta Tabuse is one of Japan's prime basketball players.]]
Especially since the emergence of [[Yuta Tabuse]] and [[Takuya Kawamura]], basketball has received a recent revival and become a popular sport in Japan.<ref name=consulteny>{{cite news|url=http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/vol_12-4/title_04.html|title=Hoop Dreams - Yuta Tabuse, "The Jordan of Japan"|publisher=Consulate General of Japan in New York|date=December 2004 – January 2005|access-date=2009-01-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203204908/http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/vol_12-4/title_04.html|archive-date=2010-12-03}}</ref> The [[Japan national basketball team]] won the [[FIBA Asia Championship]] twice and has qualified for the event 25 out of 26 times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fibaasia.net/Competition_Archives.aspx?id=2 |title=FIBA Asia.net: Competition Archives |access-date=2012-02-02}}</ref> Japan was host to the [[2006 FIBA World Championship]] which was played in the host cities of [[Hamamatsu]], [[Hiroshima]], [[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama]], [[Sapporo]] and [[Sendai]] and on 9 December 2017, Japan was announced as co-host the [[2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup]] with Philippines and Indonesia some matches will be in host city of [[Okinawa City]].

The prime basketball league in the country is the [[B.League]].

In 2010 the [[Japan Basketball Association]] recognized [[Takehiko Inoue]], the creator of ''[[Slam Dunk (manga)|Slam Dunk]]'', for the series' role in popularizing the sport in Japan as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/29/showbiz/takehiko-inoue-human-to-hero/|title=How 'Slam Dunk' Manga artist brings characters to life|publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name="sl">{{cite news|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-06-09/japan-basketball-association-awards-slam-dunk-inoue|title=Japan Basketball Association Awards Slam Dunk's Inoue|work=[[Anime News Network]]|date=June 9, 2010|access-date=June 17, 2013}}</ref>

In 2019, [[Rui Hachimura]] was selected ninth overall in the draft by the [[Washington Wizards]] of the NBA. He is a son between a Beninese father and Japanese mother.