Great column  by Wayne Graczyk of the Japan Times online about NPB games played in the Japanese countryside. Personally, I’m a big fan of this as well, and as Graczyk indicates in his piece, staging games at these sorts of off-the-beaten-path locals ofers a unique glimpse into yesteryear.

Known as “chiho jiai” in Japanese, these games have been part of pro baseball history and culture in this country since the early days, having been played in the 1930s prior to World War II before franchises with specific home cities and stadiums were organized.

At that time, most of the teams were based in the Kanto and Kansai areas in the period when a club could not take a jet flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka or Sapporo in an hour and a half, or whiz by “shinkansen” (bullet train) from Tokyo to Osaka in less than three hours.

The players would make stops along the way for games in towns such as Shizuoka and, 70 years later, even with the speedy modern transportation, the tradition of the countryside games continues.

One of my favorite things about scouting is travelling around the country and seeing baseball in out of the way locations. Just last week I watched a game in at an old high school ground where, over time, the trees and brush had started to grow into the stands down the left field line.

The Fighters this year will play in the Hokkaido towns of Asahikawa, Obihiro, Kushiro and Hakodate, while the Eagles will travel to Morioka and Fukushima in Tohoku.

The Saitama Seibu Lions, based in Tokorozawa, will welcome the Chiba Lotte Marines for a game at Omiya Stadium, also in Saitama Prefecture, on June 27.

There are business reasons for hosting countryside games, too.

For example, when the current BayStars were the Yokohama Taiyo Whales, the team played a regular-season game in Shimonoseki on the southern tip of Honshu, because much of the operations of the Taiyo Fisheries Co., owners of the Whales, took place in that seaport city.

In southwest Japan, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks annually play a few games in Kitakyushu in a custom that dates back to when the Nishitetsu Lions were based in Fukuoka, and the Nishitetsu Railway trains and buses connected (still do) the two large cities in northern Kyushu.

The Lotte Giants do something like this, playing about 10-15 games in neighboring Masan. It works very well, as the Masan fans, like the Busan fans, are wild and vocal — but in their own way. They even sing “Masan Kalmegi,” an adaptation of the famous “Busan Kalmegi (seagull)” which is sung off and on during every Lotte Giants home (and often on the road) game.

The Masan stadium also has a dirt infield, which Graczyk refers to as an “old skin,” in the piece. Not sure if that’s a translated Japanese term or if that’s common parlance in English.

Also, the Worri heroes are playing two series on Jeju island this season.

As for the Giants, playing home games around the country serves two purposes.

First, it promotes what remains of the national fan base the Kyojin enjoyed in years past. Second, it helps sell newspapers.

It is common practice in Japan for paper delivery people to offer gifts — such as shampoo, laundry detergent, soy sauce or toilet paper — to entice prospective customers into ordering their publication.

In some rural areas, Yomiuri Shimbun representatives can say to a would-be client, “The Giants are coming to town. Would you like to see them play? I have two free reserved seat tickets to the game for you. Just sign up and subscribe to the paper for six months, and the tickets are yours.”

The ballparks in the countryside towns range from spectacular new facilities, such as Sun Marine Stadium in Miyazaki, to old and dilapidated fields and bleachers that should be torn down.

Sounds like Daegu Baseball Stadium, where the Samsung Lions play all its home games.

Really, some of the lower revenue Major League Baseball ought to consider doing something like this. Especially those which play  for large geographic areas — maybe have  the Rockies play in Utah, or have the A’s play in Fresno. I’m sure there’d be too many tangles in the city stadium leases to make it worth it though.    

By the way, I found the article at japanesebaseball.com.