Hi everyone! In Japanese mangas, there are a lot of themes and genres. However, when you mentioned Shonen Mangas, sport manga is one of the most popular themes used, and baseball is one of the most frequently used themes for sport mangas. Mitsuru Adachi’s “H2O” and “Touch” and one of the most popular manga recently, “Ace of Diamond” are the proofs of Japanese “baseball fever”. In these mangas, there is one similiarity. I guess all of you have realized it. Yes, it was the existence of “Koshien”. Koshien is the dream of each senior high school baseball athletes in Japan. Well, let’s explore this place further! Writer：　Erlin Florence

Koshien Baseball Stadium Hyogo-ken, Nishinomiya-shi, Koushiencho 1-82 (Hanshin Railway 5 minutes by foot from Hanshin Koshien Station) Entrance Fee of The Museum of Hanshin Koshien Stadium : ￥600 Baseball Match Ticket：￥1,500 Spent time in the museum : around 1 hour
What are recommended places in Koshien? For me, I guess there are 3 places. They are baseball match, the museum, and goods shop.
		The road to Koshien Stadium
		Banner of “Ace of Diamond”
Baseball Match Speaking of Koshien in summer, most of Japanese will think of National Baseball Tournament. This is a famous event. There was a pre-eliminary high school match when I went there. All of the selected representatives of each prefecture came by bus. You can see a lot of buses parked in the parking lot. The supporters of these schools were using the same T-shirt, caps, etc. They patiently waited for the match of their school outside the stadium under the deadly summer heat. You could feel their enthusiasm towards the match even before the match starts. Since the match started, their supporting voice never stopped, the supporters cheered with all of their might as if they were fighting together with the athletes in the field. Although I am not a huge fan of baseball, I was affected with their passionate cheers and started to get excited too. This is an experience which cannot be expressed with words, and you need to experience it by yourself to understand this amazing cheers. I believe that everyone who sees the baseball match in Koshien will become a baseball fan, a genuine supporter during the match.
		The supporters
		The Ticket Window
The Museum of Hanshin Koshien Stadium Koshien Stadium started to operate since 1924 and it has a long history as baseball stadium. In this museum, there are a lot of historic data and artifacts, such as the record of baseball matches, famous teams and athlete’s uniforms, balls which were used in matches, etc. Not only the pro teams are featured in this museum, but also the uniforms famous senior high schools which participated in Koushien National Tournament and the winner of Koshien tournaments are featured here.
		Koshien’s Timeline
		The Coaches of Pro Baseball Teams
		Diorama of Koshien Stadium
		The Famous Athletes of Hanshin Tigers
Moreover, Koshien Baseball Stadium also functioned as an American Football Stadium, and it is also famous as the final stage of Varsities National Tournaments of American Football named “Koshien Bowl”. This tournament is usually held in winter each year. In this museum, we can also see the uniforms of famous American football teams. This museum is established outside the Koshien Stadium, and it has a rather unique form. This museum only has 1 floor, but it has the form of huge, long hallway.
		Koshien Bowl’s Corner
		The Uniforms and Helmets of University’s Teams
Furthermore, this museum also collects the sample of various mangas with Koshien as its theme. All of these samples are neatly conserved in the manga hallway. By seeing this, we will again realize how popular Koshien is for Japanese people. Even though the era has changed, Japanese will keep their passion and love for baseball, and this is one of the proof for that. There is a sample of grounds in Koshien Stadium and a photo booth in the end of this hallway, so please come to this museum and feel Koshien’s history by yourself here!
		Manga Hallway
		The Signature of Mitsuru Adachi
		Ace of Diamond’s Corner
		H2O’s Corner
Goods Shop There is an official goods shop of Hanshin Koushien Baseball Stadium besides the museum. However, for Kansai people, Koushien is famous for Hanshin Tigers. There is a Hansin Tigers’ Goods Shop near the Koshien stadium. Because of a huge number of Hanshin Tigers supporters are based in Kansai, you can see all of Hanshin Tigers’ supporters wearing the same goods through its matches. And also, because of its popularity, it is hard to get the ticket of Hanshin Tigers’ match, and its match always full of viewers. You can buy Hanshin Tigers’ supporters’ goods in the souvenir shop. You can also buy food at the small shops outside the stadium.
		Goods Shop Corner
		Goods Shop For Hanshin Tigers Fans
		Souvenirs
This ends the article about Hanshin Koshien Baseball Stadium. I can only introduce a glance of this stadium, and I really hope by reading this article, all of you will become interested to Koshien. You might have seen or known Koshien from anime or manga, but I really recommend you to see the real place and experience the passionate baseball matches here!