Kawasaki City – Despite challenging weather conditions in late January, Kanagawa Prefectural Tama High School hosted a successful baseball class for numerous elementary school students. The event, held on the school’s field, aimed to introduce young children to the fundamentals of baseball and foster a love for the sport.

A Tradition of Excellence and Community Engagement

Tama High School is recognized as a leading preparatory school in the prefecture, with a strong track record of producing successful alumni in various fields, including research and entertainment. Notable graduates include Itaru Kobayashi, a former professional baseball pitcher who now serves as a professor at Oberlin University.

Supporting Youth Baseball Development

The Baseball Class is part of a broader initiative stemming from the Japan High School Baseball Federation’s 200 Years of High School Baseball Plan, announced in 2018. This plan encourages high school baseball teams to engage in dissemination activities for children under elementary school age. This year marked the third iteration of Tama High School’s program.

High school baseball players and children playing “Dorokei” (photographed by the author)

The session began with a warm-up activity called Dorokei, a tag-based game between thieves and detectives, designed to energize the children and facilitate interaction with the high school players. Following the warm-up, participants engaged in a point rally consisting of four baseball-related drills:

• Struck out
• Toss batting
• Bunt Challenge
• Ground fly catch

A program designed to allow elementary school students to have fun playing baseball (photographed by the author)

Children were awarded points for successfully completing each drill, adding a competitive and rewarding element to the experience.

Point cards handed out to participating children (photographed by the author)