Women’s Baseball in Japan: A History From 1910 to Today

History › Women's Baseball in Japan: A History From 1910 to Today

Women in Japan have played baseball for more than 100 years. The first girls’ team was formed in 1910. Since then, the story has had big highs and big lows.

There was a women’s pro league in the 1950s. It faded away. A new pro league started in 2010. It faded too. But in between, something amazing happened. Japan’s women’s national team became the best in the world. It won the World Cup seven times in a row.

Here’s the thing. Women’s baseball in Japan is growing fast right now. More girls play than ever before. Pro teams like the Giants and Tigers now have women’s teams. And girls now play their high school final at Koshien.

This page tells the whole story. We start in 1910 and go up to today.

New to Japanese baseball? Start with how NPB works. For more history, see our history section.

Quick Facts

  • First girls’ team: 1910.
  • Ban on schoolgirl baseball: 1924.
  • First big women’s game after the war: August 29, 1947, in Yokohama.
  • First women’s pro league: 1950.
  • End of the old women’s game: 1971.
  • High school women’s league founded: 1997.
  • New pro league: Founded in 2009. Played from 2010. Shut down in 2021.
  • World Cup titles: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024.
  • Winning streak: 39 straight World Cup wins, from 2012 to 2024.
  • National team nickname: Madonna Japan.

The First Teams

The first girls’ baseball team in Japan was formed in 1910. It was at an elementary school called Saeki. A magazine wrote about it at the time.

In November 1917, a girls’ school in Imabari, in Ehime, started a baseball team.

In the spring of 1919, a girls’ high school tournament was held in Nagoya.

Things were looking up. But then came a setback.

The 1924 Ban

In November 1924, Japan’s education ministry made a new rule. Schoolgirls could no longer play baseball.

That stopped girls’ baseball at schools. For more than 20 years, there was little women’s baseball in Japan.

A New Start After the War

World War II ended in 1945. Japan began to change.

On August 29, 1947, a women’s baseball event was held in Yokohama. It was part of a city festival. The game was played at the park that is now Yokohama Stadium.

The play was rough. There were more than 20 walks, errors and stolen bases in one game. But people loved it. It was a big hit.

In 1948, a team called the Tokyo Blue Bird was formed. Some of its players came from a girls’ softball team.

The First Pro League

In 1950, more women’s teams were formed. Four teams in Tokyo got started. Then a pro league was born. It was called the Japan Women’s Baseball League.

Teams also popped up in the Kansai area, around Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. There were teams like the Osaka Diamond and the Kobe Tigers.

1950 was a big year for men’s baseball too. The men’s league split into two leagues that year. You can read about it on our 1950 league split page.

Why the First League Faded

The women’s league soon had problems.

The people who ran it did not agree. One group wanted women’s baseball to be a show, to bring in crowds. The other group wanted it to be a serious sport. The league split in two. Then it came back together.

But it could not make enough money from fans. In 1952, it stopped being a pro league. The teams became company teams instead. Company teams are run by businesses. The players worked for the company and played ball.

Over the next 20 years, men’s pro baseball got more and more popular. Women’s baseball did not. The last women’s team stopped in 1971. It was a team run by Salonpas, a company that makes pain relief patches.

A writer named Kuniko Yagi gave some reasons the old game faded:

  • The teams did not have strong owners with money.
  • The games did not draw enough fans as a show.
  • The skill level was not high enough.
  • It did not do well on TV.
  • Many players quit when they got married.
  • Women’s softball got very popular.

Soft Ball Baseball Keeps It Alive

For years after 1971, women’s baseball in Japan was mostly played with a soft rubber ball. This is called “nanshiki” baseball. It is very common in Japan.

In 1986, a group for college women’s soft-ball baseball was formed. In 1987, a group for all women’s soft-ball baseball was formed. That year, the first national college women’s tournament was held.

People called it “the Koshien of the Madonnas.” Koshien is the big high school tournament for boys. You can learn more on our Koshien guide.

Hard Ball Comes Back

In 1997, a high school group for girls’ hard-ball baseball was formed. That year, the first national girls’ high school tournament was held.

In 2002, the Japan Women’s Baseball Association was formed. Its job was to grow the women’s game.

That fall, a women’s league started in the Kanto area, around Tokyo. It had four teams at first. The Yomiuri Giants backed it. It was called the “Venus League.” Soon, more club and college teams joined.

In 2007, the Venus League sent an all-star team to North America. It played the national teams of the US and Canada.

In 2009, the league added a youth league for girls aged 13 to 16. It had seven teams.

In 2005, the first national women’s hard-ball championship was held.

The Knuckle Princess

In 2008, a 16-year-old girl made big news. Her name was Eri Yoshida.

She threw a knuckleball. That is a slow pitch that floats and dances. She learned it by watching Tim Wakefield, an MLB pitcher, on TV.

In 2008, a men’s team drafted her. It was the Kobe 9 Cruise, in an independent league in Kansai. She was the first woman picked by a men’s pro team in Japan. Fans called her the “Knuckle Princess.”

In 2010, she signed with the Chico Outlaws, a team in an independent league in the US. That made her the first woman to play pro baseball in two countries. In 2012, she pitched for a team on Maui, in Hawaii.

The New Pro League

In 2009, a new women’s pro league was formed. A health products company, Wakasa Seikatsu, was behind it.

Play began in 2010. There were two teams at first. They were the Kyoto Astro Dreams and the Hyogo Swing Smileys. Both were in the Kansai area.

The league grew for a while. More teams were added. Teams changed their names a few times.

Why the New League Failed

The new league lost money every year.

In 2018, each team cost more than 200 million yen a year to run. But each team made only about 50 million yen.

In January 2019, the head of the company said it might pull out. Then many players left. In November 2019, 36 of the league’s 71 players left. After the 2020 season, 26 of the 43 players left.

By July 2021, the league had no players at all. That year’s season was called off. At the end of 2021, the league said it would stop for good, with no plan to come back.

New Events and New Groups

While the pro league was running, more events were added.

In 2011, a new event called the Women’s Baseball Japan Cup began. It put pro teams, company teams, college teams and high school teams in one big tournament. For the first time, they could all play each other.

In 2014, the Japan Women’s Baseball Association changed its name and its setup. It became the All Japan Women’s Baseball Federation. This was around the time the world groups for baseball and softball joined into one, called the WBSC.

How the Women’s Game Is Played

Women’s hard-ball baseball is played much like men’s baseball. The basic rules are the same.

There are a few small changes in some events. At the World Cup, games are seven innings long, not nine. There is also a mercy rule. If one team gets far ahead, the game ends early. In the 2010 final, Japan won 13 to 3 in just five innings.

But the Game Grew Anyway

Here’s the thing. The pro league failed. But women’s baseball kept getting bigger.

Look at the numbers:

  • 2007: Only 5 high schools had girls’ hard-ball teams.
  • 2009: About 600 women and girls played hard-ball baseball.
  • 2019: More than 3,000 played. With kids’ teams, it was about 20,000.
  • 2020: 40 high schools had girls’ hard-ball teams.

The pro league helped people see that women could play. And starting in 2013, NPB helped run a tournament for young girls. It is called the NPB Girls Tournament.

Madonna Japan: Best in the World

The best part of the story is the national team.

Japan’s women’s team is called “Madonna Japan.” It has used that name since 2008. It also shares the “Samurai Japan” name with the men’s team.

There is a World Cup for women’s baseball. Japan has won it again and again:

  • 2008: Champion.
  • 2010: Champion.
  • 2012: Champion.
  • 2014: Champion.
  • 2016: Champion.
  • 2018: Champion.
  • 2024: Champion.

That is seven titles in a row. From 2012 to 2024, the team won 39 World Cup games in a row.

Every World Cup, Year by Year

The first Women’s World Cup was held in 2004, in Edmonton, Canada. Japan did not win right away. It took second place twice. Then it took over.

Year Host city Champion Score in final Runner-up
2004 Edmonton, Canada USA 2-0 Japan
2006 Taipei USA Round robin Japan
2008 Matsuyama, Japan Japan 11-3 Canada
2010 Maracay, Venezuela Japan 13-3 Australia
2012 Edmonton, Canada Japan 3-0 USA
2014 Miyazaki, Japan Japan 3-0 USA
2016 Busan, South Korea Japan 10-0 Canada
2018 Viera, USA Japan 6-0 Chinese Taipei
2024 Thunder Bay, Canada Japan 11-6 USA

There was no World Cup in 2020 or 2021. The event was called off because of COVID-19.

Look at the scores in the finals. In four of them, the other team did not score at all. The 2016 final was 10 to 0.

The next World Cup is set for 2027.

Japan has also won all four Women’s Asian Cups, held from 2017 to 2025.

As of the 2025 season, Japan is ranked first in the world.

For the men’s team, see our page on Japan in the WBC.

NPB Teams Start Women’s Teams

There was still a problem. After high school, many women had no place to keep playing. As of 2023, only 13 colleges had women’s hard-ball teams.

So NPB teams stepped in. The women’s federation asked them for help.

  • 2020: The Seibu Lions started the Saitama Seibu Lions Ladies.
  • 2021: The Hanshin Tigers started Hanshin Tigers Women. Hanshin has also backed a women’s league in the Kansai area, called the Lucky League, since that league began.
  • 2022: The Yomiuri Giants started their own women’s team.

These teams are not pro teams like the men’s. But they give top players a place to play, with the name of a big club behind them.

You can read about these clubs on our Seibu Lions history page, our Hanshin Tigers history page and our Yomiuri Giants history page.

Girls at Koshien

In 2021, something new happened. The final of the girls’ high school tournament was played at Koshien Stadium.

It was supposed to be on August 22. Rain pushed it back. It was finally played on August 23, at 5 p.m. It was the first time women’s baseball was played at Koshien.

Read the story of the park on our Koshien Stadium page.

Then, in 2022, the final of the spring girls’ high school tournament moved to the Tokyo Dome.

A Girl Wins a Big Boys’ Title

In 2018, a girl made news in a boys’ event. It was the Giants Cup, a national tournament for junior high players.

The winning pitcher was a girl named Ayuri Shimano. People all over Japan talked about it. It showed that a girl could pitch her team to a national title.

Timeline

  • 1910: The first girls’ baseball team is formed.
  • 1917: A girls’ school in Imabari starts a team.
  • 1919: A girls’ high school tournament is held in Nagoya.
  • 1924: Japan bans baseball for schoolgirls.
  • 1947: A women’s baseball event is held in Yokohama on August 29.
  • 1948: The Tokyo Blue Bird is formed.
  • 1950: The first women’s pro league starts.
  • 1952: The league becomes a company team league.
  • 1971: The last old women’s team stops.
  • 1986 to 1987: Soft-ball groups for women are formed.
  • 1997: The girls’ high school hard-ball group is formed.
  • 2002: The Japan Women’s Baseball Association is formed.
  • 2008: Japan wins its first women’s World Cup. Eri Yoshida is drafted.
  • 2009: A new women’s pro league is founded.
  • 2010: The new league plays its first season.
  • 2020: The Seibu Lions start a women’s team.
  • 2021: The girls’ high school final is played at Koshien. The pro league stops.
  • 2022: The Giants start a women’s team.
  • 2024: Japan wins its seventh straight World Cup.

Key Terms

  • Madonna Japan: The nickname of Japan’s women’s national team.
  • Nanshiki: Baseball played with a soft rubber ball.
  • Koshiki: Baseball played with a hard ball, like in the pros.
  • Company team: A team run by a business.
  • Knuckleball: A slow pitch that floats and moves in odd ways.
  • World Cup: The top world event for women’s baseball.

More terms are in our glossary.

Common Questions

Is there a women’s pro baseball league in Japan? Not right now. The last one stopped in 2021. But NPB clubs like the Giants, Tigers and Lions have women’s teams.

How good is Japan’s women’s team? It is the best in the world. It has won seven World Cups in a row.

When did women first play baseball in Japan? The first girls’ team was formed in 1910.

Why did Japan ban girls from baseball in 1924? The education ministry made a rule that schoolgirls could not play. That stopped girls’ school baseball for many years.

Do girls play at Koshien? Yes. Since 2021, the final of the girls’ high school tournament has been played there.

Who runs women’s baseball in Japan? The All Japan Women’s Baseball Federation. It took that name in 2014. Before that, it was the Japan Women’s Baseball Association, formed in 2002.

Did Japan always win the World Cup? No. The USA won the first two, in 2004 and 2006. Japan was second both times. Japan has won every one since 2008.

Can a woman play in NPB? No woman has played in an NPB game as of the 2025 season. Eri Yoshida was drafted by a men’s independent league team in 2008.

The Bottom Line

Women’s baseball in Japan started in 1910. A ban in 1924 slowed it down. After the war, it came back. A pro league started in 1950 but faded by 1971.

A new pro league ran from 2010. It lost money and stopped in 2021.

But the game kept growing. More girls play now than ever. Big NPB clubs have women’s teams. Girls play their high school final at Koshien. And Madonna Japan is the best team in the world.

As of the 2025 season, the future of women’s baseball in Japan looks bright.

For more history, see our history section. For the founding of the men’s pro league, see our NPB founding page.

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