The Land Of The Relentless Sun

The 100th Summer High School Baseball Tournament commences on Sunday at Koshien Stadium, and already hundreds of fans have staked their claim by taping ground sheets to the tarmac outside the stadium. Most people have written their names on the ground sheets. They aren't actually sitting on them or sleeping on them yet. It shows something of Japanese courtesy that the people who taped them down can trust that nobody will rip them up. The owners of the ground sheets will probably sleep outside the stadium tomorrow night.

The flag belongs to that of the main sponsor of the event, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. With the sun beating down at 36 degrees, it seemed to be a very appropriate flag.

Here is a short history of the High School Baseball Tournament published in the online edition of Asahi Shimbun. It has some great historic photographs.