The Museum of Hanshin Koshien Stadium

The Museum of Hanshin Koshien Stadium showcases the rich history of Koshien Stadium, home to the Hanshin Tigers and the site of national high school baseball tournaments, offering exhibits on high school baseball and the Hanshin Tigers.

Planning your visit

Koshien Stadium opened in 1924 and is the most emotionally charged sports venue in Japan. It is home to the Hanshin Tigers, whose supporters are famous for an intensity unlike anything else in Japanese baseball, and — more importantly — it hosts the national high school baseball tournaments each spring and summer, in which thousands of schools compete for a place and the losing teams scoop up handfuls of the Koshien infield dirt to take home.

That ritual explains the stadium's meaning: for most Japanese, Koshien is about adolescence, effort and loss rather than professional sport, and the tournaments are broadcast nationally and watched by people with no interest in baseball otherwise.

The museum covers both threads — Tigers history and memorabilia, and the high school tournaments with their own artefacts and records — and stadium tours run to the dugouts, the bullpen and the field when the schedule allows.

Tours depend heavily on the fixture and tournament calendar, so checking before travelling to Nishinomiya matters.

Bookable options include entry tickets, some with souvenir gifts included. Current availability is listed below.