Japanese Baseball Vocabulary & Flashcards

Japanese Baseball Vocabulary

If you are planning on visiting Tokyo Dome to see a Japanese Baseball Game – learning some baseball related vocabulary is a must to make your experience more enjoyable.
Here are several important words that will allow you to talk about the basics of baseball in Japanese:

• 内野手(Naiyashu) Infielder
• 外野手(Gaiyashu) outfielder
• 投手(Toushu) pitcher
• 捕手(Hoshu) catcher
• 打者(dasha) batter
• 審判(Shinpan) Umpire
• 安打 – (Anda) A hit
• 打席 (Daseki) – At bat
• 勝利 (shouri) – Win
• 敗戦 (haisen) – Loss
• 送りバント (okuri banto – lit. “sending bunt,” or sacrifice bunt)
• 変化球 (henkakyuu) – Breaking Ball
• フォアボール (Foabōru) – Walk
• サイン（Sain）- Autograph
• オープン戦 (Ōpun-sen) – Exhibition Game
• イージーフライ(Ījīfurai) – Routine Fly Ball
• レフトオーバー (Refutoōbā) – Left Field
• シーズンオフ (Shīzun’ofu) – Off Season
• ホームラン / アーチ (Hōmuran / āchi) – Homerun
• ゴロ (Goro) – Grounder
• ベースカバー – To cover a base
• ナックル – Knuckle Ball
• ファウル – Foul Ball
• ボールカウント – Count of Balls and Strikes
• 安打 – A hit
• ウイニングショット – A pitcher’s best pitch
• ウエーティングサークル – The on-deck circle
• エース – A team’s best pitcher – same in English or Japanese
• えむぶいぴー – MVP/ Most Valuable Player
• オーバースロー – a Pitcher who throws overhanded
• 抑え（おさえ) A closer; a relief pitcher
• 押し出し（おしだし) – To walk the batter with the bases loaded, to walk in a run.
• 表（おもて）The top of an inning.
• かっ飛ばせ（かっとばせ）- Is a popular cheer meaning “Send the ball flying!”
• 完封（かんぷう）- A shutout.
• キャンバス – A base, a “bag,” a reference to what bases are made of.
• ゲットツー A double play.
• スイッチヒッター – Switch Hitter
• ファストカンバス – First Base
• 満塁（まんるい）ホームラン – Grand Slam
• セーブ (seebu) – Save
• 防御率 (bougyoritsu) – Earned-run average (ERA)
• 三振 (sanshin) – Strikeout
• ワインドアップ – Windup

Flashcards

Example Sentences

オープン戦でホームランを打った選手からボールにサインをもらった。
Ōpun-sen de hōmuran o utta senshu kara bōru ni sain o moratta.
I got a autograph from a player who hit a homerun in the exhibition game.
得意の変化球で完封勝利を上げた投手が今日のMVPに選ばれた。
Tokui no henkakyū de kanpū shōri o ageta tōshu ga kyō no MVP ni eraba reta.
The pitcher who won a shutout game was chosen as the MVP.
上原投手は、昨年まで大リーグで活躍していたが、今年ジャイアンツに戻ってきた。
Uehara tōshu wa, sakunen made dai rīgu de katsuyaku shite itaga, kotoshi jaiantsu ni modottekita.
The pitcher Koji Uehara, who was playing in MLB, came back to Yomiuri Giants this year.
阿部慎之助は、最近、キャッチャーから内野手に転向した。
Abe shin’nosuke wa, saikin, kyatchā kara Uchino te ni tenkō shita.
Shinnosuke Abe recently converted from catcher to infielder.

Japanese Baseball Cheer Song – “応援歌” (ouen ka)

During a Japanese Baseball game – fans usually have one song or “応援歌” (ouen ka) for each inning (two versions – one for home and one for away games) and each player gets their own at-bat song that fans sing to them to pump them up.
Have a look at this video of the Tokyo Giants Fight song to see what we mean:

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The (読売巨人 – Yomiuri Kyojin) home stadium is located a short walk from Tokyo Dome City, which is located a short walk from Coto Japanese Academy.

If you are interested in studying Japanese in Tokyo, find out more about our school by filling out the form below.