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Showa Pacific League fans throw raw eggs at Kenka and Daiei players’ buses … What’s happening now at the “disappearing baseball stadium” and “Nippon Life Stadium” that were loved in Osaka? –Professional Baseball –Number Web

In 2021, professional baseball ended with the Central League winning the Yakult Swallows and the Pacific League winning the Orix Buffaloes. Both leagues won the league title from the bottom of the previous year, which was a rare year.

By the way, this time I will look back on the history of Orix … or rather Buffaloes. The Orix Buffaloes team was born in 2004 off the merger of Orix Bluewave and Kintetsu Buffaloes (effectively absorbed by Orix). In other words, one of the predecessor teams is Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Where is Kintetsu’s home ground? Of course, the Osaka Dome (now Kyocera Dome Osaka), which was the setting for the home run (2001, Hirotoshi Kitagawa, Kintetsu), who decided to win the championship on the bases loaded with a winch hitter, is new to my memory. Before that, it was Fujiidera Stadium, which was the stage of the 1989 Japan Series, which fought against the Giants, with four consecutive losses from three consecutive wins.


Fujiidera Stadium has already been dismantled and has no trace, and although I visited it before, it was reborn as a fine private school. The headquarters of Kintetsu moved to Osaka Dome in 1997. It’s been less than 25 years since then, and there is no trace, so the passage of time is ruthless.

There is another “disappearing stadium” in Osaka that makes you feel such ruthlessness. It is the Nissei Stadium (Nippon Life Stadium) that Kintetsu used as one of the home grounds along with Fujiidera Stadium.

What is the disappeared “Nippon Life Stadium” now?

If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve probably heard the name of Nippon Life Stadium. However, if you are not an old fan of Kansai, there must be few people who have watched the game locally. On the contrary, you wouldn’t even know where the Nippon Life Stadium was.

I looked it up there. It must have been in the suburbs, a little outside the city of Osaka, like Fujiidera Stadium …. If you think so, it’s a big mistake. The Nissei Stadium was just south of Osaka Castle, that is, in the middle of Osaka.

The closest station to the Nippon Life Stadium is Morinomiya Station on the Osaka Loop Line. It is the 5th station from Osaka station, about 12 minutes in time. From the elevated station platform, you can see the castle tower of Osaka Castle, and the Hanshin Expressway Higashi-Osaka Line crosses the Osaka Loop Line just north of the station. The entrance to Osaka Castle Park is on the northwest side of the intersection. In other words, if you come to Osaka for sightseeing, it’s probably the castle of His Imperial Highness Taiko, so it’s a station that most people who visit Osaka Castle use.

Of course, the station front is lively because it is such a station. In front of the station, there is a main street called Tamatsukuri-suji running from north to south, and under the elevated Hanshin Expressway, there is another big road called Chuo-dori. Cars pass through everywhere, and many people walk in front of the station. On the east side of the Osaka Loop Line from Osaka Castle Park, there is also a rail yard where trains on the Osaka Loop Line sleep.

Many people may think of Osaka as Umeda in Kita, Namba in Minami, Tennoji, and Tsutenkaku, but the area around Morinomiya Station can be said to be the center of Osaka.

The Nippon Life Stadium was on Chuo-dori, that is, along the elevated Hanshin Expressway. It takes about 5 minutes to walk on Chuo Odori from the station. I arrived at the place where the Nippon Life Stadium was.

[Next page]What is the disappeared “Nippon Life Stadium” now?

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