Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. It was introduced in 1872 by an American, Horace Wilson, who was an English professor at the Kaisei School in Tokyo. The first baseball team was called the Shimbashi Athletic Club and was established in 1878. Baseball has been a popular sport ever since. It is called 野球 (やきゅう; yakyū) in Japanese, combining the characters for field and ball. Wikipedia states that according to Japan's National Tourism Organization, "Basebal