The Tokyo Big6 Baseball League was established in 1925. It is also the origin of the Tokyo 6 Universities nickname that is given to the same six universities.
Games
All games are played at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku in downtown Tokyo. Games are known to be rowdy and celebratory, with male cheerleaders, cheerleaders and bands working themselves and the crowd into a frenzy.
Schedule and rules
The six teams play short, eight-weekend seasons in the spring and autumn of each year. Each team plays a short series against each of the five other teams in the league. The series format is similar to a three-game playoff, where the first to two wins is given a series victory. Home field is alternated, and all games are played at Jingu Stadium. Should a team sweep the first two games, the third game is not played. The champion of the league is determined by the team with the most series victories. The champion team is given the Emperor's Cup. This is unique in Japan in that the other Emperor's cups are given to national champions in other sports such as Emperor's Cup of Football. The spring champion is allowed to participate in the All Japan University Baseball Championship Series while the fall champion is allowed to compete in the Meiji Jingu Stadium Tournament. The league uses rules that are similar to the National and Central Leagues. The designated hitter rule is not used and the pitcher is required to bat. Also, unlike American university leagues, non-wood bats are banned.
Champions
Waseda University has won the league the most times with 45 league championships. Hosei University follows with 44 championships, despite sporting the best record in the league's history. Meiji University has won 39 times and Keio University has captured 34 league titles. Rikkyo trails with 13, while the University of Tokyo has yet to win a championship.
The series between Waseda and Keio, Sōkeisen, attracts the most attention and is greatly enjoyed by the students, not least because it causes classes at both universities to be canceled. The game is still broadcast on NHK and it is the only series played during the last week of the season. The Sōkeisen actually predates the establishment of the Tokyo Big6 League by over 20 years, beginning in 1903. The games often caused much tension between the two student bodies, often spilling out of the stadium and leading to the cancellation of games. The addition of Meiji, Hosei and Rikkyo would do little to remedy the rivalry. This state would continue until the addition of Tokyo Imperial University and the official establishment of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. The name is a combination of the two university's names first kanji characters and the character for battle or match, sen. Sō, is the alternate reading of Wa in Waseda, while Kei is the first character of Keio.
