A proposal from a Miyagi Prefecture high schooler to rename baseball terminology was picked up on the August 19 broadcast of “Joho Live Miyane-ya” and became a hot topic. In response to proposals to rename “hit-by-pitch” (shikyu) as “contact ball” (tokyu) and “stolen base” as “opening” (suki-ari), among others, 5ch’s live-commentary board saw a wave of negative reactions like “this is just word-policing” and “the alternative terms show zero sense.”
Toyo Keizai, 2026/08/21 14:45
On the afternoon of August 19, as the National High School Baseball Championship at Koshien was reaching its climax, a segment titled “Are ‘Hit-by-Pitch’ and ‘Stolen Base’ Inappropriate? Reconsidering Baseball Terminology” aired on “Joho Live Miyane-ya” (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV network), sparking controversy.
■ It started as a “simple question” from high schoolers in Miyagi Prefecture
Source: toyokeizai.net / Original article here
4Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:36:59.06ID:Xkyy1A500
It wasn't the High School Baseball Federation, it was a Miyagi baseball team presenting at a workshop…
And soccer already changed "suicide goal" (its old term for own goal), "loss time," and "sudden death" too, didn't it
5Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:37:29.36ID:jL8HUlOM0
"Contact Ball" makes it sound like getting hit is your lucky day lol
7Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:37:50.38ID:SLGHhvUj0
This is dumb. Name the actual person at the Miyagi High School Baseball Federation who came up with this.
160Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:59:23.73ID:ZR5CciOf0
>>7
People who bring stuff like this up are always just bored
They're only doing it to kill time
17Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:38:56.00ID:O6L0Seak0
Isn't it more that parents stop letting their kids play because the language is rough?
19Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:39:02.66ID:TOk16ywV0
Baseball's already packed with fitting terminology, so don't go changing it
21Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:39:18.98ID:cQOHpzf30
A HIT ━━━(゚∀゚)━━━ !!
23Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:39:25.81ID:xQd5zfaq0
>Why is baseball always the one being targeted?
Baseball's persecution complex is strong, huh.
It's supposedly the most popular sport in Japan and gets way more media coverage than anything else, so of course it draws scrutiny.
Don't you think it's weird that they push the flattering, positive stuff hard but never report the negative stuff like scandals?
73Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:46:55.76ID:7y1Cjtm10
>>23
It's not weird — the media builds baseball up and feeds off it, so of course they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them
24Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:39:34.22ID:ONq7Yon20
I doubt they're capable of picking words on the level of Masaoka Shiki
26Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:00.55ID:Y4OK344j0
So stolen bases happen not because the runner is fast, but because the pitcher and catcher were zoning out?
27Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:08.17ID:sFP0Bp5F0
It's always like this — why does the High School Baseball Federation keep making unilateral changes for the worse?
Extra innings going straight to a tiebreaker, low-restitution bats — those are the things I wish they'd change instead
29Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:13.32ID:zxKePHH90
Let's start yelling "Opening!" whenever someone steals a base
30Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:29.26ID:rC5TBcQs0
There's already English like "hit-and-run," so "hit by pitch" works just fine
31Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:32.50ID:pYhd7Gl80
"Saito had 2 openings today~"
That's just too stupid
33Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:37.21ID:+lD3tdby0
Hit-by-pitch → "Pain Ball"
Sacrifice bunt → "Thoughtful Bunt"
34Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:40:39.74ID:mNwfKwSq0
Meanwhile, soccer stopped saying "suicide goal" and "sudden death"
37Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:41:07.99ID:CV+i+oLa0
Baseball is falling apart more than usual this year lol
38Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:41:30.92ID:8sDMtgY40
Natori Kita High School probably never expected this much backlash lol
40Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:41:43.95ID:277dHQme0
Looking at these proposed replacements, you can't deny their language skills seem pretty withered — maybe they should slow down and think it through more carefully
41Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:41:45.61ID:iwIxf0AD0
Hit-by-pitch → "Contact Ball"
Sacrifice → "Contribution Bunt"
Stolen base → "Opening"
One out → "One Erased"
What would they even call a sacrifice fly…
111Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:53:47.11ID:oDTpwmXa0
>>41
Just use katakana English lol
Match it with "home run," "out," and the rest and there's zero problem
For the right-wing crowd, just dodge it with "it was originally an American sport anyway"
42Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:41:50.07ID:ZQlgDTP60
This is just what happens when you let internet complainers push you around
43Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:42:01.06ID:B15FB9kW0
In contact sports like rugby, American football, or soccer, is it okay for a coach to yell "crush him!" (maybe meaning "shut down his passing lane") and have a player commit a foul to stop the opponent?
46Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:42:18.10ID:7gmNFu6k0
By that logic, throwing a ball at a person in the first place
is way more dangerous than any word could be,
so just ban baseball lol
49Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:42:47.79ID:l3sJPtqw0
Then let's officially rename Ikuei to "Kick-ei"! (a jab at Sendai Ikuei, the Miyagi baseball powerhouse — swapping in "kick," a soccer term, to mock the renaming idea)
90Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:50:44.43ID:Yd+LZNLE0
"Opening," seriously lol
101Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:52:40.40ID:Dz97zNTN0
>>90
Sounds like a samurai swordfight movie (chanbara)
95Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:51:39.00ID:NTzBnDio0
Today's commentator is Yutaka Fukumoto, the world's "Opening King"
What an awful way to introduce him lol
116Anonymous2026/08/21(金) 16:54:19.39ID:g1RWLfG60
>>95
But it's the pitcher and the rest of the defense who have the "opening," not the runner
This makes it sound like Fukumoto the runner was the one full of openings
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Hit-by-pitch becomes “contact ball,” stolen base becomes “opening”? Controversy erupts as public reacts with disgust over Miyagi Prefecture’s baseball terminology overhaul, calling it “word-policing” and “a terrible set of alternatives”.”
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