Masters Koshien alumni tournament held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium

The Masters Koshien is an alumni event in which former high school baseball players return to Hanshin Koshien Stadium to play for their old schools. The 2025 edition was held at the stadium on 1 November 2025.

Koshien, in Nishinomiya near Osaka, is the home of Japan's national high school baseball championships, held in spring and summer. Reaching its field as a teenager is a dream for many players, and for most it ends with a single appearance or none at all. The Masters event gives graduates, many now well into adulthood, another chance to play on the same ground.

The tournament matters less for competition than for nostalgia. Teams are made up of former players who often have careers and families outside baseball, and the games draw on the strong emotional bond many Japanese people have with the Koshien stadium and their school teams.

That history is the backdrop for the latest Masters Koshien, where a former player known for homering off Shohei Ohtani hit a grand slam.