Before Hanshin Koshien Stadium was built, high school baseball games were held at “Naruo Stadium,” which stood south of today’s Koshien Stadium.
After Koshien Stadium was completed, Naruo Stadium was closed and became an airfield for “Kawanishi Aircraft.” Today, the site is home to the Hama-Koshien housing complex.
Inside “Hama-Koshien Athletic Park,” located a little south of where Naruo Stadium once stood, you’ll find a stone marker and monument for the “Naruo Stadium Ruins.”
This is the park.
It used to be called “Naruohama Park,” but the name has now apparently been standardized as “Hama-Koshien Athletic Park.”
However, the intersection in front of the park is still called “Naruohama Koen-mae.”
Here are the monument and commemorative marker.
It’s a statue modeled after a high school baseball player.
At the base of the statue, there is a relief like this, along with an explanatory plaque.
Around the pedestal, the results of the 3rd through 9th tournaments held at Naruo Stadium are also displayed.
“Kwansei Gakuin” won the 6th tournament, and “Koyo Junior High School” won the 9th.
Incidentally, “Kobe First Middle School,” which won the 5th tournament, is today’s “Kobe High School,” and that marked the first championship by a team from Hyogo Prefecture.
This monument was created in 1993 by sculptor Tsutomu Tamura to commemorate the 75th tournament.
The scene is set in the bottom of the ninth inning with a one-run lead, as the pitcher calls out to his teammates on the mound and the whole team comes together to protect the lead.
It’s within walking distance from Koshien Stadium, so when you go to watch a baseball game, why not take a little detour and visit this spot?
