Photo: Japan Highschool Baseball Federation

In this post I will be sharing the summary guide through the upcoming Spring Invitational Tournament aka Senbatsu Tournament of 2026 which is held from 19-31 March soon. All includes the participating teams, match chart, schedule, livestream info and results (updated frequently). If you want more up-to-date information along the tournament, follow @HS_BaseballJP or @asahi_koshien on Twitter (X).

📑 Table of Contents +

    Introduction

    As the name says, Japanese Highschool Baseball Spring Invitational Tournament or often called as Senbatsu Tournament or Spring Koshien is an annual event that often held on March. This tournament combines both schools who eliminated by general slots earned from the latest fall tournament's performance and schools who earned chances by many factors such as general slot's special occasion and team's contribution to the society. 

    This tournament also being held in aims to let schools that barely able to pass through the national tournament can also play in the Koshien stage as well.

    Usually invites 32 schools or more regarding to each year's regulation. In commemorative year, schools participant can increase up to 36 schools in total. This year, the participants will be 32 schools in total. 

    Also, starting from Spring 2025 Highschool Baseball in Japan will be implementing DH system to its games for the first time. This year will be a big turning point for Japan's Highschool Baseball in the future.

    All schools that are participating in the Senbatsu Tournament were selected by some certain categories: General Slots, Meiji Jingu Special Slots, and 21st Century Slots.

    1. General Slots (一般選考枠, Ippan Senkō Waku)

    General slots are the category which representative chosen from schools that selected based on their performance in the fall tournament, at least ranked better than best 16. Each region have different number of representatives.

    • Hokkaido → 1
    • Tohoku → 3
    • Kanto + Tokyo → 5 + 1
    • Tokai → 3
    • Hokushinetsu → 2
    • Kinki → 6
    • Chugoku → 2
    • Shikoku → 2
    • Kyushu → 4 + 1 (Meiji Jingu Special Slot)
    Since the winner of Meiji Jingu Tournament last year was Kyushu International Univ HS, one Meiji Jingu Special Slot was decided to be granted to Okinawa Shogaku HS (Summer Koshien 2025 winner)

    2. Meiji Jingu Special Slots (明治神宮大会枠, Meiji Jingu Taikai Waku)

    This category is dedicated for only one representative who came from the same region as the winner team of the Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament. This slot also select specially based on the team's performance in the fall tournament by JHBF (Japan Highschool Baseball Federation).

    Last year's winner was Kyushu International Univ HS from Kyushu Region, so they can submit one more school from the same region to participate in. And the committee choose Okinawa Shogaku HS for this slot.

    3. 21st Century Slots (21世紀枠, Nijū-Isseiki Waku)

    This category refers to a special category or "slot" reserved for teams that represent the ideals of the 21st century, such as sportsmanship, innovation, or overcoming challenges. Teams selected for this slot may not necessarily be the strongest but are chosen for their unique qualities or stories. Some potential names of school will be nominated first for then to be selected by JHBF later. This category offers a total of 2 slots.

    School Team Participants

    Hokkaido

    • Hokusho HS (Hokkaido) - First time in 13 years, 6th time

    Tohoku

    • Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei HS (Aomori) - First time in 2 years, 12th time
    • Hanamaki Higashi HS (Iwate) - 2 years in a row, 6th time
    • Tohoku HS (Miyagi) - First time in 3 years, 21st time

    Kanto-Tokyo

    • Sano Nichidai HS (Tochigi) - First time in 12 years, 5th time
    • Hanasaki Tokuharu HS (Saitama) - First time in 6 years, 6th time
    • Yamanashi Gakuin HS (Yamanashi) - 5 years in a row, 9th time
    • Sendai Matsudo HS (Chiba) - First time in 3 years, 3rd time
    • Yokohama HS (Kanagawa) - 2 years in a row, 18th time
    • Teikyo HS (Tokyo)  - First time in 16 years, 15th time

    Hokushinetsu

    • Teikyo Nagaoka HS (Niigata) - First time
    • Nihon Bunri HS (Niigata) - First time in 12 years, 6th time

    Tokai

    • Chukyodai Chukyo HS (Aichi) - First time in 5 years, 33rd time
    • Ogaki Nichidai HS (Oita) - 2 years in a row, 7th time
    • Mie HS (Mie) - First time in 8 years, 14th time

    Kinki

    • Shiga Gakuen HS (Shiga) - 2 years in a row, 4th time
    • Ohmi HS (Shiga) - First time in 2 years, 8th time
    • Chiben Gakuen HS (Nara) - First time in 5 years, 15th time
    • Osaka Toin HS (Osaka) - First time in 2 years, 16th time
    • Kobe International Univ HS (Hyogo) - First time in 5 years, 6th time
    • Toyodai Himeji HS (Hyogo)  - 2 years in row, 10th time

    Chugoku

    • Sotoku HS (Hiroshima) - First time in 33 years, 4th time
    • Takagawa Gakuen HS (Yamaguchi) - First time in 42 years, 2nd time

    Shikoku

    • Eimei HS (Kagawa) - First time in 3 years, 4th time
    • Anan Hikari HS (Tokushima) - First time in 2 years, 3rd time

    Kyushu

    • Kyushu International Univ HS (Fukuoka) - First time in 4 years, 4th time
    • Nagasaki Nichidai HS (Nagasaki) - First time in 3 years, 5th time
    • Kumamoto Kogyo HS (Kumamoto) - First time in 9 years, 22nd time
    • Kamimura Gakuen HS (Kagoshima) - First time in 2 years, 16th time
    • Okinawa Shogaku HS (Okinawa) - 2 years in a row, 9th time

    21st Century Slots

    • Kochi Nogyo HS (Kochi) - First time
    • Nagasaki Nishi HS (Nagasaki) - First time in 75 years, 2nd time

    Tournament Chart

    Coming Soon

    Livestream/On-site

    Coming Soon

    Match Schedule

    Coming Soon

    Game Results

    Coming Soon