Hanshin Koshien Stadium (阪神甲子園球場), commonly referred to as simply Koshien Stadium, is a baseball park located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built to host the national high school baseball tournaments, and opened on August 1, 1924. It was the largest stadium in Asia at the time it was completed, with a capacity of 55,000. The name Kōshien (甲子園) comes from Wood Rat of the Sexagenary cycle system. The year of the stadium's founding, 1924, was the first year kōsh…