Baseball was first introduced to Japan in 1872 and is currently the country's most popular participatory and spectator sport. The first professional competitions emerged in the 1920s. The highest level of baseball in Japan is Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), which consists of two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League, with six teams each. High school baseball also enjoys a particularly strong public profile and fan base ; the Japanese High School Baseball Championship each August is nationally televised and includes regional champions from all of Japan's 47 prefectures.
