Japanese Baseball on Internet Radio

How well can you read HTML?

There are essentially two obsticals to overcome for most Internet broadcasts. The first is that most seem to use Microsoft's Media Player format - and I don't allow anything made by Microsoft on my computer - so I'm out on that step.

The second obsticle is a sign-up form. If you can't read Japanese, then the best way to figure out what they want is by looking at the page source.

With Netscape (Phoenix, and other offspring), [ctrl]+U will show the current page's source code ([command]+U on OS/X). If the page is in a frame, right-click ([ctrl]+click on Macs) in the frame with the form, then select [This Frame]-[View Frame Source] from the context menu.

In the window with the source code, look for <input name=...> tags. That's an edit box definition. From the name, you can often get what it is that's being asked, such as a user ID, password, e-mail address, etc. Look at the text around the input tag to find where it is on the actual page. Then fill in the required information.

Easy enough, isn't it?

Would someone please post the URL to this service. I would love to be able to listen to the broadcasts on my computer but didn't realize they are available.

The only thing I can offer in return is a URL to a glossary I have compiled of Japanese baseball terms. You have to be able to read hiragana and katakana, but if you're interested, please check out the glossary.

I am currently working on an expanded version of this glossary, and suggestions for additional entries or corrections of my explanations are always appreciated.

I hope you'll understand the instruction in Japanese. Here is the web address I know for the internet broadcast: sport.1242.com [admin: Windows Media Player only - and they appear to only support IE browsers, too. I'll never be there.]

However, they only broadcast Giants and Swallows games... If someone knows any other broadcasts, please let me know.

Thanks.

Upon further inspection, the reason that Nippon Hoso requires IE and Windows Media Player is that they use a P2P (peer to peer) network to chain the broadcast. The advantage is that it saves bandwidth and helps deliver the broadcast more efficiently. The disadvantage is that many of the P2P networks that have been coming out lately contain spy-ware and other nasties that anybody knowledgable about computers would shy away from. Requiring Microsoft's untrustworthy Media Player and browser make it an even a more dangerous choice.

I trust Nippon Hoso. They tend to have the best coverage available on the radio dial. But I don't trust their choice of platform. Please keep in mind that peer to peer services share your resources with everyone on the Net, and that you do so at your own risk.

Thanks for the URL. Neither the Japanese language nor having to use MS MediaPlayer will slow me down. In fact, I even prefer MediaPlayer to the piece junk I'm forced to use when I visit mlb.com.

If people are interested, I can post instructions in English for listening to NPB games over the Internet later this week.

Thanks again.

This is a reply to Steve's kind offer. Yes, indeed, if you can figure out any way for me to hear my beloved Hanshin Tigers on my iBook, I will promise you my first-born.

MLB has a variety of video offerings over the Internet as well (including subscriptions to live broadcasts), and I am wondering if NPB has gotten to this, too. If anyone has info on this, I would be deeply grateful. Thanks.

Sorry for taking so long to respond.

There was another thread somewhere about Tigers games on the Internet, but -- if memory serves -- it is only available to people who use a particular ISP in the Osaka area. Anyway, here is how to listen to the broadcasts of Giants and Swallows games at sports.1242.com, which should at least allow you to listen to Tigers games once in a while.

This only works for Windows machines; I can't help you if you use a Mac, sorry.

1. First, make sure that you have Windows MediaPlayer installed and working on your computer.
2. Next, you have to install a plug-in for Windows MediaPlayer called Chaincast. This is a customized version of Chaincast, and you can only get it from the following link: Chaincast agreement [sports.1242.com].
3. Clicking this link will display the User Agreement. There are two buttons at the bottom of the page; click the one on the left to accept the agreement.
4. Accepting the agreement will take you automatically to the next page, which explains the very simple installation process. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the blue bar, which says "Install" in Japanese, to start the installation.
5. After clicking install, you will see a security dialog box, click the button on the left to start the installation.
6. Next, you will get a dialog box asking what your connection speed is. Click the bottom item, which says "I don't know. This is my work computer," or the second from the bottom item, which says "I don't know. This is my home computer," and then click the OK button.

That will complete the installation of the plug-in.

Once that is done. Wait until game time, and then go to the Sports 1412 website. On the left had side of the page you will find a box with a Giants' logo and beneath that a box with a Swallows' logo. Click the round button in the bottom right hand corner of either box to listen to the broadcast, if available.

Unfortunately not all games are broadcast, but if you can get all this done by Friday, May 30, you can listen to the Giants-Tigers game, which is the next scheduled braodcast for the Giants.

Feel free to ask questions if you can't get this to work.

Good luck.

Dear Steve:

Many, many thanks for the great info, which will be greatly appreciated by many here.

Alas, I own a Mac iBook, so I will continue my search for the manna of live internet broadcasts on this machine.

In the meantime, I can follow the Hanshin games live on their website [Japanese]. In addition to the pleasure of the written game descriptions, you get a good education in kanji and learning Japanese game terms like "goro" and "taimuri hitto." I haven't as yet checked the other NPB team sites, but suspect they also have such live game descriptions. Perhaps other fans would like to offer this info.

[westbaystars: Yes, that is correct. I tend to watch on Yahoo Sports when a BayStars' game isn't televised.]