Japan In Focus

Batting Cage in Tokyo Still Takes ¥100 Coins for Batting Practice Sessions Loved by Locals Since 1978

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The crack of a bat is heard as a customer makes contact with a ball.

By Kataru Miyaji / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

17:52 JST, February 9, 2026

A boy holding a baseball bat was quietly watching a pitching machine about a dozen meters away. After having swung and missed several times, he was eventually able to make contact and hit the balls forward, and the expression on his face softened.

His father, who had come with his son to the batting cage, watched him intently through the net.

A senior high school student in a school uniform, a middle-aged man who looked like a company employee, and men and women holding shopping bags came to the cage and enjoyed batting practice in their own way.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A counter for exchanging money

This is Umeda Batting Center in the Umeda district in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. In the area dense with houses, condominiums and commercial facilities stand large green nets. The sounds of pitching machines and the cracks of bats can be heard.

Although the batting cage seems out of place with the surrounding area, it looks like it has been integrated into the scenery, probably because people have loved the facility for such a long time.

The batting facility opened in 1978. Sho Nuregami, 84, started running it after closing the family’s metal casting factory, which previously occupied the grounds.

In those years, he served as a coach of a boys’ baseball team.

“They weren’t good at batting,” Nuregami said. “So I wanted to make them more competitive.”

The cage has five batter’s boxes, and the ball speeds can be set at three speeds: 110 kph, 90 kph and 70 kph. The speeds are relatively slow so that even children can easily hit the balls.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A sign for Umeda Batting Center

What generally surprises visitors is the fee: ¥100 for one session with 14 balls, unchanged since the batting cage first opened.

While fees of hundreds of yen per session are not rare at similar batting cages, Nuregami sticks with the low rate because he always imagines children coming to the cage with their allowance in hand.

“At ¥100, I can help both parents and children,” he said, adding, “I hope customers will enjoy it as much as possible.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Customers can insert ¥100 coins into this slot to operate the pitching machines.

Nuregami said he has been determined to keep the fee unchanged for nearly 50 years.

He purchased the pitching machines when the facility opened and has always used them, repairing and tuning them himself.

As he has gotten older, Nuregami said he has felt fatigued more often than before from the work. However, he finds the job rewarding. “Even if customers cannot hit balls at all, both children and adults are playing around,” he said. “It’s fun to see my customers enjoying themselves.”

The smiles of his customers have been the driving force allowing Nuregami to continue operating the batting cage for such a long time.