First Female Umpire in National High School Baseball Championship

On August 5th, forty-nine year old Maki Morita became the first female umpire to call a spring or summer Koshien high school baseball tournament game in Japan. She served at the second base in the opening game of the National High School Baseball Championship. The opening game of the 108th tournament was at Hanshin Koshien Stadium, Hyogo Prefecture, between Sapporo Nihon University High School of southern Hokkaido and Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School of Miyagi Prefecture. 

She was a player herself and began umpiring at age 26. She is a mother of two and works as a junior high school teacher in Saitama Prefecture. For about ten years, she suspended umpiring to raise her children. With encouragement from her colleagues, she returned to umpiring at the high school level. Five other female umpires will also be debuting at this tournament.