From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Yakult Swallows (ヤクルトスワローズ Yakuruto Suwarozu) are a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League. Their home field is Tokyo's Jingu Stadium. The Swallows have won the Japan Series five times (1978, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001), and were runners-up once (1992).
The Swallows are named after their corporate owners, the Yakult Corporation. From 1950 to 1965, the company was owned by Japan National Railways and called the Kokutetsu Swallows; the team was then owned by the Sankei Shimbun from 1965 to 1968 and called the Sankei Atoms. Yakult purchased the team in 1970 and restored its original Swallows name in 1974.
http://www.yakult-swallows.co.jp/ (Japanese home page)External link
