Little League World Series (Far East Region)
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Most recent season or competition: 2000 Little League World Series |
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| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Tokyo, Japan
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| Most titles |
 Taiwan (23) |
The Far East East Region was one of four international regions that competed in the Little League World Series from 1962–2000. Far East qualifiers won a record 23 titles — 17 from Taiwan, four from Japan, and two from the Republic of Korea.
Teams from East Asia were first allowed to qualify for the Little League World Series in 1961. A team from Japan lost to Hawaii in the original Pacific Region's qualifying game. The following year the Far East Region was created, with the Japanese champion receiving an automatic berth in the World Series. The first multinational Far East Regional Tournament took place in 1969 and featured six countries.
In 2001, the Little League World Series was expanded to sixteen teams. The Far East was split into two regions – the Pacific (consisting of teams from the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, and Oceania) and Asia (consisting of teams from mainland Asia). Originally, Japan was to become its own region. In 2007, the regions were again reconfigured to match the original plan. Japan was given an automatic berth in the Series, while the remaining Asian teams merged with the Pacific teams to create the Asia-Pacific Region.
From 1972-74, Taiwan dominated the LLWS, outscoring their opponents 112–2. In 1973 they did not allow a hit.
On November 11, 1974, Little League announced that all non-US teams were banned from competing in the Little League World Series. Initially travel costs and nationalism were the reasons given. But many made the connection to the success of the Far East. A representative of the Taiwanese Baseball Association also read between the lines; "We are suffering from a strange phenomenon, we are too good."
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