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| Most recent season or competition: 2024 NPB season | |
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| Formerly | Japanese Baseball League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | Pacific League, November 26, 1949; 75 years ago (1949-11-26)[1] Central League, December 15, 1949; 75 years ago (1949-12-15)[2] |
| Commissioner | Sadayuki Sakakibara |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country | Japan |
| Headquarters | 5–36–7 Shiba, Minato-ku,Tokyo |
| Confederation | WBSC Asia[3] |
| Most recent champion(s) | Yokohama DeNA Baystars (3rd title) |
| Most titles | Yomiuri Giants (22 titles) |
| Qualification | Asia Series (2005–2013) |
| TV partner(s) |
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| Official website | NPB.jp |
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB,日本野球機構,Nippon Yakyū Kikō) is a professionalbaseball league and the highest level ofbaseball in Japan. Locally, it is often calledPuro Yakyū (プロ野球,Puroyagu), meaning simplyProfessional Baseball; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball".
The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation of the "Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club" (大日本東京野球倶楽部,Dai-Nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu) in 1934. The first professional circuit for the sport in Japan, theJapanese Baseball League (JBL), was founded two years later and continued to play even through the final years ofWorld War II. The organization that is today's NPB was formed when the JBL reorganized in 1950, dividing its 15 teams into two leagues, which would meet in the annual season-endingJapan Series championship play-off series of games starting that year.
NPB comprises twelve teams divided equally in two leagues, theCentral League and thePacific League, a format which it has largely kept since1957. It has seen several waves ofexpansion and contraction, sometimes at the same time, to keep it at those numbers; most recently, in 2005, theOsaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with theOrix BlueWave to form theOrix Buffaloes, while theRakuten Golden Eagles were added as an expansion team. As is common in Asian baseball (and unlike North American leagues), teams are generally named after their corporate owners, such asYomiuri andSoftbank. NPB also oversees two affiliatedminor leagues, theWestern League and theEastern League.
Since the first Japan Series in1950, theYomiuri Giants have the most championships with 22, and the most appearances with 37. Following the 2024 season, theYokohama DeNA BayStars, who defeated theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–2 in the2024 Japan Series, are the reigning champions. The Japan Series has been contested 75 times as of 2024, with the Central League leading the Pacific League in wins, 38-37.
NPB was the onlyprofessional sports league in Japan until the foundation of theJ.League in 1993. It is theeleventh-wealthiest professional sport league by revenue in the world, and the second-wealthiest baseball league, behindMajor League Baseball (MLB); it is also the wealthiest sports league in Asia. NPB has thesecond-highest total season attendance of any league, also behind MLB, despite playing considerably fewer games per season.
Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League, which each have six teams. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, theEastern League and theWestern League, that play shorter schedules for developing players. NPB teams are allowed to have more than one minor league team as long as they are outside of the established minor league system, with theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks andYomiuri Giants being the only teams taking advantage of this. As of 2023, the Hawks have three minor league teams,[4] the Giants have two, and the other ten teams only have one minor league team each. Teams below the Eastern and Western Leagues play exhibition matches against various teams of collegiate,industrial,Shikoku Island League Plus, and other NPB minor league statuses.
The Central League and Pacific League operate as separate entities, unlike thefour major professional sports leagues of North America whose leagues each operate as one singular entity. TV rights for games are always held by a game's home team. The Pacific League has used thedesignated hitter (DH) rule since 1975, while the Central League has not used the DH outside ofinterleague play where a Pacific League team is the home team and in the1985 Japan Series.
The season starts in late March or early April, and ends in October, with two or threeall-star games in July. In recent decades prior to 2007, the two leagues each scheduled between 130 and 140 regular season games, with the 146 games played by the Central League in 2005 and 2006 being the only exception. Both leagues have since adopted 143-game seasons, 71 or 72 each at home and on road, facing their five respective intra-league opponents 25 times each and facing their six interleague opponents three times each in late May to early June in interleague play, with a separate champion being crowned for the team with the best record through the 18 games of interleague play. In general, Japanese teams play six games a week, with every Monday off (except on specific occasions, such as a game being played outside of the home team's primary stadium or if arainout forced a game to be postponed to a Monday).[5] Unlike inMajor League Baseball,doubleheaders have not been featured in NPB since the late 1990s.
Following the conclusion of each regular season, the top three teams from each league go on to play in theClimax Series championship play-off tournament, with the winner of each play-off tournament facing off in a best-of-seven championship series known as theJapan Series (known locally as the Nippon Series). Implemented in2004 by the Pacific League (then known as the Pacific League Playoffs) and in2007 by the Central League, the Climax Series is a two-stage system; in the "First Stage", the second and third-place ranking teams face off in a best-of-three series played entirely in the second place team's home stadium. In the case of an instance where the series ends 1–1–1, the higher seed always advances to the Final Stage. In the "Final Stage", the winner of the First Stage will face off against the league's pennant winner in a best-of-six series played entirely in the pennant winner's home stadium. The higher seed always starts with a "ghost win", or a 1–0 advantage in the series before any games have been played, meaning the higher seed only has to win three games whereas the lower seed has to win four games. In the event of a tie, the higher seed would subsequently only need to win two games. The winners of each league's Final Stage then face off in the Japan Series, a best-of-seven series mirroring the format of theWorld Series. In the rare instance where the series ends 3–3–1 after seven games, a Game 8 will be played with unlimited innings at the stadium withhome-field advantage. Hypothetically, a Japan Series can go up to 14 games in length if each of the first seven games resulted in a 12-inning tie. Since its inception, home-field advantage alternates from year to year between the CL and PL, with the CL representative getting home-field advantage in even years and the PL representative getting home-field advantage in odd years.
Since its adoption by both leagues in 2007, Climax Series does not determine who won each league'spennant, rather the team with the best regular season record in each league wins the pennant, regardless of their result in the Climax Series. This has led to four occasions where the Japan Series champion did not win their league's pennant that year, with those being the2007Chunichi Dragons,2010Chiba Lotte Marines, and the2018 and2019Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. However, from2004 to2006, the winner of the Pacific League Playoffs was given the Pacific League pennant for that year.
Financial problems plague many teams in the league. It is believed that all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as¥6 billion (about US$44.9 million), from their parent companies. A raise in the salaries of players is often blamed, but from the start of the professional league, parent companies paid the difference as an advertisement. Most teams have never tried to improve their finances through constructive marketing. In addition, teams in theCentral League historically saw much higher profits than thePacific League, having popular teams such as the Giants and Tigers.[6]
The number of metropolitan areas represented in the league increased from four to five in 1988, when theNankai Hawks (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) were sold toDaiei and moved toFukuoka, nine years after theNishitetsu Lions moved from Fukuoka toTokorozawa to become theSeibu Lions, and from five to seven between 2003 and 2005, as theNippon-Ham Fighters moved fromTokyo toSapporo prior to the2004 season. TheOsaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with theOrix BlueWave (becoming the Orix Buffaloes) in the middle of 2004,which caused a player strike that eventually resulted in the creation of theTōhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles being founded inSendai to maintain the 12-team balance before the2005 season.[7]
Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, theJ.League professionalassociation football league was founded. The new league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors, despite many clubs in the J.League still being owned and subsidized by corporate entities.
The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began withHideo Nomo "retiring" from theKintetsu Buffaloes, then signing with theLos Angeles Dodgers, has also added to the financial problems. Attendance suffered as teams lost their most marketable players, while TV ratings declined as viewers tuned into broadcasts of Major League games.[8] To discourage players from leaving to play in North America, or to at least compensate teams that lose players, Japanese baseball and MLB agreed on aposting system for players under contract. MLB teams wishing to negotiate with a player submit bids for a "posting fee", which the winning MLB team would pay the Japanese team if the player signs with the MLB team.Free agents are not subject to the posting system, however, and some teams almost never post their players.[9][10]
The first professional baseball team in Japan was founded by media mogulMatsutarō Shōriki in late 1934 and called theDai Nippon Tokyo Yakyu Kurabu ("the Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club"). After matching up with a team of visiting American All-Stars that includedBabe Ruth,Jimmie Foxx,Lou Gehrig, andCharlie Gehringer, the team spent the 1935 season barnstorming in the U.S., winning 93 of 102 games against semi-pro andPacific Coast League teams. According to historian Joseph Reaves, "The only minor drawbacks to the team's popularity in the States were theirkanji characters and their cumbersome Japanese name. They rectified both by renaming themselves theTokyo Kyojin ['Tokyo Giants'] and adopting a uniform identical to theNew York Giants..."[11]
From 1936 to 1950,professional baseball in Japan was played under the banner of theJapanese Baseball League (JBL). The league's dominant team during this period was theTokyo Kyojin, which won nine league championships, including six in a row from 1938 to 1943. (The team was officially renamed theYomiuri Giants in 1947.)
After the 1949 season, the JBL team owners reorganized into the NPB;Daiei Stars ownerMasaichi Nagata promoted a two-league system, which became thePacific League (initially called theTaiheiyo Baseball Union) and theCentral League. (Nagata became the first president of the Pacific League.)[12] The league now known as Nippon Pro Baseball began play in the 1950 season.
Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Central League: theChunichi Dragons, theHanshin Tigers, theYomiuri Giants, and theShochiku Robins (formerly the Taiyō Robins). To fill out the league, four new teams were formed: theHiroshima Carp, theKokutetsu Swallows, theNishi Nippon Pirates, and theTaiyō Whales.
Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Pacific League: theHankyu Braves, theNankai Hawks, theDaiei Stars, and theTokyu Flyers. To fill out the league, three new teams were formed: theKintetsu Pearls, theMainichi Orions, and theNishitetsu Clippers.
Matsutarō Shōriki, the Giants' owner, acted as NPB's unofficial commissioner and oversaw the firstJapan Series, which featured the Mainichi Orions defeating the Shochiku Robins 4 games to 2.
The Central League'sNishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season—they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with theNishitetsu Clippers (also based in Fukuoka) to form theNishitetsu Lions. This brought the number of Central League teams down to an ungainly arrangement of seven. In 1952, it was decided that any Central League team ending the season with a winning percentage below .300 would be disbanded or merged with other teams. TheShochiku Robins fell into this category, and were merged with theTaiyō Whales to become theTaiyō Shochiku Robins in January 1953. This enabled the Central League to shrink to an even number of six teams.
In 1954 a newPacific League team was founded, theTakahashi Unions, to increase the number of teams in that division to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from the other Pacific League teams, the Unions struggled from the outset and finished in the second division every season. In 1957, the Unions were merged with theDaiei Stars to form theDaiei Unions (and again bringing the number of Pacific League teams down to seven). The Unions existed for a single season, finishing in last place, 43-1/2 games out of first. In 1958, the Unions merged with theMainichi Orions to form theDaimai Orions. This enabled the Pacific League to contract from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams.
After these various franchise developments, by the end of the 1950s, Nippon Professional Baseball had contracted from the initial allotment of 15 teams down to the current number of 12.
On September 1, 1964,Nankai Hawks' prospectMasanori Murakami became the first Japanese player to play inMajor League Baseball[13] when he appeared on the mound for theSan Francisco Giants; he returned to Japan in 1966. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement; it would be almost 30 years before another Japanese player played in the Major Leagues.[further explanation needed]
Continuing their dominance from the JBL, theYomiuri Giants won nine consecutiveJapan Series championships from 1965 to 1973.
The Black Mist Scandal rocked Nippon Professional Baseball between 1969 and 1971. The fallout from a series of game-fixing scandals resulted in several star players receiving long suspensions, salary cuts, or being banned from professional play entirely; the resulting abandonment of baseball by many fans in Japan also led to the sale of theNishitetsu Lions and theToei Flyers.
From 1973 to 1982, in a forerunner to today's Climax Series playoff rounds, thePacific League employed a split season with the first-half winner playing against the second-half winner in a mini-playoff to determine its champion. In 1975, the Pacific League adopted thedesignated hitter rule. These were implemented in an attempt to draw fans back to Pacific League, as the Pacific League was hit significantly harder by the Black Mist Scandal than the Central League, with only theHankyu Braves not having players involved in the incident.
After being a second division team for much of the 1960s and 1970s, in 1983 theSeibu Lions began a period of sustained success. The team gained the moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league, winning 11 league championships and eightJapan Series championships between 1982 and 1994. The Lions had a powerful lineup in this period, loaded with sluggers such asKoji Akiyama,Kazuhiro Kiyohara, andOrestes Destrade. Their defense also benefited from the services of skilled players such asHiromichi Ishige,Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcherTsutomu Ito. Among the pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express"Taigen Kaku,Osamu Higashio,Kimiyasu Kudoh,Hisanobu Watanabe, and relieversYoshitaka Katori andTetsuya Shiozaki.
American expatriate players made their mark in NPB in the 1980s, with players like the Lee brothers (Leron Lee andLeon Lee),Greg "Boomer" Wells,Randy Bass, andRalph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams.
In 1995, star pitcherHideo Nomo "retired" from theKintetsu Buffaloes and signed with theLos Angeles Dodgers. Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won theRookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters (the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball untilHisashi Iwakuma achieved the feat in August 2015). Nomo's MLB success led to more NPB players moving toMajor League Baseball,[14] and eventually led to the creation of the "posting system" in 1998.[15]
Since Nomo's exodus, more than 60 NPB players have played Major League Baseball. Some of the more notable examples include:
In September 2004, the professional Japanese players went on strike for the first time in over 70 years. The strike arose from a dispute that took place between the owners of the 12 professional Japanese baseball teams and the players' union (which was led by popularYakult Swallows player-managerAtsuya Furuta), concerning the merging of theOsaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and theOrix BlueWave. The owners wanted to get rid of the financially defunct Buffaloes, and merge the two baseball leagues, since teams in theCentral League saw much higher profits than thePacific League, having popular teams such as theYomiuri Giants andHanshin Tigers. After negotiations, the owners agreed to guarantee the survival of theChiba Lotte Marines and theFukuoka Daiei Hawks, leaving the Central League with six teams and the Pacific League with five.[citation needed]
A battle escalated between the players union and the owners, and reached its height when Yomiuri Giants ownerTsuneo Watanabe controversially remarked that Furuta was "a mere player",[23] implying that players had no say in what league would look like the next year. The dispute received huge press coverage (which mostly favored Furuta and the players' union) and was dubbed one of the biggest events in the history of Japanese baseball. Proposals and amendments concerning interleague games, player drafting, and management were also discussed between the players union and the owners during this period.
The strike was originally planned for all Saturday and Sunday games that month, starting from September 11, but was pushed back due to the agreement of another meeting between the union and the owners on September 10. The players decided to strike on September 18–19, 2004, when no progress was made in the negotiations, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions.[citation needed]
The dispute officially ended after the two groups reached consensus on September 23, 2004. As part of the agreement, the Buffaloes were allowed to merge with the Blue Wave (forming into theOrix Buffaloes); in addition, theRakuten Golden Eagles were newly created (at a reduced "entry fee") to keep the former six-team league structure. Other agreements included the leagues adoptinginterleague play to help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. All these changes took place before the 2005 season.
The two leagues beganinterleague play in 2005, with each team playing two three-game series (one home, one away) against each of the six teams in the other league. This was reduced to two two-game series in 2007. All interleague play games are played in a seven-week span near the middle of the season.
As of the end of the 2017 season, the Pacific League has won the most games in interleague play since it began in 2005 twelve times, with 2009 being the only time that the Central League has won more games.
After 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in thePacific League, dubbed the "Pacific League Championship Series". The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with the winner advancing to the five-game final against the top team. The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to the Japan Series.
Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this league playoff system, an identical system was introduced to theCentral League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed the "Climax Series" in both leagues. Player statistics and drafting order based on team records are not affected by these postseason games.
In 2011,Miyagi Baseball Stadium, home of the Rakuten Eagles, was badly damaged by theTōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[24]
The 2013 season featured a livelier baseball, which was secretly introduced into NPB, resulting in a marked increase in home runs league-wide.[25]Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielderWladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record of 55, previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leaderSadaharu Oh in 1964,Tuffy Rhodes in 2001, andAlex Cabrera in 2002.[26] Balantien finished the season with 60 home runs. Three-term NPB commissionerRyōzō Katō was forced to resign over the scandal when the changed baseball was revealed.[25]
Former Prime MinisterShinzō Abe's rulingLiberal Democratic Party has proposed expanding NPB to 16 total teams by adding two expansion franchises in each of the country's top-tier professional baseball leagues. The goal of such a move would be to energize the economies of the regions receiving the new teams.Okinawa,Shizuoka,Shikoku, andNiigata have been identified as regions that could play host to said teams.[27]
The2020 NPB season was delayed numerous times due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Initially preseason games were set to be played without spectators, but with opening day of March 20 remaining unchanged.[28] With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 Junebehind closed doors. "Warm-up" games began 26 May.[29] The shortened 120-game regular season began on 19 June.[30] On 10 July, NPB began allowing a limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future.[31] On 19 September, attendance was expanded to a maximum of 20,000 fans per game, or 50% of stadium capacity.[32]
For most of its history, NPB regulations imposed "gaijin waku", a limit on the number of non-Japanese people per team to two or three—including the manager and/or coaching staff.[33] Even today, a team cannot have more than four foreign players on a 25-man game roster, although there is no limit on the number of foreign players that it may sign. If there are four, they cannot all be pitchers nor all be position players.[33] This limits the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, and is similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players.
Nonetheless,expatriate baseball players in Japan have been a feature of theJapanese professional leagues since 1934. Hundreds of foreigners—particularly Americans—have played NPB.Taiwanese nationalsShosei Go andHiroshi Oshita both starred in the 1940s. American players began to steadily find spots on NPB rosters in the 1960s. American players hold several NPB records, including highest single-season batting average (Randy Bass, .389), and the dubious record of most strikeouts in a season by a hitter (Ralph Bryant, 204). Americans rank #4 (Tuffy Rhodes, 55) and #7 (Randy Bass, 54) on the list of most home runs in a season, and #2 in single-season RBI (Bobby Rose, 153).Curaçaoan–Dutch outfielderWladimir Balentien holds the NPB single-season home run record with 60 round-trippers in 2013.
Koreans have had an impact in the NPB as well, including such standout players asLee Seung-yuop,Sun Dong-yol,Baek In-chun,Lee Jong-beom, andDae-ho Lee.VenezuelansAlex Ramírez,Alex Cabrera,Bobby Marcano, andRoberto Petagine all had long, successful NPB careers. The Dominican third basemanJosé Fernández played eleven years in the NPB, compiling a .282 batting average with 206 home runs and 772 runs batted in.
Many of the most celebrated foreign players came to Japan after not finding success in theMajor Leagues; see "Big in Japan".
Since the 1970s, foreigners have also made an impact in Nippon Professional Baseball's managing and coaching ranks, with AmericansBobby Valentine andTrey Hillman managing their respective teams toJapan Series championships.
Note: TheTokyo Yakult Swallows andYomiuri Giants plan to build new stadiums. The Swallows' new stadium will be next to its current venue, and the Giants' stadium will be where the oldTsukiji fish market existed. Both are scheduled to be completed around 2030.[38][39]
| Defunct Clubs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | City | Stadium | Founded | Ceased Operations | Notes |
| Nishi Nippon Pirates | Fukuoka,Fukuoka | 52 stadiums in 29 prefectures across Japan[40] | 1950 | January 30, 1951[41] | Merged with theNishitetsu Clippers to form the Fukuoka Nishitetsu Lions (now known as theSaitama Seibu Lions) |
| Shochiku Robins | Kyoto,Kyoto | Kinugasa Stadium | 1936 | January 1, 1953[42] | Merged with theTaiyo Whales to form theTaiyo-Shochiku Robins (now known as theYokohama DeNA BayStars) |
| Takahashi Unions | Kawasaki,Kanagawa | Kawasaki Stadium | 1954 | February 25, 1957[43] | Merged with theDaiei Stars to form theDaiei Unions |
| Daiei Unions | Bunkyō,Tokyo | Korakuen Stadium | 1946 | November 24, 1957[44] | Merged with theMainichi Orions to form theDaimai Orions (now known as theChiba Lotte Marines) |
| Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | Osaka,Osaka | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 1949 | December 1, 2004 | Merged with theOrix BlueWave to form theOrix Buffaloes |
Locations are listed from north to south. Only the most prominent names of each franchise are listed.
a Harimoto is a Korean citizen who was born and grew up in Japan (seeZainichi Korean).
b As all Curaçaoans haveDutch citizenship and Balentien has represented theNetherlands internationally, he is listed here as Dutch.
c Despite being born in Japan, Oh was a citizen of theRepublic of China (his father's nationality) instead of Japan.
d Ramirez did not have Japanese citizenship until 2019 and so is listed as the nationality he was during his playing career.
| Central League | Pacific League | Overall | ||||||
| Player | Year | Player | Year | Player | Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERA | ||||||||
 Minoru Murayama | 0.98 | 1970 | Kazuhisa Inao | 1.06 | 1956 | Minoru Murayamad | 0.98 | 1970 |
| Minoru Murayama | 1.19 | 1959 | Masahiro Tanaka | 1.272 | 2011 | Kazuhisa Inao | 1.06 | 1956 |
| Minoru Murayama | 1.20 | 1962 | Masahiro Tanaka | 1.273 | 2013 | Minoru Murayama | 1.19 | 1959 |
| Wins | ||||||||
| Juzo Sanada | 39 | 1950 | Kazuhisa Inao | 42 | 1961 | Kazuhisa Inaoe | 42 | 1961 |
| Hiroshi Gondo | 35 | 1961 | Tadashi Sugiura | 38 | 1959 | Juzo Sanada | 39 | 1950 |
| Takehiko Bessho | 33 | 1952 | Kazuhisa Inao | 35 | 1957 | Tadashi Sugiura | 38 | 1959 |
| Saves | ||||||||
| Hitoki Iwase | 46 | 2005 |  Dennis Sarfate | 54 | 2017 | Dennis Sarfate | 54 | 2017 |
| Kyuji Fujikawa | 46 | 2007 | Dennis Sarfate | 43 | 2016 | Hitoki Iwase | 46 | 2005 |
| Kazuhiro Sasaki | 45 | 1998 | Dennis Sarfate | 41 | 2015 | Kyuji Fujikawa | 46 | 2007 |
| Strikeouts | ||||||||
| Yutaka Enatsu | 401 | 1968 | Kazuhisa Inao | 353 | 1961 | Yutaka Enatsu | 401 | 1968 |
 Masaichi Kanedaf | 350 | 1955 | Tadashi Sugiura | 336 | 1959 | Kazuhisa Inao | 353 | 1961 |
| Yutaka Enatsu | 340 | 1970 | Kazuhisa Inao | 334 | 1958 | Masaichi Kaneda | 350 | 1955 |
d The Japanese record is 0.73, set byHideo Fujimoto in the 1943Japanese Baseball League season, which is also the world record ERA, surpassing Tim Keefe's 0.86 of theTroy Trojans in 1880.
e The Japanese record is shared between Inao andVictor Starffin, who also recorded 42 wins during the 1942Japanese Baseball League season.
f Despite being born in Japan, Kaneda did not become a Japanese citizen until 1959 and was instead a South Korean citizen.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2022) |
| Player | Years played | |
|---|---|---|
| Batting average[45] | ||
| Leron Lee | .320 | 1977–1987 |
| Tsutomu Wakamatsu | .31918 | 1971–1989 |
| Isao Harimoto | .31915 | 1959–1981 |
| Greg Wells | .317 | 1983-1992 |
| Home Runs | ||
 Sadaharu Oh | 868 | 1959–1980 |
| Katsuya Nomura | 657 | 1954–1980 |
| Hiromitsu Kadota | 567 | 1970–1992 |
| Hits | ||
| Isao Harimoto | 3,085 | 1959–1981 |
| Katsuya Nomura | 2,901 | 1954–1980 |
| Sadaharu Oh | 2,786 | 1959–1980 |
| RBIs | ||
| Sadaharu Oh | 2,170 | 1959–1980 |
| Katsuya Nomura | 1,988 | 1954–1980 |
| Hiromitsu Kadota | 1,678 | 1970–1992 |
| Stolen Bases | ||
| Yutaka Fukumoto | 1,065 | 1969–1988 |
| Yoshinori Hirose | 596 | 1955–1977 |
| Isao Shibata | 579 | 1962–1981 |
| Strikeouts | ||
| Kazuhiro Kiyohara | 1,955 | 1986–2008 |
| Motonobu Tanishige | 1,838 | 1989–2015 |
| Koji Akiyama | 1,712 | 1981–2002 |
| OPS | ||
| Sadaharu Oh | 1.080 | 1959–1980 |
| Hideki Matsui | .995 | 1993–2002 |
 Alex Cabrera | .990 | 2001–2012 |
| Player | Years played | |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | ||
| Hideo Fujimoto | 1.90 | 1942–1955 |
| Wins | ||
| Masaichi Kaneda | 400 | 1950–1969 |
| Tetsuya Yoneda | 350 | 1956–1977 |
| Masaaki Koyama | 320 | 1953–1973 |
| Keishi Suzuki | 317 | 1966–1985 |
| Takehiko Bessho | 310 | 1942–1960 |
 Victor Starffin | 303 | 1936–1955 |
| Strikeouts | ||
| Masaichi Kaneda | 4490 | 1950–1969 |
| Tetsuya Yoneda | 3388 | 1956–1977 |
| Masaaki Koyama | 3159 | 1953–1973 |
| Keishi Suzuki | 3061 | 1966–1985 |
| Saves | ||
| Hitoki Iwase | 407 | 1999–2018 |
| Shingo Takatsu | 286 | 1991–2003, 2006–2007 |
| Kazuhiro Sasaki | 252 | 1990–1999, 2004–2005 |
TheJapan national baseball team, long composed of amateur players, began to include NPB players in the2000 Sydney Olympics, and has been composed of NPB players only since the2004 Athens Olympics.[46] As of 2023, the Japan national baseball team composed of NPB players had won threeWorld Baseball Classics, oneWBSC Premier 12, and oneOlympic Games, and was ranked No. 1 in theWBSC World Rankings.[47]
Since1986 anAll-Star team fromMajor League Baseball (MLB) is sent to a biennial end-of-the-season tour of Japan, dubbed asMLB Japan All-Star Series, playing exhibition games in abest-of format against the All-Stars from NPB or recently as of2014 the national teamSamurai Japan.
The 2014 series also celebrated the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Japan's professional baseball by holding an exhibition game of a joint team of Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants against the MLB All-Stars at theKoshien Stadium on November 11, 2014.
| Governing bodies | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National teams (Samurai Japan) | |||||||||
| Competitions |
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| Awards & honors | |||||||||
| Hosted events | |||||||||
| Related articles | |||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
