Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is the top tier of baseball played in Japan. The NPB began in the 1930s, decades after the game was first introduced in the country. The NPB has twelve teams, with six belonging to each of the two leagues. NPB is the highest level of baseball in the country, but youth teams, university teams, and minor league teams are also popular. The NPB is somewhat similar to North America's Major League Baseball (MLB) but has its own unique culture and style.

History

Baseball was invented in the United States in the 1800s. One of two American school teachers, either Horace Wilson or Leroy Lansing Janes, introduced the game to Japan in the early 1870s, after the country opened itself to Western influences and began the Meiji Restoration. Japanese engineer Hiroshi Hiraoka also learned the game while visiting the United States, and he helped popularize it in Japan around the same time. Hiraoka helped create the country’s first organized baseball team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club, in 1878. Baseball quickly became a popular sport in the country, with teams popping up in various parts of Japan, specifically at colleges and universities. The university team from Ichikō (First Higher School) defeated an American baseball team from the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club in 1896.

In 1905, a baseball team from Waseda University in Japan became the first Japanese team to travel to the United States to compete. The Waseda University athletes learned a great deal about the game through their experience, and when they returned to Japan, they had a significantly better team. Another college team, Keio University, also decided to visit the United States. That team had a similar experience, and when Keio returned to Japan, the team and Waseda became rivals. They were two of the best teams in the country, and their rivalry became very popular and encouraged more Japanese people to become interested in the game.

In the early 1930s, American baseball influenced the game in Japan yet again. The 1934 Major League All-Stars—including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Lefty Gomez—toured Japan and played against some of the country’s best players. Japanese players continued to hone their skills. A team that had continued to tour and practice in other countries changed its name to the Yomiuri Giants and became the first professional baseball team in the country’s history.

By 1937, the country had enough professional baseball teams to hold a regular season of games. The teams later became part of a reorganized professional system that was formally established as NPB. However, the rise in baseball's popularity was overshadowed by war and increasing nationalism in Japan. With its invasion of China in 1937 and the 1941 attack on the US at Pearl Harbor, Japan plunged into World War II (1939-1945). By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, millions of Japanese had lost their lives, and the country's biggest cities lay in ruins. The teams had to stop playing because of the war, but they resumed play in 1946. Fewer teams competed in the first few years after the war. However, in 1950 the league, which would become the NPB, split into two leagues. In 1965, the NPB introduced the amateur draft to bring more talent in and to help spread the talent around to different teams. During 2020, the NPB had to delay the start of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The league resumed full-season play in 2021, with fan attendance gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels. The Orix Buffaloes won the Japan Series in 2022, ending a 26-year title drought, and the Hanshin Tigers claimed their first Japan Series title since 1985 in 2023, electrifying fans across the country. In 2022, Munetaka Murakami of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows hit fifty-six home runs, breaking the long-standing record for most home runs in a season by a Japanese-born player. Roki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines threw a perfect game in 2022 and continued generating MLB interest with his dominant pitching. Several top NPB stars moved to MLB in the early 2020s, including pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto—who signed one of the largest contracts ever for a pitcher—and left-hander Shota Imanaga in 2024.

Overview

NPB is the top tier of baseball in Japan. The league has a total of twelve teams, which are divided among the Central and the Pacific Leagues. The Central League includes the Yomiuri Giants, which play in the Tokyo Dome in central Tokyo. The team is the oldest in the league and was started in 1934. Throughout the history of professional baseball in Japan, the Giants have consistently been one of the best teams. They draw in many free agents and their games are the most likely to be aired on television. The second-most-popular team in the NPB is the Hanshin Tigers, which has also been playing since 1935. The Tigers play at the Hanshin Koshien Stadium and won the Japan Series in 2023. The Yokohama DeNa BayStars are also in the Central League. The team, which was created in 1949, plays in the Yokohama Stadium. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp, the Chunichi Dragons, and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows are also Central League teams.

The Pacific League also includes six teams. The oldest team in the Pacific League, established in 1936, is the Orix Buffaloes. They emerged as a dominant team in the 2020s, winning the Japan Series in 2022 and appearing in multiple finals. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, established in 1938, are known for their championship streaks in the late 2010s. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters were founded in 1946, when teams prepared to resume play after World War II. It is called the Sapporo Dome home, but it moved to ES CON Field Hokkaido in 2023. The Chiba Lotte Marines were created a few years later in 1949. The team plays at the ZOZO Marine Stadium. The Saitama Seibu Lions, and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles round out the league, with each maintaining a dedicated regional fan base.

Teams from each league primarily play against other teams within their own league throughout the season, with additional interleague and All-Star games in the midseason. The baseball season in Japan typically runs from April to October. The teams play most days of the week, usually with Monday off, throughout the season. At the end of the regular season, the top three teams from each league advance to the Climax Series, a two-round playoff that determines the league champion. The winners of the Central and Pacific League Climax Series face off in the Japan Series, NPB’s championship round.

Baseball has been part of Japanese culture for nearly as long as it has been part of American culture, so many conventions of Japanese baseball are different from American baseball. NPB teams are associated with corporate owners while also representing specific cities or regions. For example, the Yomiuri Giants are affiliated with the Yomiuri newspaper company. The baseball parks in Japan are smaller than American stadiums. Japanese strategy is also somewhat different, as players focus in the early part of the game mostly on being the first team to score. NPB games feature a vibrant fan culture; cheering sections, team-specific chants, coordinated songs, and mascots are a huge part of the atmosphere. Also, sounds are played at NPB games to warn fans of foul balls.

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