Baseball is one of the most popular professional sports in Japan, and the national team has won the international championship like World Baseball Classic for some times. There are 12 professional teams in Japan: 6 in Central League and 6 in Pacific League.

Today, I’d like to introduce all 12 baseball teams in Japan and how to get Japanese baseball game tickets easily online. Direct booking is available through the links below!!

From Hokkaido in the north to Fukuoka, Kyushu in the south, attractive baseball teams and their baseball fields and stadiums are located. Enjoy watching world-class baseball games at your travel destinations in Japan.

Central League

1. Yomiuri Giants

Yomiuri Giants (読売巨人軍), one of the most popular baseball teams, is the oldest team in Japan and has won the championship the most for 22 times.For you to imagine easier, I’d say Yomiuri Giants is like New York Yankees of MLB in Japan.

Home Field: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo

The number of championship: 22 times

Major League players from this team: Hideki Matsui (played for New York Yankees) and Koji Uehara (played for Boston Red Sox)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Carl Reginald “Reggie” Smith (played for San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers)

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2. Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Tokyo Yakult Swallows (東京ヤクルトスワローズ) is the champion of Central League in 2015. Its home field Meiji Jingu Stadium is the oldest baseball stadium in Tokyo, built in 1926. The open-air stadium attracts visitors with 300 fireworks set off in summer.

Home Field: Meiji Jingu Stadium, Tokyo

The number of championship: 5 times

Major League players from this team: Norichika Aoki (played for Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Douglas Vernon DeCinces (played for St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels)

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3. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

The red-colored team Hiroshima Toyo Carp (広島東洋カープ), inspired by carps, is one of the hottest teams in Central League these days. It used to suffer from financial problems and the total salary of the Carp’s players is the lowest, however, they won the league championship in the past two years.

Home Field: MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium, Hiroshima

The number of championship: 3 times

Major League players from this team: Kenta Maeda (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Hiroki Kuroda (played for Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees)

Past famous foreign players from Major League: Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (played for New York Yankees and Texas Rangers)

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4. Chunichi Dragons

Chunichi Dragons (中日ドラゴンズ) is a symbol of Nagoya in Central Japan. The blue team is famous for defensive tactics, but it has been ranked low in the league for these 5 years. Its mascot character Doala (inspired by Koala) is one of the reasons why Chunichi Dragons is loved for that long time.

Home Field: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya

The number of championship: twice

Major League players from this team: Kosuke Fukudome (played for Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: William Henry “Willie” Davis (played for San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals)

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5. Yokohama DeNA BayStars

Yokohama DeNA BayStars (横浜DeNAベイスターズ), originally founded in 1929, has its home stadium in Yokohama. Yokohama DeNA BayStars had been sometimes looked on one of the weakest Japanese baseball teams since it did not win the league championship in the 21st century. However, it won the Climax Series (a kind of Wild Card) in 2017.

Home Field: Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama

The number of championship: twice

Major League players from this team: Tomokazu Oka (played for Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals) and Kazuhiro Sasaki (played for Seattle Mariners)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Cletis Leroy “Clete” Boyer (played for Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees)

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6. Hanshin Tigers

Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース) is the oldest baseball team in Japan. Though the number of championships is the worst in Central League, the tiger club can be said to be the most popular Japanese baseball team since it draws fans the most especially from Kansai area including Osaka and Kobe.

Home Field: Hanshin Koshien Stadium, Hyogo Prefecture

The number of championship: once

Major League players from this team: Tsuyoshi Shinjo (played for New York Mets and San Francisco Giants)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Michael Lewis “Mike” Greenwell (played for Boston Red Sox)

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Pacific League

7. Saitama Seibu Lions

Saitama Seibu Lions (埼玉西武ライオンズ) has won the league championship the most in Pacific League. Saitama Seibu Lions got more famous worldwide when the ace pitcher of that time Daisuke Matsuzaka transferred to Boston Red Sox for over $50 million posting fee over in 2006.

Home Field: Seibu Dome, Saitama Prefecture

The number of championship: 13 times

Major League players from this team: Daisuke Matsuzaka (played for Boston Red Sox and New York Mets) and Kazuo Matsui (played for New York Mets and Houston Astros)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Octavio Antonio “Tony” Fernández Castro (played for Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians)

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8. Fukuoka Softbank Hawks

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (福岡ソフトバンクホークス) is one of the most powerful and popular baseball teams in Japan partly because it has many leading players with abundant funding from the owner Softbank.

Home Field: Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, Fukuoka

The number of championship: 8 times

Major League players from this team: Tadahito Iguchi (played for Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Bradley Wayne “Brad” Penny (Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants) and Richard Michael “Goose” Gossage (played for New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants)

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9. Chiba Lotte Marines

Chiba Lotte Marines (千葉ロッテマリーンズ) is a team that experienced hardship for a long time, but it has numerous fanatical fans. The team with financial difficulty was saved by Bobby Valentine who had played and managed in MLB. He led Chiba Lotte Marines to the second place of Pacific League in 1995 and let them win Nihon Series Championship in 2005.

Home Field: ZOZO Marine Field, Chiba Prefecture

The number of championship: 4 times

Major League players from this team: Hideki Irabu (played for New York Yankees and Texas Rangers)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Julio Cesar Franco Robles (played for Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox)

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10. Orix Buffaloes

Orix Buffaloes (オリックスバッファローズ) was formed by the merger of the two teams in Pacific League: Orix BlueWave and Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2004. The former team Orix BlueWave is famous for the legendary Major League player Ichiro’s first professional team while Kintetsu Buffaloes is the one Hideo Nomo played for firstly.

Home Field: Kyocera Dome, Osaka

The number of championship: 4 times

Major League players from this team: Ichiro (played for Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees), Hideo Nomo (played for Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets) and So Taguchi (played for St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Donald Wayne Money (played for Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies)

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11. Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (北海道日本ハムファイターズ) has its home field in Hokkaido in the north. It has won the championship for only three times, but it has been ranked at high places recently. Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters is also good at developing high-potential young players such as Shohei Otani and Yu Darvish.

Home Field: Sapporo Dome, Hokkaido

The number of championship: 3 times

Major League players from this team: Shohei Otani (Los Angeles Angels) and Yu Darvish (Chicago Cubs)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Tolia “Tony” Solaita (played for Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees)

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12. Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス), the newest NPB teams, was founded in 2005 following the merge of Orix BlueWave and Kintetsu Buffaloes. Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles won the championship for the first time in 2013 when Masahiro Tanaka surprisingly won 24 straight games.

Home Field: Rakuten Kobo Stadium Miyagi, Sendai

The number of championship: once

Major League players from this team: Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees)

Past Famous Foreign players from Major League: Kevin Edmund Youkilis (played for New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox) and Andruw Rudolf Jones (played for Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees)

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Did you find your favorite baseball team in Japan? I really recommend to watch Japanese baseball games while drinking chilled beers in summer and august. For more info about things to do in Japan, you might also like these articles.

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