The 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season gets underway on Friday, 27 March, with all 12 teams across Japan’s Central and Pacific Leagues taking the field, launching what promises to be another highly competitive campaign.

Each league will contest a 143-game regular season before advancing to the Climax Series, where the top three teams battle for a place in the Japan Series. The second- and third-place finishers will meet in a best-of-three playoff, with the winner advancing to face the regular-season champion in a best-of-seven final.

Opening Day ScheduleCentral League

Yomiuri Giants-Hanshin Tigers
Yokohama DeNA Baystars-Yakult Swallows
Hiroshima Carps-Chunichi Dragons

Pacific League

Lotte Giants-Seibu Lions
Orix Buffaloes-Rakuten Golden Eagles
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks-Nippon Ham Fighters

As in previous years, the first-place team begins the Climax Series with a one-game advantage. New for 2026, however, is if the advancing team finished below .500 or more than 10 games behind first place, the regular-season winners will start the series with a two-game lead.

The Central and Pacific League champions will meet in the 2026 Japan Series, beginning on Saturday, October 24. Game 4 is scheduled for October 28, while a potential Game 7 would be played on November 1.

NPB has also confirmed the 2026 All-Star Games will take place at the Tokyo Dome on July 28 and at the Toyama Citizens Baseball Stadium on July 29.

Central League: Tigers set the standard

Defending champions, the Hanshin Tigers, enter the season as clear favourites, backed by one of the league’s most formidable pitching staffs.

Under manager and former closer Kyuji Fujikawa, Hanshin will rely on standout arms including WBSC Premier12 star Hiroto Saiki, alongside Shoki Murakami, Kotaro Otake, and Masashi Ito. Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Suguru Iwazaki will take the closer’s duty.

Offensively, reigning Home Run King Teruaki Sato (pictured above during the 2026 World Baseball Classic; WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) is expected to lead the charge and remain one of the league’s most dangerous hitters.

Perennial contenders the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants will look to rebound after a third-place finish in 2025. Despite losing star slugger Kazuma Okamoto, who moved to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Giants have restocked impressively. Additions include WBSC Premier12 standout and former MLB top prospect Bobby Dalbec and top catcher Takuya Kai, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist, World Baseball Classic and WBSC Premier12 winner.

Manager Shinnosuke Abe will also benefit from a reinforced pitching staff featuring right handers Spencer Howard (from the Rakuten Golden Eagles), Forrest Whitley (last year with MLB’s Houston Astros, Venezuelan hurler Brayan Mata, another former MLB top prospect, and veteran right-hander Takahiro Norimoto, who elected free agency after spending his whole professional career with the Rakuten Golden Eagles.

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars, now led by first-year manager Ryoji Aikawa, boast a powerful lineup anchored by WBSC Premier12 2024 stars Shugo Maki and Keita Sano, and former MLB sluggers Tyler Austin and Dayan Viciedo. New addition former MLB veteran Cooper Hummels, who hit 11 home runs in 28 games at Triple-A for the Tampa Bay Rays in the last part of the 2025 season, adds further depth, while left-handed 23-year-old Ryuki Watarai will be the leadoff hitter.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows face a major transition following the departure of Olympic gold medallist Munetaka Murakami to MLB’s Chicago White Sox.

Pacific League: Hawks lead a stacked field

Fresh off their 2025 Japan Series triumph, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, once again enter as favourites in the Pacific League. Manager Hiroki Kokubo will count on a strong pitching staff, led by 2025 MVP and Cuba’s WBSC Premier12 star Livan Moinelo and veteran right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa. If import right-hander Carter Stewart stays healthy the whole season, Kokubo will have another valuable pitching asset. Fukuoka also added to the rotation free-agent Jo-hsi Hsu, the 2023 Taiwan Series MVP.

The Nippon Ham Fighters appear poised as the Hawks’ strongest challengers. Manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo will count on the 2025 Sawamura Award winner and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Hiromi Ito and rising stars Koki Kitayama, a WBSC Premier12 2024 star, and Kota Tatsu. The Fighters also spent on the free agent market, signing 2025 Japan Series winner and former Major Leaguer Kohei Arihara to a four-year contract worth US$15.4 million. Hard-throwing right-hander Gu Lin Ruei-yang, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) 2024 MVP, could move to the bullpen. Dominican slugger Franmil Reyes hit 32 home runs in 2025. Former WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup star Kotaro Kiyomiya and electric right fielder Chusei Mannami also guarantee power.

The Orix Buffaloes can also count on a strong pitching staff with Hiroya Miyagi, Aren Kuri and Ryuhei Sotani. Manager Mamoru Kishida expressed concern about the health of 2023 Rookie of the Year Shunpeita Yamashita.

The Seibu Lions, managed by Fumiya Nishiguchi, lost their star Tatsuya Imai to MLB’s Houston Astros, but may bring back to the rotation Olympic gold medallist Kaima Taira while the Rakuten Golden Eagles brought back to the NPB, former MLB star and WBSC Premier12 alum Kenta Maeda.