The NPB Junior Tournament is coming soon! Introducing Rakuten Eagles Junior 2025 players
Pacific League Insight Ikeda Sari
2025.12.23(火) 13:00
The NPB Junior Tournament KONAMI CUP 2025, a tournament to determine the No. 1 junior team for fifth and sixth graders, will be held at Meiji Jingu Stadium and Yokohama Stadium from Friday, December 26th. This year marks the 21st time the tournament has been held, and a total of 16 junior teams will compete for the title of Japan’s best over four days from December 26th.
Pacific League Insight introduces the junior teams of the six Pacific League teams participating in the tournament. We also interviewed the managers of each team about their team’s strengths and players to watch.
Aiming for their third Japan championship: “Rakuten Eagles Junior”
The Rakuten Eagles Junior is a team of 16 players selected from six Tohoku prefectures through various selection committees who will compete in the NPB Junior Tournament, aiming to become role models for young baseball players in Tohoku, not only in terms of technique but also in terms of their attitude towards baseball, energy, manners, teamwork, and personal life.
The team aims to further strengthen the skills they have developed in each team through intensive training leading up to the tournament, and to convey the strength of Tohoku baseball, such as the sense of community, unity, and never-give-up spirit of Tohoku children.
The 16 players selected for 2025 are as follows:
Rakuten Eagles Junior 2025 ⓒRakuten Eagles
(number / Name / Reading / Hometown / Team / Position / Selling points)
#22 Toranosuke Mitsuhashi (Aomori) / Yankees / pitcher
“Team No. 1’s enigmatic member. Her pitch style shows her fighting spirit.”
#7 Aki Koganezaki (Aomori) / Yankees / infield
“Team 1’s gutsy guy. The mood maker.”
#2 Shichinohe Hina, Aomori / Yankees / catcher
“A little playmaker. A powerful hitter.”
#8 Tatsuki Otsuka (Aomori / Rokkasho Baseball Club / outfield)
“Team 1’s naughty boy”
#6 Kakeru Fujiwara (Akita / Kakunodate Max Sports Boys’ Club / infield)
“short stop with a strong arm and powerful hitting”
#21 Hinata Kato (Akita / Ota Jr. BC) / pitcher
“The team’s only southpaw”
#5 Asahi Saito (Akita / Nishime Seagulls Junior / infield / outfield
“Utility Player”
#1 Haru Chiba (Akita / Tsuzuriko, Kiyotaka Blue The Hawks / pitcher, outfield
“An unconventional right-hand man. The hardest worker on the team.”
#18 Sohei Kaneda (Akita / Aikawa New Stars / catcher)
“A 174cm commanding player with powerful hitting.”
#11 Taishi Shoji (Akita / Ushijima Youth baseball Team / pitcher)
“Right-hand man in the top eight in the nation”
#31 Sota Fujikura (Iwate / Rikuzentakata Baseball Club / catcher)
“The team’s symbol of vitality”
#20 Soken Noba (Iwate Prefecture, Hirauchi Bears Junior Sports Club, pitcher)
“His feet are 29cm. pitch he can throw from that scale are impressive.”
#15 Takato Echizen (Miyagi Prefecture / Tomiya Strong Sports Boys’ Club / pitcher, outfield)
“Poker face. Team No. 1 sore loser.”
#24 Taisei Kumagai (Miyagi / Osaki Junior Dragon / infield)
“Team 1’s smart guy. baseball kid.”
#99 Tsubasa Onodera (Task Onodera) Miyagi / Ukishima Sasanqua Juniors / outfield
“Team captain. A fast and powerful center fielder.”
#55 Yoshiki Saito (Miyagi Prefecture / Hirose Junior Sports Club / infield
“Tohoku’s Hideki Matsui, with his outstanding batting skills”
“Our goal is to play baseball that protects one point,” says Coach Teraoka about the team’s strengths
Rakuten Eagles Junior 2025 Manager Kanji Teraoka / Tokai University Fukuoka High School ~ Kyushu Kyoritsu University ~ Kyushu Mitsubishi Motors ~ 2017 Ishikawa Million Stars ~ 2018 Rakuten Eagles (until 2022) ⓒRakuten Eagles
The team staff is as follows.
Representative Shoji Ōhiro (Former Rakuten Eagles infielder / Current Rakuten Eagles baseball Corps Employee)
Director: Kanji Teraoka (Former Rakuten Eagles pitcher / Current Rakuten Eagles Academy Coach)
Coach Tatsuro Iwasaki (Former Rakuten Eagles infielder / Current Rakuten Eagles Academy Coach)
Coach Shoki Furukawa (current Rakuten Eagles Academy Coach)
Coach Teraoka replied about the strengths of the Rakuten Eagles junior team, “We have set the goal of defending one baseball goal, and we are a team that creates rhythm from defense centered on pitcher,” and as for the players to watch, he mentioned three players: “Attack: Etsuo Saito, defense: Shoryu Fujiwara, pitcher: Taishi Tokaibayashi”.
Finally, regarding his enthusiasm for the NPB Junior Tournament, he replied, “I will do my best to demonstrate what I have been doing in practice in this tournament carefully one match at a time.” Be sure to pay attention to Rakuten Eagles Junior, who will fight for the third Japan championship!
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“NPB Junior Tournament”
With the desire to “make the goal of ‘dreaming of becoming a professional baseball’ closer to children Japan the National Tournament of Soft baseball by 5th and 6th graders is sponsored and held by the baseball Organization (NPB) and 12 professional baseball teams. A total of 16 junior teams, selected and organized by 12 NPB clubs, NPB Farm regular season 2 participating clubs, and 2 affiliated leagues of the Japan independent league baseball, will compete for the Japan place on the stage of the stadium where the professional team is based. It is a tournament that can be said to be the “gateway to professional success” that has produced many professional baseball players so far, and this year is the 21st time it has been held.
“NPB Junior Tournament KONAMI CUP 2025”
◯ Schedule
December 26 (Fri) ~ December 29 (Mon) 4 days
◯ Venue
Meiji Jingu Stadium: December 26 (Fri) ~ 29 (Mon) *No reserve days
Yokohama Stadium: December 26 (Fri) ~ 28 (Sun) *Reserve day 29 (Mon)
◯General admission
Free to watch
◯Click here for details
Text: Sari Ikeda