NPB Explained: How Japanese Professional Baseball Works
NPB Explained: How Japanese Professional Baseball Works
Japan’s most-watched sport runs on 12 teams, two leagues, and a play-off with a built-in head start for the regular-season winner. Here’s how NPB works.
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is Japan’s top baseball league and its most popular sport: 12 teams split into the Central and Pacific Leagues, each playing a 143-game season. The top three from each league reach the Climax Series play-offs, and the two league winners meet in the best-of-seven Japan Series. The 2025 champions are the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. NPB is also the league that sends stars like Shohei Ohtani to the US major leagues. ⚠ Standings and champions change every year.
In this guide
1. Two leagues, twelve teams
2. The Climax Series
3. The Japan Series
4. The MLB pipeline
1. Two leagues, twelve teams
Japan’s biggest sport, run as two six-team leagues.
NPB is made up of 12 clubs, six in the Central League and six in the Pacific League, each playing a 143-game regular season.1 Unlike Japanese football, the clubs are named after their corporate owners — SoftBank, Yomiuri, Hanshin and so on — a reminder that baseball turned professional back in the 1930s, long before the J.League’s hometown model. The Pacific League also uses a designated hitter, a long-standing difference between the two.
2. The Climax Series
A play-off with a head start built in.
The top three teams in each league qualify for the Climax Series.2 The regular-season winner gets a bye while the second- and third-placed teams play a best-of-three First Stage at the second-place team’s home park. The winner then meets the league champion in the Final Stage — effectively a best-of-seven in which the first-place team starts 1–0 up as a reward for topping the table.2 It is a distinctive system that keeps the regular season meaningful.
3. The Japan Series
One champion from each league, seven games to decide it.
The two Climax Series winners — one from each league — meet in the Japan Series, a best-of-seven championship.3 In 2025 the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks beat the Hanshin Tigers 4–1 to take the title.3 ⚠ The champion changes every year — check the latest season.
4. The MLB pipeline
Why the baseball world watches Japan.
NPB is the league that develops many of the stars who later light up Major League Baseball — Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga among the most recent — typically moving via the “posting” system. For international fans, following NPB is the best way to spot the next wave early. It sits at the heart of Japan’s sporting calendar; see when to visit and how it compares with the company-team tradition in other sports.
Frequently asked questions
How many teams are in NPB?
Twelve — six in the Central League and six in the Pacific League.
What is the Climax Series?
NPB’s play-offs: the top three from each league qualify, and the regular-season winner gets a bye plus a 1–0 advantage in the Final Stage.
Who won the 2025 Japan Series?
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who beat the Hanshin Tigers 4–1. ⚠ The champion changes every year.
Keep exploring
Explore the stories, systems and culture behind Japanese sport.
Sources & notes
- NPB structure: 12 teams, Central and Pacific Leagues (six each), 143-game season. Wikipedia — NPB.
- Climax Series format: top three per league; regular-season champion gets a bye and a 1–0 advantage in the Final Stage. Wikipedia — Climax Series.
- Japan Series best-of-seven; 2025 champions Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (beat Hanshin 4–1). Wikipedia — 2025 NPB season. ⚠ Annual.
An explainer dated 18 June 2026. ⚠ NPB standings and champions change every season; confirm current details before relying on them. No copyrighted material is reproduced.
📅 更新履歴
| 日付 | 変更内容 |
|---|---|
| 2026年6月18日 | 初回公開 |
| 2026年6月19日 | 情報を更新 |
✅ ファクト再検証
最終検証日：2026年6月19日
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