The reigning champions of international baseball, Samurai Japan, return in the 2026 World Baseball Classic as one of the favorites to hoist the trophy.
Few nations outside of the United States have so embraced, professionalized and culturally integrated baseball as much as Japan. None have built a more impressive and talented major-professional system. Baseball in Japan dates back to the 1860s and the opening of treaty ports frequented by American and British sailors. The game moved into the local popular culture, and it eventually became a major sport in educational conferences and local leagues. Professional baseball took longer to take root. Matsutarō Shōriki, owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan’s largest newspaper-of-record) assembled a team of all-stars to compete against a 1934 American all-star team led by Babe Ruth. Later, the team toured America under the Tokyo Giants nickname. The team was so popular and successful that Shōriki was able to spearhead the creation of the Japanese Professional Baseball League, which eventually became Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Today, NPB is the closest major-professional league to the American Majors in terms of skill, popularity and profitability.
The 12 teams of NPB are the primary source of Team Japan’s roster for the 2026 WBC, and unlike the teams of Major League Baseball, Japan’s biggest franchises have long seen the Classic as a way to prove the superiority of their league to the international baseball world. In the 2006 WBC, Samurai Japan emerged victorious – a feat they repeated in 2009. While not heading home with a trophy in the 2013 and 2017 tournaments, the Japanese still finished in third-place both times. They famously retook the title for themselves in 2023, with Shohei Ohtani striking out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to end the championship game. Three of the five WBC titles belong to Japan, and they are built to earn another in 2026.
Much like the Dominican Republic, much of these players need no introduction. I’ll instead try to introduce you to the most important NPB stars on the roster, along with sharing the breadth of talent overall.
When we talk about talent on the Japanese roster, we have to start with Shohei Ohtani. The former Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighter has taken the baseball world by storm over his eight years stateside. Blossoming in 2021 into a true two-way star in MLB, Ohtani represents the high-water mark for Japanese influence in the Majors – a mark that seems to rise every year as stars like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Murataka Murakami and many more are bringing their talent to the States. Ohtani, a ten-time All-Star between NPB and MLB, has also won five combined MVP awards and dozens of other honors. His 51.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in MLB is remarkable and unprecedented over just eight seasons in the U.S.
Ohtani will not be pitching for Team Japan in 2026, but his bat is dangerous enough. Four of his last five seasons have seen him hit 40 or more home runs, while his 2024 and 2025 campaigns ended with big-fly tallies of 54 and 55 home runs, respectively. In the 2023 WBC, Ohtani slashed .435/.606/.739 with an OPS of 1.345 – a huge part of both the Samurai championship and Ohtani himself winning the tournament MVP award. Other notable bats in the Japanese lineup will include Munetaka Murakami, who recently signed with the Chicago White Sox after amassing 246 NPB home runs with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows; Seiya Suzuki, who is about to enter his fifth season with the Cubs and who has a career OPS+ of 129; and Masataka Yoshida, a three-year Boston outfielder with 311 MLB hits and a .282 average.
The NPB side of the offense is, in my opinion, equally strong. Behind the dish, Hanshin Tigers catcher Seishiro Sakamoto brings two Golden Gloves to the table, Kenya Wakatsuki is a two-time All Star with the Orix Buffaloes, and 17-year veteran Yuhei Nakamura has earned more than 1,000 hits as well as seven All-Star selections and the 2021 Japan Series MVP. In the 2023 WBC, Nakamura batted .429 with an on-base percentage of .636 over five games, helping Japan win the title.
Another thousand-hitter who also brings stellar defense to the Japanese lineup is Sōsuke Genda. Across nine NPB seasons with the Saitama Seibu Lions (Japan’s second-most successful team), Genda has won seven Golden Glove awards, been selected as an All-Star six times and tallied 1,146 hits in 1,131 games. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks middle infielder Taisei Makihara is the reigning Central League batting title winner, having hit for a .304 average. Makihara also won a Golden Glove and was selected to the Best Nine team. Thanks to the utter domination of the Hawks in recent NPB history, he’s also won five Japan Series rings. He appeared briefly in the 2023 WBC for Japan, getting a hit in two at-bats. Finally, Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers is coming off of a 40-homer, 102-RBI season and his fourth All-Star selection. The third baseman brings perhaps the most pop of any NPBer on the Japanese squad.
Kensuke Kondoh joins Samurai Japan’s outfield core, carrying a career .307 average and .874 OPS, along with 107 home runs, 646 RBI, and 1,379 hits. Kondoh was the Pacific League MVP in 2024, and has been selected for five Best Nine lineups and six All-Star appearances. 25-year-old Tiger Shōta Morishita, a first-time All-Star in 2025, along with back-to-back Hawks All-Star Ukyo Shuto round out the NPB contingent of the outfield.
Pitching for Japan is another powerful category for the team, but perhaps not to the extent it was in 2023. Yu Darvish and Roki Sasaki are both absent from the 2026 roster after being part of Samurai Japan’s last championship team. Yoshinobu Yamamoto headlines the staff, along with fellow MLB hurlers Yusei Kikuchi and Tomoyuki Sugano. From NPB, Hiroto Takahashi may be the most compelling name on the staff. Spending four years with the Chunichi Dragons, his ERA sits at 2.32 with 547 strikeouts in 578 innings. His splitter is utterly dominant, and at his best he is solid at limiting baserunners. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighter Hiromi Itoh is the reigning Eiji Sawamura Award winner (NPB’s equivalent to the Cy Young), having pitched to a 2.52 ERA with 195 strikeouts and a record of 14-8 – the latter most being critical for how much Japanese committee voters value pitcher wins. Other notable members of the pitching staff include ten-year veteran Yuki Matsumoto, exceptional setup man Taisei Ota, four-time All-Star and 20-win-20-save author Kaima Taira, and 2023 WBC standout pitcher Hiroya Miyagi.
Hirokazu Ibata takes command of Samurai Japan for the 2026 Classic, his first time managing the national team in the WBC. He previously managed Japan in the 2024 WBSC Premier12 (another international baseball tournament, lower in stature than the Classic), leading the team to a runner-up finish after losing the gold medal game to Chinese Taipei. Ibata is a controversial manager, especially due to his early arrangement of the team’s defense and lineup. He has been accused of prioritizing the most prominent bats on the team, rather than the most sensible batting order and at the expense of defense. Ibata seems primed to put Masataka Yoshida in left field, Seiya Suzuki in center, and Kensuke Kondoh in right, which many Japanese fans (and MLB experts) have questioned. His recruiting, specifically in prioritizing Hiroshima Carp shortstop Kaizo Kozono in spite of his poor defense, has also drawn criticism. Japan’s loss in the Premier12 has been blamed on his managing style as well.
Even so, Japan is still an obvious favorite for semifinal and championship contention. How far can Ibata’s Samurai make it in the 2026 Classic?
Best-case Scenario:
4-0 in pool play, winning the championship for the fourth time in WBC history. I won’t spend too much time on this – they did it last time, and they can absolutely do it again. This team has buckets of talent (even if some would prefer other recruiting decisions) and a well-balanced roster. Frankly, this team’s peak performance will negate any of Ibata’s shortfalls as a manager, and could easily win the tournament for Japan – the Samurai’s fourth title in six Classics.
Worst-case Scenario:
2-2, failing to advance but qualifying for the next WBC. This is an extremely, extremely unlikely scenario, but if every Ibata decision that has been called a mistake backfires and the roster underperforms, teams like Korea or Chinese Taipei could take advantage. The Taiwanese already beat Japan in the Premier12 – also in the Tokyo Dome – and Korea consistently plays its best baseball against their arch-rivals.
The Likely Scenario:
4-0 in pool play, winning in the quarterfinals but losing in the semifinals. I know this is probably a surprising take to hear, but the truth is that in the semifinals, I would take the Dominican Republic over Japan. That matchup looks exceedingly likely because of the bracket structure, and we should not forget just how close Japan came to losing their semifinal matchup against Mexico in 2023. It took a miraculous walk-off hit from a batter who had struggled the entire tournament and the lightning speed of a pinch-runner to get Japan into the championship. They’re built to win it all, and they could easily do it – I just think this won’t be their year.
Batter to Watch:
Kazuma Okamoto – A longtime Yomiuri Giants corner infielder, Okamoto just signed with the Toronto Blue Jays after eleven tremendous seasons with the ‘Yankees of Japan.’ Okamoto has recorded six 30+ home run seasons, hitting a career-most 41 in 2023. Okamoto is a six-time All-Star, three-time Home Run leader, two-time RBI king and two-time Golden Glover. He also scored twice and hit a home run in the championship game of the 2023 WBC, helping to seal the Samurai victory over the United States.
Pitcher to Watch:
Hiroto Takahashi – one of the few bright spots of recent times for the Chunichi Dragons, Takahashi has buckets of potential and has already performed on the international stage – retiring the heart of Team USA’s order during the fifth inning of the 2023 championship game. His speed, command and athleticism are remarkable. When he takes the mound, you won’t want to miss it – though, his opponents will probably be missing his splitter quite a bit.