The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series,:File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League, and is played in October or November. The first team to win four games is the overall winner and is declared each year. The Japan Series uses a 2–3–2 format, with potential extra games if needed following ties.
The home team for games 1, 2 and eventually 6 and 7, alternates between the two leagues with the Pacific League having the advantage on the years ending with an odd number and the Central League on the years ending with an even number. Designated hitters are used if the team from the Pacific League hosts the game. There is a 40-man postseason roster limit, and the rule on drawn games is changed to 12 innings, since 2018. If the series is tied after the seventh game, a Game 8 will be held with the same team hosting Games 6 and 7 hosting this game. Only once has a Game 8 been played in Japan Series history, where the Seibu Lions defeated the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1986. In the event that Game 8 does not decide the series, the next game would be played at the stadium that hosted Games 3 through 5 after a day of rest, and games will continue until one team wins four games.
Every current team in the NPB has won the Japan Series at least once. The team with the most championships is the Yomiuri Giants, who have won the Japan Series twenty-two times. In 2004, the Pacific League instituted a three-team stepladder playoff format to determine the league champion, while the Central League champion had a long wait before the Japan Series. During this time, the Pacific League won four consecutive Series from 2003 to 2006. Starting with the 2007 postseason, both leagues adopted the Climax Series to determine their champions. The Climax Series involves the top three finishers in each league, though the format gives a significant advantage to the team with the best record in each league.
On November 6, 2010, the Chunichi Dragons and Chiba Lotte Marines played the longest game in Japan Series history. It lasted fifteen innings and resulted in a 2–2 draw, with the game lasting 5 hours and 43 minutes. Only Game 2 of the 2022 Japan Series on October 23, 2022, came close, with the Orix Buffaloes and Tokyo Yakult Swallows playing to a 3–3 draw after 12 innings, lasting 5 hours and 3 minutes.
Even though the Central League is historically more victorious, in recent years, the Pacific League has been catching up in titles. Currently, each league has won 38 times. The Pacific League won eight consecutive Japan Series championships from 2013 to 2020, with six by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and one each by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The streak was broken in 2021, with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beating the Orix Buffaloes.
List of winners
MVPJapan Series Most Valuable Player AwardFSAFighting Spirit Award (MVP on the losing team) Year Winning team Manager Series Losing teamManager MVP FSA1950 Mainichi Orions Yuasa Yoshio 4–2 Shochiku Robins Tokuro Konishi Kaoru Bettou Not awarded1951 Yomiuri Giants Shigeru Mizuhara 4–1 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka Yukou Minamimura 1952 Yomiuri Giants 4–2 Nankai Hawks Takehiko Bessho 1953 Yomiuri Giants 4–2–1 Nankai Hawks Tetsuharu Kawakami Hiroshi Minohara1954 Chunichi Dragons Shunichi Amachi 4–3 Nishitetsu Lions Osamu Mihara Shigeru Sugishita Hiroshi Oshita1955 Yomiuri Giants Shigeru Mizuhara 4–3 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka Takehiko Bessho Ichiro Togawa1956 Nishitetsu Lions Osamu Mihara 4–2 Yomiuri Giants Shigeru Mizuhara Yasumitsu Toyoda Kazuhisa Inao*1957 Nishitetsu Lions 4–0–1 Yomiuri Giants Hiroshi Oshita Toshio Miyamoto1958 Nishitetsu Lions 4–3 Yomiuri Giants Kazuhisa Inao Motoshi Fujita1959 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka 4–0 Yomiuri Giants Tadashi Sugiura Masataka Tsuchiya1960 Taiyō Whales Osamu Mihara 4–0 Daimai Orions Yukio Nishimoto Akihito Kondo Kenjiro Tamiya1961 Yomiuri Giants Tetsuharu Kawakami 4–2 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka Andy Miyamoto Joe Stanka1962 Toei Flyers Shigeru Mizuhara 4–2–1 Hanshin Tigers Sadayoshi Fujimoto Masayuki DobashiMasayuki Tanemo Yoshio Yoshida1963 Yomiuri Giants Tetsuharu Kawakami 4–3 Nishitetsu Lions Futoshi Nakanishi Shigeo Nagashima Kazuhisa Inao1964 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka 4–3 Hanshin Tigers Sadayoshi Fujimoto Joe Stanka Kazuhiro Yamauchi1965 Yomiuri Giants Tetsuharu Kawakami 4–1 Nankai Hawks Kazuto Tsuruoka Shigeo Nagashima Nobushige Morishita1966 Yomiuri Giants 4–2 Nankai Hawks Isao Shibata Taisuke Watanabe1967 Yomiuri Giants 4–2 Hankyu Braves Yukio Nishimoto Masaaki Mori Mitsuhiro Adachi1968 Yomiuri Giants 4–2 Hankyu Braves Shigeru Takada Tokuji Nagaike1969 Yomiuri Giants 4–2 Hankyu Braves Shigeo Nagashima1970 Yomiuri Giants 4–1 Lotte Orions Wataru Nonin Reiji Iishi1971 Yomiuri Giants 4–1 Hankyu Braves Yukio Nishimoto Toshimitsu Suetsugu Hisashi Yamada1972 Yomiuri Giants 4–1 Hankyu Braves Tsuneo Horiuchi Mitsuhiro Adachi1973 Yomiuri Giants 4–1 Nankai Hawks Katsuya Nomura Katsuya Nomura1974 Lotte Orions Masaichi Kaneda 4–2 Chunichi Dragons Wally Yonamine Sumio Hirota Morimichi Takagi1975 Hankyu Braves Toshiharu Ueda 4–0–2 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Takeshi Koba Takashi Yamaguchi Koji Yamamoto1976 Hankyu Braves 4–3 Yomiuri Giants Shigeo Nagashima Yutaka Fukumoto Isao Shibata1977 Hankyu Braves 4–1 Yomiuri Giants Hisashi Yamada Kazumasa Kono1978 Yakult Swallows Tatsuro Hirooka 4–3Hankyu Braves Toshiharu Ueda Katsuo Osugi Mitsuhiro Adachi1979 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Takeshi Koba 4–3 Kintetsu Buffaloes Yukio Nishimoto Yoshihiko Takahashi Takashi Imoto1980 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 4–3 Kintetsu Buffaloes Jim Lyttle Toru Ogawa1981 Yomiuri Giants Motoshi Fujita 4–2 Nippon-Ham Fighters Keiji Osawa Takashi Nishimoto Hiroaki Inoue1982 Seibu Lions Tatsuro Hirooka 4–2Chunichi Dragons Sadao Kondo Osamu Higashio Seiji Kamikawa1983 Seibu Lions 4–3 Yomiuri Giants Motoshi Fujita Takuji Ota Takashi Nishimoto1984 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Takeshi Koba 4–3 Hankyu Braves Toshiharu Ueda Kiyoyuki Nagashima Yukihiko Yamaoki1985 Hanshin Tigers Yoshio Yoshida 4–2 Seibu Lions Tatsuro Hirooka Randy Bass Hiromichi Ishige1986 Seibu Lions Masaaki Mori 4–3–1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Junro Anan Kimiyasu Kudo Mitsuo Tatsukawa1987 Seibu Lions 4–2 Yomiuri Giants Sadaharu Oh Kazunori Shinozuka1988 Seibu Lions 4–1 Chunichi Dragons Senichi Hoshino Hiromichi Ishige Masaru Uno1989 Yomiuri Giants Motoshi Fujita 4–3 Kintetsu Buffaloes Akira Ohgi Norihiro Komada Hiromasa Arai1990 Seibu Lions Masaaki Mori 4–0 Yomiuri Giants Motoshi Fujita Orestes Destrade Kaoru Okazaki1991 Seibu Lions 4–3 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Koji Yamamoto Kouji Akiyama Kazuhisa Kawaguchi1992 Seibu Lions 4–3 Yakult Swallows Katsuya Nomura Takehiro Ishii Yoichi Okabayashi1993 Yakult Swallows Katsuya Nomura 4–3 Seibu Lions Masaaki Mori Kenjiro Kawasaki Kazuhiro Kiyohara1994 Yomiuri Giants Shigeo Nagashima 4–2 Seibu Lions Hiromi Makihara 1995 Yakult Swallows Katsuya Nomura 4–1 Orix BlueWave Akira Ogi Tom O'Malley Hiroshi Kobayashi1996 Orix BlueWave Akira Ogi 4–1 Yomiuri Giants Shigeo Nagashima Troy Neel Toshihisa Nishi1997 Yakult Swallows Katsuya Nomura 4–1 Seibu Lions Osamu Higashio Atsuya Furuta Kazuo Matsui1998 Yokohama BayStars Hiroshi Gondoh 4–2 Seibu Lions Takanori Suzuki Koji Otsuka1999 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Sadaharu Oh 4–1 Chunichi Dragons Senichi Hoshino Kouji Akiyama Kenshin Kawakami2000 Yomiuri Giants Shigeo Nagashima 4–2 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Sadaharu Oh Hideki Matsui Kenji Jojima2001 Yakult Swallows Tsutomu Wakamatsu 4–1 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes Masataka Nashida Atsuya Furuta Tuffy Rhodes2002Yomiuri Giants Tatsunori Hara 4–0 Seibu Lions Haruki Ihara Tomohiro Nioka Alex Cabrera2003 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Sadaharu Oh 4–3 Hanshin Tigers Senichi Hoshino Toshiya Sugiuchi Tomoaki Kanemoto2004 Seibu Lions Tsutomu Itoh 4–3 Chunichi Dragons Hiromitsu Ochiai Takashi Ishii Kazuki Inoue2005Chiba Lotte Marines Bobby Valentine 4–0 Hanshin TigersAkinobu Okada Toshiaki Imae Akihiro Yano2006 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Trey Hillman 4–1 Chunichi Dragons Hiromitsu Ochiai Atsunori Inaba Kenshin Kawakami2007 Chunichi DragonsHiromitsu Ochiai 4–1 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Trey Hillman Norihiro Nakamura Yu Darvish2008 Saitama Seibu Lions Hisanobu Watanabe 4–3 Yomiuri Giants Tatsunori Hara Takayuki Kishi Alex Ramírez2009 Yomiuri Giants Tatsunori Hara 4–2 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Masataka Nashida Shinnosuke Abe Shinji Takahashi2010 Chiba Lotte Marines Norifumi Nishimura 4–2–1 Chunichi Dragons Hiromitsu Ochiai Toshiaki Imae Kazuhiro Wada2011 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Koji Akiyama 4–3 Chunichi Dragons Hiroki Kokubo 2012 Yomiuri GiantsTatsunori Hara 4–2 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Hideki Kuriyama Tetsuya Utsumi Atsunori Inaba2013 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Senichi Hoshino 4–3 Yomiuri Giants Tatsunori Hara Manabu Mima Hisayoshi Chōno2014 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Koji Akiyama 4–1 Hanshin Tigers Yutaka Wada Seiichi Uchikawa Randy Messenger2015 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Kimiyasu Kudo 4–1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows Mitsuru Manaka Lee Dae-ho Tetsuto Yamada2016 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Hideki Kuriyama 4–2 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Koichi Ogata Brandon Laird Brad Eldred2017 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Kimiyasu Kudo 4–2 Yokohama DeNA BayStars Alex Ramírez Dennis Sarfate Toshiro Miyazaki2018 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–1–1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp Koichi Ogata Takuya Kai Seiya Suzuki2019 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–0 Yomiuri Giants Tatsunori Hara Yurisbel Gracial Yoshiyuki Kamei2020 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–0 Yomiuri Giants Ryoya Kurihara Shosei Togo2021 Tokyo Yakult Swallows Shingo Takatsu 4–2 Orix Buffaloes Satoshi Nakajima Yuhei Nakamura Yoshinobu Yamamoto 2022Orix Buffaloes Satoshi Nakajima4–2–1Tokyo Yakult Swallows Shingo TakatsuYutaro SugimotoJosé Osuna2023Hanshin Tigers Akinobu Okada4–3Orix Buffaloes Satoshi NakajimaKoji ChikamotoKotaro Kurebayashi2024Yokohama DeNA BayStars Daisuke Miura4–2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Hiroki KokuboMasayuki KuwaharaKenta Imamiya 2025Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Hiroki Kokubo4–1Hanshin Tigers Kyuji FujikawaHotaka YamakawaTeruaki Sato
Kazuhisa Inao, as an exception, won the Fighting Spirit Award (in 1956) while playing for the victorious Nishitetsu Lions.
Extra inning rules Since 2018, there is a limit of 12 innings in the seven regulation games, with games being called tie games if tied after that time. From 1987 to 2020, the innings limit is abolished starting in extra games (Game 8, et al) if necessary. Since 2021, extra games are played to 12 innings as normal. Starting in the 13th inning of extra games, the World Baseball Softball Confederation two-runner tiebreaker with runners at first and second base, similar to the Japanese High School Baseball Championship (Koshien), will be implemented.
Historically: Until 1966 (except 1964): Game is called at sunset (all games were played as day games) 1964 (all games at night): No new inning may start after 10:30 p.m. 1967–1981: No new inning may start after 5:30 p.m. 1982–1986: No new inning may start after the game time reaches four-and-a-half hours 1987–1993: 18-inning limit until Game 7, unlimited innings Game 8 and onward (change introduced due to Game 8 being necessary in the 1986 series due to Game 1 being called after 14 innings) 1994: 18- (day game) / 15-inning (night game) limit until Game 7, unlimited innings Game 8 and onward 1995–2017: / 15-inning limit until Game 7, unlimited innings Game 8 and onward The three-and-a-half hour cut-off rule used in the 2011 regular season was not used for the Japan Series. 2018–2020: 12-inning limit until Game 7, unlimited innings Game 8 and onward 2021–present: 12-inning limit. Starting in Game 8, further innings played use WBSC two-runner tiebreaker.
Teams by number of wins