The 51st edition of the Japan Men’s Softball League opened on Friday, 8 April, at Mitsugi Softball Stadium in Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. A total of 35 games were played across the weekend. Games were live-streamed through the Japan Men's Softball League's YouTube Channel.
Hirabayashi Metal, Denso, and Toyota Industries are on top of the standings with a 4-0 record, while Toyota Motor is also undefeated after three wins in the opening weekend.
The regular season will have four stages before the top five teams in the standings battle it out for the champions title in the final tournament, to be played from 5-6 November at Toyonaka Park Baseball Stadium in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture.
Hirabayashi Metal starts the season as favourite to retain the title, with two of the top pitchers in the world - Reo Koyama and two-way player Hikaru Matsuda, who was named WBSC Player of the Year in 2019. Koyama and Matsuda carried the Japanese team to a second-place finish in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic.
In 2021, Hirabayashi Metal defeated Denso, 4-0, in the final to claim the title, behind a shutout performance by Koyama.
Japan, the reigning U-18 men’s softball world champion and Men’s Softball World Championship runner up in 2019, is the top ranked nation in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings.
