The question of who is the best Japanese player is a hard one to answer, just like it’s difficult to answer about any sport. It’s hard to compare eras and statistics, but it’s also tough to compare those who played in Japan and those who played in the MLB. 

That being said, we’ll go over some of the most important and best Japanese-born players that played either exclusively in the NPB, MLB, or even both. 

Some players are here solely based on stats and performance, while others have historical significance to their playing careers.

Either way, these are 10 of the best players that belong in any discussion of the best Japanese ballplayers of all time.

1. Sadaharu Oh

• Years played: 1959-1980
• Japan or MLB? Japan
• Most known for: NPB home run record, 11 championships, “Mr. Baseball” in Japan. 

Most people would name Ichiro or Shohei Ohtani as the most well known Japanese player, but it’s disrespectful not to put Sadaharu Oh, “Mr. Baseball”, first – at least for now. 

Oh started his career in 1959 as a pitcher, but wasn’t very successful and transitioned to first base. He was the leader of the Yomiuri Giants’ incredibly dominant run in the 1960’s and 1970’s including winning a ridiculous 9 championships in a row from 1965-1973.

(Check out the full guide to how the NPB works to understand the playoff structure and the difference between winning the pennant and the being the league champion.)

Oh finished his career with a record 868 home runs – a pretty impressive feat considering nobody in Japan has ever hit 700 and second place on the list is still today more than 200 home runs behind him (657). In fact, his 868 long balls are the most across any professional baseball league in the world!

Oh is the only NPB player with 2,000 runs batted in, and this record as well still holds until today with 2,170. His other records include career slugging percentage (.634) and walks (2,390). 

Similar to Babe Ruth, Oh started playing as a pitcher and in a time period without a lot of homeruns. When Oh made his debut in the NPB, the Japanese career home run record was 265, and it’s safe to say he absolutely destroyed that and made the longball popular and fun in Japan.

In addition he was a great ambassador for the game both in Japan and throughout the world. Interestingly enough, he became close friends with Hank Aaron as he chased Aaron’s home run record from across the world. 

Oh is still Mr. Baseball in Japan. At the age of 84, he is very involved in the game as the chairman of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Since his retirement in 1980, he has served as the Giants and SoftBank Hawks manager, as well as the manager of the Japanese national team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 which they won. Oh even has his own museum near the stadium in Fukuoka. 

I hope you understand why he deserves 1st place as the best and most important player in Japanese baseball history.

2. Shohei Ohtani

• Years played: 2013- present
• Japan or MLB? Both
• Most known for: Uh everything, $700 million contract, most successful two-way player, home runs, his dog, etc. 

Yes, Shohei Ohtani has broken pretty much every pitching-hitting combination record since Babe Ruth, but until he plays some more seasons, Sadahura Oh is still the king of Japanese baseball. 

However, it’s pretty hard not to be impressed by Ohtani – and not just by his eye popping $700 million contract that was signed in 2023. Shohei is in the conversation to be the best baseball player in the world today, and that’s after missing quite a few pitching seasons due to injuries. 

It’s hard enough to be a good pitcher or hitter in the MLB, but being able to do both at the same time is a once in a century talent… quite literally. Nobody has been able to do that consistently since Babe Ruth in 1918. 

Ohtani has already won 2 MVPs – one of them unanimously – and now that he is out of the American League and away from Aaron Judge, he will probably win at least a few more in the upcoming years. Everyone is excited for Shohei’s return to the mound, but until then we will have to make due with his smooth swing, tape measure home runs, and surprising amount of stolen bases. 

By the time his career is over, the question might not be if he will be considered the best Japanese player of all time, but rather his place on the all time MLB list as well. 

3. Ichiro Suzuki 

• Years played: 1992-2019
• Japan or MLB? Both
• Most known for: Single season hits record (262), professional hits record (4,367), 10 Gold gloves in a row.

Ichiro is the most accomplished Japanese player in the MLB, and one of the best baseball players in the world – if you combine his NPB and MLB stats. He took baseball by storm in 2001, when he had 242 hits, 56 stolen bases, and became the 2nd player in history to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year. This was all while leading the Seattle Mariners to an MLB record-tying 116 wins. 

Oh, and did I mention his defense? He won 10 Gold Gloves in a row in his first 10 seasons, and is considered one of the greatest defensive outfielders in MLB history.

He broke George Sisler’s 84 year old single season hits record in 2004 with 262 base hits, a record that might never be broken again considering there are full seasons when not a single player collects more than 200 hits. Ichiro finished his MLB career with over 3,000 hits, an impressive feat for anyone to accomplish, but even more incredible due to the fact that he started playing in the U.S. only at the age of 27!

Ichiro has a combined 4,367 hits when you add his stats from the NPB and MLB together, more than any player in professional baseball history – anywhere in the world. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025, and it’s safe to say that he will be a first ballot choice, and the first Japanese or Asian player to make it into the MLB Hall of Fame. 

You can make the case that Ichiro is one of the best pure hitters in baseball history, Japanese or not, but with Shohei Ohtani’s once in a century two-way skills and Sadaharu Oh’s legendary status in Japan, he falls to third place. 

4. Kotsuya Nomura

• Years played: 1954-1980
• Japan or MLB? Japan
• Most known for: 2nd all time in NPB history in hits, home runs, and RBIs; 5 MVP’s. 

Nomura is a lot less famous than Oh, even though they played in the same era, they both produced incredible numbers, and both continued managing and being involved in baseball for decades after their retirement. 

He played most of his career for the Nankai Hawks (modern day Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) of the Pacific League, so he received much less media attention than Oh and other players in the more popular and lucrative Central League of the 1950’s – 1970’s – especially in comparison to the players that played on the Tokyo Giants.

Nomura played a tough defensive position (catcher), but still managed to finish second all time in the NPB in home runs (657) RBIs (1,988) and hits (2,901). Oh is first in all of those categories except hits, but Nomura is still the only player in NPB history to come close to Oh’s milestone 2,000 RBIs and more than 800 home runs. 

Despite his success on offense and defense, Nomura played in a very small home ballpark for most of his career, with dimensions of only 276 feet down the foul lines. Critics like to quote this as a reason for his high home run total.  

But every player still plays half his games at other ballparks, and plenty of other players also played in the same home ballpark without managing to crush home runs – so the talent was clearly there. 

Some of Nomura’s other accomplishments are 2 Japan Series championships (1959, 1964), 5 PL MVPs (1961, ‘63, ‘65, ‘66, ‘73), and leading the league in home runs 9 times including 8 years in a row. 

Like Oh, his managing career helped cement his legacy in Japan as well. Nomura retired as the manager with the 5th most wins in NPB history, including 3 Japan Series titles in the glory days of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (1993, 1995, and 1997). 

Nomura isn’t as famous, popular, or flashy as the other Japanese players, but finishing 2nd all time in most major offensive categories, along with a 50 year professional career (26 years as a player and 24 as a manager) will definitely land you a spot as one of the top Japanese players of all time. 

5. Hideo Nomo

• Years played: 1990- 2008
• Japan or MLB? Both
• Most known for: Paving the way for Japanese players in the MLB, tornado windup, 2 no-hitters.

Hideo Nomo was a dominant and fun pitcher to watch – both in Japan and the MLB, but he is also famous for being the first successful Japanese player that opened the floodgates for the multitude of star players from Japan in the 2000’s and 2010’s. 

Nomo took the MLB by storm with his unique tornado windup in 1995, leading the NL in strikeouts and placing second in ERA (2.58) while winning the Rookie of the Year award for the LA Dodgers. In 1996 he had another great season and became the first – and to this day only – pitcher to throw a no hitter in hitter friendly Coors Field. 

Although his numbers dropped off after those first two years, Nomo put together a few more good seasons here and there with different teams, and managed to throw another no-hitter in 2001 while making his Boston Red Sox debut. 

But more importantly was the impact he had on baseball. Nomo and Chan Ho Park, also a fellow Dodger and the first Korean baseball player to make it to the MLB, made it possible for dozens more players from South Korea and Japan to play in the MLB successfully. 

The NPB had strict laws about letting their players go to the MLB and before Nomo, there wasn’t a Japanese player in the U.S. since Masanori Murakami played for the Giants in 1964 for 2 short years. But Nomo’s lawyer found a loophole to this rule: If a player retired, then the NPB had no control over him and he could sign with the MLB.

Although it’s been 30 years, you will still see tons of Dodgers fans across Japan and South Korea thanks to these two pitchers who played for Los Angeles in the mid 90’s (and Hideo Nomo’s lawyer).

6. Yu Darvish

• Years played: 2005- present
• Japan or MLB? Both
• Most known for: 2 MVP’s in Japan, 4 years in a row with sub 2.00 ERA, most successful long term Japanese pitcher in the MLB. 

Darvish is the most successful long-term Japanese pitcher to play in the MLB. He also had some very dominant years, especially in Japan. 

Darvish started his career in Japan despite receiving MLB interest due to his incredible stats in high school baseball. He was drafted by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (the same team Shohei Ohtani played for, but after Darvish) and played in the NPB from 2005 until 2011.

He dominated on the mound over there – he won 2 MVPs, one Eiji Sawamura award (NPB version of the Cy Young award), had 4 years in a row with an under 2.00 ERA, and led the Fighters to their first Japan Series championship in more than 40 years. 

These stats alone would put him as one of the best pitchers in the modern era NPB, but in 2012 he signed a deal with the Texas Rangers to come to the MLB. His first 2 seasons were quite impressive and in his sophomore year in 2013 he finished 2nd in the AL Cy Young award and led the MLB in strikeouts (277).

After a couple of injury shortened seasons (and missing the entire 2015 season) he became the fastest player in MLB history to record 1,000 strikeouts as he did it in only 812 innings. He was traded to the Dodgers midway through the 2017 season and helped them reach the World Series for the first time since Kirk Gibson pumped his fist in 1988. His terrible Game 7 performance is one that Dodgers fans would like to forget, but Dodger fans put their hate towards the Astros instead after the cheating scandal was revealed. 

The tail end of his career has been less dominant, although he had a good pandemic shortened season with the Cubs in 2020 (2nd place NL Cy Young award for whatever a 2.01 ERA is worth over 12 starts) and a very solid 2022 season with the Padres. Darvish has a contract signed until 2028 with San Diego, which would be his age 42 season if he is able to stay healthy.

In 2023 Darvish passed Hideo Nomo as the Japanese born MLB strikeout leader with 1,919 and it doesn’t look like anyone will catch him anytime soon. Darvish has had some ups and downs over the years, but his unmatched MLB longevity and absolute NPB dominance makes him one of the best all around Japanese pitchers ever. 

7. Hideki Matsui

• Years played: 1993- 2012
• Japan or MLB? Both
• Most known for: 3 MVP’s in Japan, 2009 World Series Winner and MVP with the Yankees, best Japanese power hitter in the MLB until Ohtani.

Hideki Matsui was the first successful Japanese power hitter to play in the MLB. Although Shohei Ohtani has already passed his home run total with plenty of years left to go, Matsui left his mark on Japanese and US baseball and deserves a place on the list. Besides, how can you be nicknamed “Godzilla” and not be one of the best?

Matsui had an incredible 10 year stint in Japan before coming to the MLB. He was an all star 9 times, won 3 Japan Series championships with the Yomiuri Giants, and also received 3 Central League MVP awards. 

He was less dominant in the MLB than he was back in Japan, but Godzilla started off strong with back to back all star selections in his first 2 years with the Yankees in 2003 and 2004. Although he never hit more than 30 homeruns in a season after 2004, he contributed to the dominant Yankees teams of the 2000’s and the amazing and entertaining rivalry with the Red Sox in that time period. 

In 2009 he put together a solid season (28 HR, 90 RBIs) and etched his name in Yankees’ legacy when he hit three home runs in the World Series and was named MVP after New York beat the Phillies 4 games to 2. 

Following the World Series, Matsui signed one year stints with the Angels, Athletics, and Orioles respectively, and retired after the 2012 season. 

All in all Matsui hit more than 500 home runs when you combine his NPB and MLB stats, and that along with helping the Yankees win their only World Series of the past 15 years (a long drought for NYY fans) has helped place him as one of the more memorable Japanese players. 

8. Shigeo Nagashima

• Years played: 1958- 1974
• Japan or MLB? Japan
• Most known for: 11 Japan Series Championships, 5 MVP’s, 3-4 duo with Sadaharu Oh

It’s hard enough to compare old time MLB stats to modern MLB players, and it’s even harder to do that for old time NPB players. However, Nagashima is one of the most popular NPB legends.

By now you can probably guess which team this NPB star from the mid 20th century played for – yup the Giants – and for much of his career Nagashima and Sadahura Oh were the unstoppable dynamic duo of the NPB. 

With Oh batting 3rd and Nagashima batting cleanup, the Giants absolutely dominated Japanese baseball in the 60’s and 70’s. He won 11 Japan Series championships, including a ridiculous 9 in a row. The Oh-Nou duo, as they were called by fans, was just unfair and they can be compared to the crushing 3-4 combo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the 1920’s and 30’s “Murderers’ Row” Yankees. 

Just to explain how ridiculous the two were, the MVP in the Central League was won by either one of them every year from 1963-1971. 

To go along with his 11 championships, Nagashima was the Japan Series MVP 4 times, and the League MVP 5 times. He finished his career with a .305 batting average, 444 homeruns, and 2,471 hits – which is good for 9th all time in the NPB. 

Like the other NPB-only players on the list so far, Nagashima also had a successful managing career post-playing as he led the Giants to two titles in 1994 and 2000.

9. Isao Harimoto

• Years played: 1959-1981
• Japan or MLB? Japan
• Most known for: Most hits in NPB history (3,085), career .319 hitter, 7 batting titles, thriving despite freak injuries and handicaps from his youth. 

Harimoto has a fascinating story. When he was 4 years old he was in a terrible burn accident that left his 3 middle fingers on his dominant right hand stiff and basically useless. A year later at the age of 5 he survived the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, thanks to his childhood home being behind a hill that blocked most of the direct radiation. 

To top it all off, his family moved from Korea right before he was born. Japan at the time was occupying Korea and they had feuds going back hundreds of years. Despite his efforts to integrate into Japanese society (his birth name was Jang Hung but he changed it to a Japanese name), Koreans were considered lower in society, especially in his childhood. 

Despite all of these challenges, he managed to teach himself how to become a lefty (his right hand was mostly useless) and went on to become the all time hits leader in the NPB with 3,085. In fact, nobody has been able to pass the 3,000 mark since him.

He and his team didn’t dominate as much as the other stars of his era – Oh, Namura, and Nagashima – as he “only” won one MVP award and one Japan Series Championship, but he was consistent, and could could hit for average and power. 

Harimoto won 7 batting titles, including 4 in a row from 1967-1970, and finished his 23 year career in 1981 with an incredible .319 average. He also had good speed and stole 319 bases.

On the power side, Harimoto totalled 504 home runs which is good for 7th all time in Japan. To understand his unique combination of power, speed, and contact, there are only 2 players in MLB history who had 500 home runs, 3,000 hits, and 300 stolen bases – Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez. 

Harimoto might have been higher on the list had he played for a better team or in the Central League. At that time the Central League had far more talent, money, and fans, so they received a lot more attention than the Pacific League that Harimoto played in. Although he was one of the greatest all around players in NPB history, he tends to be forgotten a bit due to not dominating the MVP awards or the championships like his peers were able to do. 

However, holding the alltime hit record and his inspiring story definitely gives him a deserving spot. 

10. Maisachi Kaneda

• Years played: 1950- 1969
• Japan or MLB? Japan
• Most known for: All-time NPB wins leader (400), 14 seasons with 20 or more wins, 3 Eiji Sawamura awards.

The talent seems to drop off a bit here as there are plenty of players such as Dice-K and Kenta Maeda who were good in both countries, but didn’t completely live up to the hype. So we’re going to go with another NPB-only player from the same era of the 50’s – early 70’s in Maisachi Kaneda. 

Kaneda is the only player to win 400 games in NPB history, and what makes it even more impressive is that he played for an absolutely terrible team for most of his career, the Kokutetsu Swallows (modern day Tokyo Yakult Swallows). Although they have one of the nicest and best stadiums in Japan, Tokyo’s second team wouldn’t really be good until the 1990’s.

To give you an example of how bad the Swallows were, they didn’t have a winning record for the entire decade of the 1950’s. Despite that, Kaneda won at least 20 games in 14 straight seasons, including winning 3 Eiji Sawamura awards (NPB version of the Cy Young) in a row from 1956-1958. 

You can definitely call him the MVP of his subpar team, but the huge workload he took on himself created some immense arm pain for him towards the end of his career. However, he was credited as a very smart baseball player and had excellent control, so he was still able to contribute even with the pain. 

In 1965 he moved across Tokyo to the significantly better Giants and helped them win 5 Japan Series championships in a row until his retirement in 1969. I guess he learned his lesson and realized that if all else fails, join the Giants and 2 of the other best players in NPB history!

In addition to the NPB wins record of 400, Kaneda also holds the complete games record (365), strikeouts (4,490), innings record (5,526), and is only one shutout (82) behind Victor Starfinn for that record as well (yes, there was a Russian player who dominated Japanese baseball in the World War II era).

He also has the not-so-good records of the most career losses (298) and walks (1,808) but those things come with longevity and playing for bad teams. All in all, Kaneda might be the best pitcher in NPB history, but playing for a terrible team, his sore arm, and not winning so many Eiji Sawamura awards makes it a debate among fans. 

Honorable mentions:

Daisuke Matsuzaka – Very good NPB career but his time in the MLB was short and filled with lots of injuries.

Kenta Maeda – 2 Eiji Sawamura awards in Japan but not enough consistent success in the MLB. 

Koji Uehara – Similar story. Very good NPB stats (2 Eiji Sawamura awards, 2 championships) but little success in the MLB apart from a 2013 World Series championship and ALCS MVP with the Red Sox. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – His incredible stretch from 2021-2023 included being the first pitcher in professional baseball to win the pitching triple crown 3 years in a row, 3 Eiji Sawamua awards, 2 no-hitters, and 3 Pacific League championships (one Japan Series championship). So far injuries have kept him from producing in his first MLB season, but for someone who’s getting paid $325 million you would expect him to be on the top 10 list some day. 

Koji Yamamoto – Yamamoto (not related to the one on the Dodgers) is 4th all time in the NPB with 536 home runs and was a big contributor to the Hiroshima Carp’s only 3 Japan Series championships in their history.