Birthplaces · Asia · 2005–2026

🇯🇵MLB Players from Japan

Every major leaguer born in Japan who took a plate appearance or threw a pitch in a published season, with what they have done since 2005 — and who is playing now.

Players: 71
Active in 2026: 14
Total dbWAR: 329.1
Home runs: 987
Strikeouts: 13,821
Batters / pitchers: 22 / 49

Notable

Superlatives over the seasons published here, not over whole careers.

Most dbWAR57.3

Shohei Ohtani2018–2026 Most home runs310

Shohei Ohtani4,947 PA Most strikeouts2,075

Yu Darvish1,778.0 IP Best season9.6 WAR

Shohei Ohtani2024 First to the majors1995

Hideo Nomo Hardest-hit ball120.0 mph

Shohei Ohtani2025 Youngest in 202625

Roki Sasaki Most seasons here15

Ichiro Suzuki2005–2019

Most common birthplaceOsaka14 players

The All-Japanese Team

The best player born in Japan at each position since 2005, by the dbWAR he produced there. Positions nobody has filled are left open.

Kenji Johjima2006–2009 · 48 HR · .2685.1dbWAR 1B

Munetaka Murakami2026 · 35 HR · .2073.1dbWAR 2B

Tadahito Iguchi2005–2008 · 44 HR · .2687.8dbWAR 3B

Kazuma Okamoto2026 · 33 HR · .2342.9dbWAR SS

Munenori Kawasaki2012–2016 · 1 HR · .2180.2dbWAR

LF—no left field yet

Dave Roberts2005–2008 · 10 HR · .2683.4dbWAR RF

Ichiro Suzuki2005–2019 · 71 HR · .29717.9dbWAR DH

Shohei Ohtani2018–2026 · 310 HR · .28141.9dbWAR

And on the mound

Yu Darvish2012–2025 · 3.65 ERA32.9dbWAR SP

Hiroki Kuroda2008–2014 · 3.45 ERA21.0dbWAR SP

Masahiro Tanaka2014–2020 · 3.74 ERA16.0dbWAR RP

Koji Uehara2009–2017 · 2.43 ERA8.9dbWAR

How this is picked. Each player is filed at the one position he appeared at most often — so a shortstop who spent two years at third is a shortstop, and cannot hold both slots — and the spot goes to whoever produced the most dbWAR there. The figure on a card is therefore the value at that position rather than the career total shown elsewhere on this page: they differ for anyone who moved. Starting and relieving are counted separately for the same reason, on the share of each season's appearances that were starts. A slot needs 100 plate appearances or 20 innings to be claimed at all, which keeps a September call-up from becoming a first baseman. 19 position players are eligible here, with 20 starters and 23 relievers.

In the majors now

14 Japanese-born players were on a major-league roster in 2026. Every column sorts.

Batting, 2026.

Seiya Suzuki	CHC	RF	32	143	634	26	86	3	.270	.368	.473	134	3.9
Shohei Ohtani	LAD	DH	32	135	618	30	81	11	.275	.377	.512	143	3.8
Munetaka Murakami	CWS	1B	26	127	553	35	77	1	.207	.347	.478	130	3.1
Kazuma Okamoto	TOR	3B	30	155	636	33	92	1	.234	.311	.454	111	2.9
Masataka Yoshida	BOS	DH	33	87	297	5	28	2	.274	.347	.399	108	0.8
Rikuu Nishida	CWS	RF	25	11	30	0	2	0	.241	.241	.241	29	-0.2

Pitching, 2026.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	28	28	28	185.0	14	0	182	2.53	3.34	0.87	4.1
Shohei Ohtani	LAD	32	14	14	85.2	8	0	95	1.79	2.61	0.95	2.6
Shota Imanaga	CHC	33	32	32	174.1	11	0	174	3.77	4.47	1.10	1.6
Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	35	14	14	67.2	1	0	67	4.92	3.93	1.54	0.9
Tatsuya Imai	HOU	28	23	15	76.2	6	0	97	4.93	4.25	1.42	0.7
Roki Sasaki	LAD	25	26	23	122.1	5	0	123	4.49	4.73	1.32	0.6
Yuki Matsui	SD	31	54	0	64.0	5	1	68	1.83	4.18	1.14	0.3
Tomoyuki Sugano	COL	37	29	29	154.1	12	0	96	5.37	5.40	1.32	-0.1
Kodai Senga	NYM	33	31	8	61.1	0	8	75	7.34	5.83	1.65	-0.7

Clubs in 2026LAD 4 CHC 2 CWS 2 LAA 1 BOS 1 COL 1

The full 2026 leaderboards filter by birthplace too: batting · pitching — pick several countries at once there.

Since 2005

Career totals over the published seasons, ranked by dbWAR.

Batters, by dbWAR since the first published season.

Shohei Ohtani	2018–2026	9	4,947	1,194	310	750	176	.281	57.3
Ichiro Suzuki	2005–2019	15	7,781	2,165	80	538	352	.300	22.5
Seiya Suzuki	2022–2026	5	2,899	683	113	382	39	.269	15.4
Hideki Matsui	2005–2012	8	3,691	900	128	546	8	.278	13.8
Norichika Aoki	2012–2017	6	3,044	774	33	219	98	.285	9.8
Tadahito Iguchi	2005–2008	4	2,079	494	44	205	48	.268	7.8
Kosuke Fukudome	2008–2012	5	2,276	498	42	195	29	.258	6.5
Akinori Iwamura	2007–2010	4	1,755	413	16	117	32	.267	6.0
Kazuo Matsui	2005–2010	6	2,046	490	25	167	88	.266	5.5
Dave Roberts	2005–2008	4	1,620	386	12	114	108	.273	5.3
Kenji Johjima	2006–2009	4	1,722	431	48	198	7	.268	5.1
Masataka Yoshida	2023–2026	4	1,503	383	34	182	15	.280	4.4
Munetaka Murakami	2026	1	553	94	35	77	1	.207	3.1
Kazuma Okamoto	2026	1	636	133	33	92	1	.234	2.9
So Taguchi	2005–2009	5	1,240	310	13	123	32	.277	1.4
Munenori Kawasaki	2012–2016	5	738	150	1	51	12	.237	1.1
Kensuke Tanaka	2013	1	34	8	0	2	2	.267	0.1
Shogo Akiyama	2020–2021	2	366	71	0	21	9	.224	-0.0
Rikuu Nishida	2026	1	30	7	0	2	0	.241	-0.2
Norihiro Nakamura	2005	1	41	5	0	3	0	.128	-0.5
Tsuyoshi Nishioka	2011–2012	2	254	50	0	20	2	.215	-0.8
Yoshi Tsutsugo	2020–2022	3	640	110	18	75	0	.197	-0.9

Pitchers, by dbWAR since the first published season.

Yu Darvish	2012–2025	13	1,778.0	115	0	2,075	3.65	32.5
Hiroki Kuroda	2008–2014	7	1,319.0	79	0	986	3.45	20.4
Masahiro Tanaka	2014–2020	7	1,054.1	78	0	991	3.74	15.8
Kenta Maeda	2016–2025	9	986.2	68	6	1,055	4.20	14.7
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	2024–2026	3	448.2	33	0	488	2.61	11.4
Hisashi Iwakuma	2012–2017	6	883.2	63	2	714	3.42	10.3
Koji Uehara	2009–2017	9	480.2	22	95	572	2.66	10.3
Yusei Kikuchi	2019–2026	8	1,055.2	49	1	1,078	4.49	9.9
Daisuke Matsuzaka	2007–2014	8	790.1	56	1	720	4.45	7.9
Takashi Saito	2006–2012	7	338.0	21	84	400	2.34	7.7
Shota Imanaga	2024–2026	3	492.1	35	0	465	3.45	4.6
Kodai Senga	2023–2026	4	346.1	20	8	395	3.77	4.1
Junichi Tazawa	2009–2018	9	395.1	21	4	374	4.12	4.0
Akinori Otsuka	2005–2007	3	154.2	6	37	130	2.79	3.2
Hideki Okajima	2007–2013	6	250.1	17	6	216	3.09	2.7
Kenshin Kawakami	2009–2010	2	243.2	8	1	164	4.32	2.3
Hisanori Takahashi	2010–2013	4	243.1	14	10	221	3.99	1.7
Yoshihisa Hirano	2018–2020	3	131.2	9	8	131	3.69	1.3
Keiichi Yabu	2005–2008	2	126.0	7	1	92	4.00	0.8
Shigetoshi Hasegawa	2005	1	66.2	1	0	30	4.18	0.8
Tsuyoshi Wada	2014–2015	2	101.2	5	0	88	3.36	0.8
Tatsuya Imai	2026	1	76.2	6	0	97	4.93	0.7
Yuki Matsui	2024–2026	3	190.0	12	2	198	3.17	0.7
Tomo Ohka	2005–2009	4	404.1	18	0	200	4.81	0.5
Roki Sasaki	2025–2026	2	158.2	6	0	151	4.48	0.4
Shintaro Fujinami	2023	1	79.0	7	2	83	7.18	0.2
Hirokazu Sawamura	2021–2022	2	103.2	6	0	101	3.39	0.2
Ken Takahashi	2009	1	27.1	0	0	23	2.96	0.2
Kazuhito Tadano	2005	1	4.0	0	0	1	2.25	0.1
Yoshinori Tateyama	2011–2012	2	61.0	3	1	61	5.75	0.1
Kyuji Fujikawa	2013–2015	3	26.2	1	2	32	5.74	0.1
Naoyuki Uwasawa	2024	1	4.0	0	0	3	2.25	0.1
Ryota Igarashi	2010–2012	3	73.0	5	0	72	6.41	0.0
Masa Kobayashi	2008–2009	2	65.1	4	6	39	5.10	-0.0
Kazuhisa Makita	2018	1	35.0	0	0	37	5.40	-0.1
Masao Kida	2005	1	2.0	0	0	0	4.50	-0.1
Kaz Ishii	2005	1	91.0	3	0	53	5.14	-0.1
Toru Murata	2015	1	3.1	0	0	2	8.10	-0.2
Kazuo Fukumori	2008	1	4.0	0	0	1	20.25	-0.3
Tomoyuki Sugano	2025–2026	2	311.1	22	0	202	5.00	-0.3
Yasuhiko Yabuta	2008–2009	2	51.2	3	0	34	7.14	-0.4
Shun Yamaguchi	2020	1	25.2	2	0	26	8.06	-0.4
Stephen Randolph	2007	1	13.1	0	0	22	12.15	-0.4
Kei Igawa	2007–2008	2	71.2	2	0	53	6.66	-0.5
Shinnosuke Ogasawara	2025	1	38.2	1	0	30	6.98	-0.6
Shingo Takatsu	2005	1	36.1	2	8	38	5.20	-0.7
Hideo Nomo	2005–2008	2	105.0	5	0	62	7.71	-0.7
Masumi Kuwata	2007	1	21.0	0	0	12	9.43	-0.7
Kohei Arihara	2021–2022	2	60.2	3	0	38	7.57	-1.1

By season

How many were in the majors each year, and what they produced.

Season	Players	Batters	Pitchers	PA	HR	IP	SO	dbWAR
2026	14	6	9	2,768	129	991.1	977	24.3
2025	13	4	11	1,584	91	1,032.1	964	19.1
2024	11	3	8	1,737	85	705.0	740	25.2
2023	8	3	6	1,762	79	785.2	891	23.5
2022	7	3	5	1,305	50	532.0	594	12.7
2021	8	7	6	1,147	54	653.2	716	12.7
2020	9	3	7	543	15	277.1	304	6.6
2019	7	6	5	557	18	729.0	724	9.9
2018	8	7	7	478	22	502.1	548	8.1
2017	8	6	7	657	8	629.2	647	8.3
2016	9	7	6	932	7	771.1	740	15.4
2015	10	6	8	884	6	421.0	387	5.1
2014	12	9	9	1,272	2	951.2	919	17.2
2013	13	8	9	1,577	16	831.0	836	17.1
2012	16	9	10	1,541	21	745.1	704	11.3
2011	13	5	9	2,220	25	493.0	442	5.4
2010	13	10	8	2,151	42	733.2	647	15.8
2009	18	14	11	2,970	69	663.2	479	16.8
2008	19	13	10	3,895	46	633.2	502	17.5
2007	16	10	8	4,217	70	528.1	473	24.4
2006	10	8	3	3,351	60	235.0	204	18.4
2005	16	12	9	3,360	72	601.2	383	14.4

Where in Japan

Birth cities with more than one major leaguer, most first.

14Osaka20% of the country

8Tokyo11% of the country

2Hiroshima3% of the country

2Kanagawa3% of the country

2Kyoto3% of the country

2Yokohama3% of the country

About this page

71 major-league players born in Japan appear in this archive, between 2005 and 2026. 14 of them were on a major-league roster in 2026, down from 16 in 2005. Together they are worth 329.1 dbWAR, on 987 home runs and 13,821 strikeouts thrown.

The most valuable of them by our own measure is Shohei Ohtani, worth 57.3 dbWAR across 2018–2026. His best year was 2024, at 9.6 WAR. Hideo Nomo has been in the majors longest of anyone here, since 1995.

Shohei Ohtani has hit the most home runs, 310. Yu Darvish has thrown the most strikeouts, 2,075. The hardest ball anyone from here has struck came off Shohei Ohtani's bat at 120.0 mph, in 2025. These are totals over the seasons published here rather than whole careers: a player who debuted before 2005 arrives mid-career, and his numbers start where the archive does.

Osaka has produced 14 of them, more than anywhere else in Japan. In 2026 they are spread across 6 clubs, 4 of them with Los Angeles Dodgers.

Country here means country of birth, taken from each player's biographical record. It is not nationality and not who a player has represented internationally — the three disagree often enough to matter, and birthplace is the one this data actually holds. Every rate statistic and every dbWAR figure is computed from play-by-play using constants measured from each season's own data, so the numbers are era-correct without being copied from anywhere. See the derivation →

Elsewhere

Every birthplace · 2026 batting leaders · 2026 pitching leaders · every player · every club · the 2026 standings.