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2018 Japan Series
The 2018 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2018'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season, 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Pacific League's (PL) Climax Series champion and defending Japan Series champions, and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, the Central League's (CL) Climax Series champion. The Hawks defeated the Carp, 4–1–1, in six games, to win their second consecutive Japan Series championship and their fifth in eight years. The Hawks finished the 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season, 2018 regular season in second place in the Pacific League. They advanced to the Japan Series after defeating the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Climax Series. The Carp finished in first place in the Central League for the third consecutive year, earning a bye in the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai team to play in Osaka proper, the team went through a few name changes before settling on Nankai Hawks in 1947, eventually changing ownership in and moving to Fukuoka in . The team subsequently became known as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks until 2005, when they were purchased by SoftBank Group, becoming the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Since 1993, the Hawks have played at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, which has gone under several name changes and seats 40,142 people. The Hawks are often regarded as one of the most successful franchises in Pacific League and the richest in all of baseball under the ownership of SoftBank Group, with the second most wins in all of Japanese sports, only trailing the Yomiuri Giants. The Hawks have played in the Japan Series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Paravi
is a Japanese over-the-top streaming service. It is majority-owned by U-Next Holdings and minority-owned by TBS Holdings and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners. It was launched in 2007 as GyaO Next and is a large streaming platforms in Japan, with 4.3 million registered subscribers . The service includes not only videos but also e-book services. U-Next was the second highest-grossing subscription video service in Japan as of 2022. History Launched as GyaO Next In June 2006, Usen began a project to investigate the possibility of watching GyaO, an advertising-supported video on demand (AVOD) service for PCs owned by the company, on television. GyaO, which was later operated by Yahoo! Japan and terminated its services in 2023, was one of the most influential platforms in Japan's online video distribution market at the time. On February 1, 2007, Usen started selling GyaO Plus, a set-top box that allowed users to watch GyaO on their televisions. At the time, the set-top box had internet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome
, officially the is a domed baseball field located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Home to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the 40,000 seat stadium was built in 1993 and was originally named Fukuoka Dome. It is Japan's first stadium built with a retractable roof, and was the only baseball stadium in Japan with one until the opening of Es Con Field Hokkaido in 2023. It is the largest primary home stadium in the Pacific League. History Fukuoka Dome is the home stadium of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and, together with Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel, is part of the Hawks Town entertainment complex. It is located near Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, Momochi Beach, and a 15 minute walk from Tōjinmachi Station, a part of the Fukuoka City Subway system. In 2003 DigitalBridge, Colony Capital purchased the stadium with accompanying hotels from Daiei, in the process Colony assumed ¥60 billion in debts with the properties along with a ¥15 billion capital infusion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mazda Stadium
, also called , is a baseball stadium in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. It is used primarily for baseball and is the home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. The ballpark has a capacity of 32,000 people and opened on April 10, 2009. It replaced First Hiroshima Municipal Stadium and initially retained the old ballpark's official name. The stadium architecture is considered to be labeled as a retro-classic ballpark. Naming rights On November 6, 2008, Hiroshima City gave Mazda Motor Corporation naming rights to the stadium. In October of that year, Mazda proposed to call the stadium MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima for the period between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2014. On December 24, 2008, Mazda entered into a contract with the City of Hiroshima regarding the stadium's name and made official the abbreviated name "". The "Zoom-Zoom" name was a reference to a marketing campaign by Mazda. See also *Lists of stadiums The following are lists of stadiums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Yomiuri Giants
The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They have played their home games at Tokyo Dome since its opening in 1988. The team's owner is The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomerate which also owns two newspapers (including the eponymous ''Yomiuri Shimbun'') and the Nippon Television Network System, Nippon Television Network (which includes flagship Nippon TV). The Giants are the oldest professional sports team in Japan. They are also by far the most successful, having won 22 Japan Series titles and an additional nine in the era of NPB's forerunner, the Japanese Baseball League. Their main rivalry is with the Hanshin Tigers, a team especially popular in the Kansai region. The Yomiuri Giants are regarded as "The New York Yankees of Japan" due to their widespread popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Saitama Seibu Lions
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Holdings. The team experienced a recent period of financial difficulty, but the situation brightened when the team received a record ¥6 billion (about $51.11 million) posting fee from the Boston Red Sox for the right to negotiate a contract with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Between 1978 and 2008, the team logo and mascot were based on the adult version of Kimba the White Lion, a classic Japanese anime and manga series by Osamu Tezuka. In 2004, former Seibu Lions player Kazuo Matsui became the first Japanese infielder to play in Major League Baseball. Franchise history Nishitetsu Clippers (1950) In 1950, the team became a founding member of the Pacific League. It was then owned by a private railroad compan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō, including Hakodate, Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Obihiro. The team's name comes from its parent organization, Nippon Ham, a major Japanese food-processing company. Founded in 1946, the Fighters called Tokyo home for 58 years, as co-tenants of the Tokyo Dome and Korakuen Stadium with the Central League's Yomiuri Giants near the end of their tenure in the capital city. The franchise has won three Japan Series titles, in 1962, 2006, and, most recently, 2016. Team history Senators and Tokyo eras In 1946, Saburo Yokozawa, manager of the Tokyo Senators in 1936–1937 (and later a prominent umpire), looked to re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Central League
The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country. Unlike the Pacific League, designated hitters are not used during Central League home games. History The Central League was founded in 1949 with eight teams: four holdovers from the previous Japanese Baseball League — the Chunichi Dragons, the Hanshin Tigers, the Yomiuri Giants, and the Shochiku Robins (formerly the Taiyō Robins) — and four new teams — the Hiroshima Carp, the Kokutetsu Swallows, the Nishi Nippon Pirates, and the Taiyō Whales. The Nishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season — they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with the also Fukuoka-based Nishitetsu Clippers (a member of the Pacific League) to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Climax Series
The is the current annual playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and from the Pacific League (PL) will advance to compete for the championship in the Japan Series. After the creation of the NPB's two-league system in 1950, the PL experimented with three different playoff systems. In 2004, it implemented the postseason structure from which the Climax Series is based. After three seasons, the CL adopted the same system in 2007, creating the current, unified playoff format. Both leagues play a regular season, after which the top three teams in each league compete against one another in a two-stage playoff. In the first stage, the teams that finish the regular season with the second- and third-best records play one another in a best-of-three series. The winners of these three-game series advance to the final stage to face each league's regular-season champion in a six-game series, which the regul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pacific League
The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around Japan. History The circuit was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union (太平洋野球連盟, ''Taiheiyo Yakyu Renmei'') in 1949 (the name changing to its current form in 1980). Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from the previous iteration, the Japanese Baseball League—the Hankyu Braves, the Nankai Hawks, the Daiei Stars, and the Tokyu Flyers—and three new teams—the Kintetsu Pearls, the Mainichi Orions, and the Nishitetsu Clippers. In 1954, an eighth Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions, to increase the number of teams to eight. Although the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Best-of-seven Playoff
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly known as ''on aggregate'', and the ''round-robin tournament''. Single elimination A single-elimination ("knockout") playoff pits the participants in one-game matches, with the loser being dropped from the competition. Single-elimination tournaments are often used in individual sports like tennis. In most tennis tournaments, the players are seeded against each other, and the winner of each match continues to the next round, all the way to the final. When a playoff of this type involves the top four teams, it is sometimes known as the Shaughnessy playoff system, after Frank Shaughnessy, who first developed it for the International League of minor league baseball. Variations of the Shaughnessy system also exist, such as in the promotion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Japan Series
The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, 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 2–3–3-3 format, with the latter four games in theory if additional games are needed following tiebreakers. 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, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
