Major League Baseball (MLB) will return to Japan next year, and it’s not just any return—it will feature Japanese superstars as the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Chicago Cubs to kick off the 2025 season.
Players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, and Seiya Suzuki will step onto the Tokyo Dome’s diamond as part of the MLB World Tour Tokyo 2025, marking the start of the Major League Baseball season.
This will be the sixth time in history that MLB’s regular season begins in Japan. The Dodgers and Cubs are scheduled to play a two-game series on March 18-19, 2025, about a week before the other 28 teams begin their seasons.
MLB returns to Japan to start the 2025 regular season!
The @Dodgers and @Cubs will open the season at the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19, 2025. pic.twitter.com/7pdedhLIGq
— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2024
This event could be unprecedented, as it would be the first time that four Japanese players are listed on the rosters of the participating teams, all of whom played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) before making the leap to the Major Leagues.
While in the NPB, Ohtani played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Hokkaido, Yamamoto for the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka, Imanaga for the Yokohama BayStars in Kanagawa, and Suzuki was a member of the Hiroshima Carp.
MLB OPENING DAYS IN JAPAN 2000:
2004: Yankees vs Rays
2008: Red Sox vs Athletics
2012: Mariners vs Athletics
2019: Mariners vs Athletics
