When Japan secured the final out of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, defeating the United States 3-2 in the Championship game, the result didn’t feel like a fluke. Instead, it was the logical endpoint of a modern baseball ecosystem that has produced both generational superstars and solid depth. This month, as they look to defend their title and stave off a dominant U.S. team led by three-time MVP Aaron Judge, the co-favorites will again rely on its large stable of elite stars and soon-to-be Major Leaguers.
Indeed, since Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki debuted in Major League uniforms, Japan has become a hotbed of immense baseball talent. And the bar has only risen. Along with megastar Shohei Ohtani, another crop of hitters and pitchers (Seiya Suzuki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki) have made their mark in the big leagues—and perhaps with a little more time, will eventually make this list celebrating the Ten Best Japanese Players in MLB History.
10.Daisuke Matsuzaka
When Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with the Red Sox at the beginning of 2007, he arrived in Boston wrapped inside a cloud of myth. As a high schooler, the 2006 World Baseball Classic MVP had thrown 250 pitches over 17 innings—the day after tossing a 148-pitch shutout. Then there was his gyroball, the magical, non-breaking slider that flummoxed hitters and captured the nation’s imagination. That rookie season, “Dice-K” led the team to a title and became the first Japanese starting pitcher to win a World Series game. Between eight seasons with the Red Sox and Mets, he totaled a 56-43 record with 720 strikeouts before returning to NPB in 2015.
9.Koji Uehara
The only reliever on this list, Koji Uehara secured his place in Red Sox history with a dominant 2013. Throughout the regular season, the righty posted a 1.09 ERA and 0.57 WHIP with 21 saves in 73 appearances. He remained near-perfect in the postseason. Uehara notched seven saves and surrendered just seven hits and one earned run in 13.2 playoff innings, earning him the ALCS MVP award and helping deliver Boston its third championship within the decade. Over his nine year-career—split between the Orioles, Rangers, Red Sox, and Cubs—Uehara posted a 2.66 ERA and tallied 95 saves, the second-most of all Japanese pitchers.
8.Hisashi Iwakuma
Perhaps a casualty of playing on several forgettable Mariners teams, it’s easy to undermine the success that Hisashi Iwakuma amassed during his six years in Seattle between 2012 and 2017. Let’s start with the biggest highlight of his career: a 2015 no-hitter against the Orioles, making him only the second Japanese-born player to ever throw a no-no in the majors. His other notable accomplishments? An All-Star selection and third-place Cy Young finish in 2013 after posting a 14-6 record and a 2.66 ERA. (His 7.0 WAR also qualifies as the highest single-season WAR total by a Japanese-born pitcher.)
7.Masahiro Tanaka
In 2014, Masahiro Tanaka signed a seven-year, $155 million deal with the Yankees, marking the largest contract in posting system history—until Yoshinobu Yamamoto surpassed it in 2023. It was always going to be tough to top his previous season with the Rakuten Golden Lions, in which he went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 183 strikeouts, but the powerful righty still delivered solid numbers. Over his first three years in the Bronx, Tanaka assumed his role as ace, posting a 39-16 record with a 3.12 ERA over 75 starts. His numbers struggled in the latter half of the contract, but he always showed up in the postseason, where he spun a 3.33 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 54 innings across 10 starts.
6.Hiroki Kuroda
There’s one word that describes Hiroki Kuroda’s big-league career: reliable. Though he never set the record books aflame—and never made an All-Star appearance between his stints with the Dodgers and Yankees—the middle-of-the-rotation righty made at least 30 starts and totaled at least 180 innings in six of his seven major league seasons. In that time, he amassed a career 3.45 ERA and 20.9 WAR, tossing six complete games—including one at age 38. He pitched in five postseason series, securing the Dodgers’ sweep of the Cubs in the 2008 NLDS and their only victory over the Phillies in the NLCS. Among Japanese-born players in the majors, Kuroda ranks third in starts (211), innings (1,319), and wins (79).
5.Hideki Matsui
Not many players can lay claim to a nickname as fearsome—and as mythically powerful—as “Godzilla.” But it fit Hideki Matsui, who joined the Yankees in 2003 as the first legitimate Japanese power hitter to reach The Show. Undeterred by the Bronx’s bright lights and high expectations, he rattled off three consecutive 100-plus RBI seasons. And though his home-run totals never equaled his production in Japan, he solidified his place in Yankees history in 2009, taking home World Series MVP honors after clubbing three home runs, eight RBI and a .615 average over six games to secure the team’s 27th championship. After stops with the Angels, A’s and Rays, he retired in 2012 with 1,200 hits.
4.Hideo Nomo
It had been 30 years since American baseball fans had seen a Japanese pitcher on a Major League mound, but Hideo Nomo proved he could handle the pressure when he debuted with the Dodgers in 1995. The Osaka-born righty wowed crowds—and puzzled hitters—with a deceptively slow delivery and a nasty forkball, and turned in a rookie year to remember: he posted a 13-6 record and a 2.54 ERA, earning him an All-Star appearance (and start!), NL Rookie of the Year honors, and a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting. He finished a 12-year career with 16 complete games and a 220-strikeout season in 2001 with the Red Sox—and still leads all Japanese pitchers in wins, games started, innings pitched, complete games, and shutouts.
3.Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish is on the cusp of becoming the best Japanese-born pitcher in Major League history. Since making his debut in 2012, he’s racked up five All-Star selections, finished as a Cy Young runner-up twice, and managed a 3.65 ERA over 13 seasons between the Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs, and Padres. Despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015, he’s still going strong a decade later—and is signed in San Diego through the 2028 season. Should he continue his pace and play through the contract, he’ll end up eclipsing Hideo Nomo in a number of categories—he needs 22 more starts, nine more wins, and 199 more innings to be the all-time Japanese leader. Unfortunately, Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing surgery to repair a damaged UCL in his right elbow.
2.Ichiro Suzuki
There was always something different about Ichiro. The first Japanese-born position player in MLB history wore his first name on the back of his jersey, took each at-bat with his methodical bat windup, and often made contact halfway out of the box. But it was his five-tool athleticism and creativity—his speed and arm strength, his daring angles on fly balls, his ability to pepper hits over the entire field—that made him special. Over his prodigious rookie season with the Mariners, he led the league in batting average (.350), hits (242), and stolen bases (56), becoming just the second player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. The lifetime .311 hitter (and member of the 3,000-hit club) became the first Japanese player inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2025. He lived and breathed baseball—and became timeless for it.
1.Shohei Ohtani
In Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS, Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani turned in the best individual performance in baseball history: he slugged three home runs (one of which traveled 469 feet, out of Dodger Stadium) and struck out 10 hitters over six-plus scoreless innings. In many ways, it was the culmination of a prolific career that is still being written—which is scary to consider. The 31-year-old—quickly crowned the modern-age Babe Ruth when he signed with the Angels (before agreeing to a record contract with the Dodgers) for his 100 mph fastballs and exit velocities—is a four-time MVP, five-time All-Star, and former AL Rookie of the Year. But don’t ignore his speed and baserunning. In 2024, he totaled the first ever 50/50 season, helping propel the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series titles. Though Ichiro has more accolades and a longer career, Ohtani’s hardware, paired with his elite range of abilities, make him a true one-of-one.