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According to a survey conducted in September 2025, baseball player *** was the most popular athlete in Japan, with **** percent of respondents voting for him. 

Is baseball the most popular sport in Japan?

With its roots stretching back to the 1870s, baseball has a rich history in Japan. Following the establishment of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 1950, the sport has gone from strength to strength and ranked as the most popular spectator sport in Japan as of 2025. The Japanese national team has typically performed well on the international stage. In fact, the national team had won three of the five Baseball World Classic tournaments between 2006 and 2023. 

Japanese baseball players in Major League Baseball

Alongside the victories of the Japanese national team on a global scale, the success of players such as Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the Los Angeles Dodgers has no doubt helped cement baseball's prominent standing in Japan in recent years. In fact, Ohtani is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time and the current best two-way player in the world.