51st Japan Corporate Baseball Championship opens on 31 October

The 51st Japan Championship for corporate baseball began on 31 October 2026 and ran through 10 November. It is one of the two major national tournaments in Japan's company-sponsored amateur baseball, alongside the summer intercity tournament.

Corporate baseball (shakaijin yakyu) is played by teams run by companies, whose players are typically employees and not full-time professionals. The sport has long served as a route to the professional leagues, and many players are drafted from these teams each year. The autumn championship brings together leading teams from across the country, usually those that qualified through regional and national qualifying competitions.

The tournament is a knockout event, so each game is decisive and a single poor outing can end a team's run. That format shaped the closing days of the 2026 edition, when the final game on 10 November decided the champion. The title game later drew attention for a dominant pitching performance by Toshiba's Matsuyama, who helped his company's team claim the national title.