The name of the Japanese baseball organization is NPB, which stands for Nippon Professional Baseball. (Nippon means Japan in Japanese.) Unlike Korean baseball league, Japan has 2 leagues. One is Central League and another one is Pacific League. Central League contains Hanshin Tigers, Yomiuri Giants, Chunichi Dragons, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Yokohama Bay Stars, and Yakult Swallows. Pacific League contains Softbank Hawks, Seibu Lions, Rakuten Golden Eagles, Nipponham Fighters, Chiba Lotte Marines, and Orix Buffaloes. Compared to Central League, Pacific League has really low interest. Also, 8 out of 12 clubs have their hometown near Tokyo and Osaka, which are two main cities in Japan. For Japan Series, first, 3rd place team and 2nd place team on each league fights. Then, the winner competes with the top team. Winner of these matches from both leagues play a match to win Japan Series.
There are few differences when compared with Korea. First, Japan baseball clubs can have 4 foreign players, whereas Korea only allows 2 per club. Also, Japan has many players running in Major League in the U.S. However, Korea has only one player for now. On the other hand, regardless of number of player in Major League, both Korean and Japanese national team have similar skill.
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