According to Yahoo Japan and Yakyu Cosmopolitan on September 2, former Nippon Professional Baseball player Norichika Aoki will be promoted from the special assistant general manager role to general manager of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at the end of the 2025 season.
Aoki will replace general manager Junichi Ogawa, who will retire at the end of the year.
Norichika Aoki has been named the Yakult Swallows new General Manager for the 2026 season.https://t.co/N7B5mE1rqp
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) September 2, 2025
Aoki played for the Yakult Swallows/Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 2004-11, the Milwaukee Brewers from 2012-13, the Kansas City Royals in 2014, the San Francisco Giants in 2015, the Seattle Mariners in 2016, the Houston Astros in 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017, and the New York Mets in 2017, before heading back to Japan to play with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 2018-24.
Across 15 seasons in NPB, Aoki won the Japan Series in 2021. He was an eight-time NPB All-Star from 2005-11 and in 2018, a seven-time Best Nine Award winner from 2005-11, and a seven-time Mitsui Golden Glove Award winner from 2006-11 and in 2020. He also won Central League batting titles in 2005, 2007, and 2010, was NPB All-Star Game MVP in 2006 Game 1 and 2009 Game 1, won Central League Rookie of the Year in 2005, led the league in stolen bases in 2006, and was inducted into the Meikyukai Golden Players Club in 2017.
Aoki also won two World Baseball Classic titles with Japan in 2006 and 2009, and was named to the All-WBC Team in 2009.
Yahoo Japan also reported that Ikeyama Takahiro is the frontrunner to replace current manager Shingo Takatsu for the 2026 season.
Takatsu will retire at the end of the 2025 season after six years managing the Tokyo Yakult Swallows since 2020. Takahiro is currently managing in the Swallows’ minor league system.
Takatsu guided the Swallows to their sixth Japan Series championship in 2021, when they beat the Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes in six games. He also won the Matsutaro Shoriki Award that year.
Before becoming manager, Takatsu was on the Swallows coaching staff from 2014-19. He played for the Swallows from 1991-2003 after being selected third overall in the 1990 NPB Draft.
Takatsu pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 2004-05 and the New York Mets in 2005, before returning to the Swallows from 2006-07. He also pitched in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2008 with the Woori Heroes and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan with the Sinon Bulls in 2010.
During his 15 NPB seasons, Takatsu won the Japan Series in 1993, 1995, 1997, and 2001. He was a six-time NPB All-Star in 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2007.
As manager, Takatsu led the Swallows to the Central League regular season title in 2022 with an 80-59-4 record before losing in the Japan Series to the Orix Buffaloes in seven games. The Swallows finished in fifth place in both 2023 and 2024 and did not qualify for the postseason.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows are currently in last place of the 2026 season with a 43-68-6 record. They will play the final game of their three-game series on the road at the Tokyo Dome against the second-place Central League Yomiuri Giants, who are 59-60-3, on Thursday, September 4 at 5 a.m. EDT.
