The Three Weeks You Can Finally Watch Japan
May 26 – June 14
All 12 teams
~$11 / month
Once a year only
Japan Opens the Door
For most of the NPB season, half of Japanese baseball is invisible to American fans. The Pacific League streams to the US through Pacific League TV. The Central League — the Yomiuri Giants, the Hanshin Tigers, the biggest brands in Japanese baseball — does not. It is geoblocked, fragmented, locked behind domestic Japanese rights deals. Then, once a year, interleague play opens, the Central League teams travel to Pacific League ballparks, and for three weeks — May 26 through June 14 — every one of those games becomes legally streamable in the United States. This is that window. It opens this month. If you have never watched the Hanshin Tigers, this is the only time all year you get to.
Masataka Yoshida of Japan, center, reacts after hits a single during the seventh inning of the exhibition game between Japan national team and Hanshin Tigers prior to the Pool C games at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 in Osaka, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japan team members line up for the national anthem before the exhibition game between Japan national team and Hanshin Tigers prior to the Pool C games at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 in Osaka, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Fans cheer the team Japan during the exhibition game between Japan national team and Hanshin Tigers prior to the Pool C games at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 in Osaka, western Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Who’s Hot Going In
Hanshin Tigers
The Tigers enter interleague leading the Central League — the most rabid fanbase in Japanese baseball, the Koshien tradition, and a roster built to win now. They lost the 2025 Japan Series to SoftBank in five games. Interleague gives them a measuring stick against the league that beat them — and gives US fans their first real look.
1. Hanshin Tigers 19–10
2. Yakult Swallows 19–12
3. Yomiuri Giants 16–14
SoftBank Hawks
The defending Japan Series champions sit near the top of the Pacific League again. SoftBank beat Hanshin 4–1 in the 2025 Japan Series. When interleague opens, the Hawks — already watchable on Pacific League TV — get to defend that result against the Central League’s best on home turf.
1. Orix Buffaloes 18–12
2. SoftBank Hawks 16–13
3. Seibu Lions 15–16
Japan relief pitcher Yuki Matsui throws during the eighth inning of the first round Pool B game between South Korea and Japan at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 10, 2023. Matsui agreed Saturday, Dec. 23, to a five-year contract with the San Diego Padres. The 28-year-old left-hander was a five-time All-Star in Japan for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, leading the Pacific League in saves in 2019, 2022 and this year. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
One Subscription. Three Weeks. The Whole Central League.
Pacific League TV (PLTV) runs about $11 a month and normally carries only the six Pacific League teams. But during interleague play, the Central League teams travel to Pacific League parks — and the home team owns the broadcast. That means Hanshin, Yomiuri, and the rest of the Central League become available through PLTV for the duration of the interleague window. Subscribe for one month, catch all three weeks, cancel if you like. It is the single best-value window in international baseball.
Why the Window Matters
Interleague play came to NPB in 2005, and it solved a problem the league had lived with for half a century: the Central and Pacific Leagues operated as two separate entities, with separate broadcast rights, separate cultures, and almost no crossover until the Japan Series. For Japanese fans, interleague was a novelty. For international fans, it turned into something more valuable — a visibility window.
Because NPB broadcast rights belong to the home team, a Central League club playing at home is locked to Japanese domestic carriers. But that same club playing a road interleague game at a Pacific League park falls under the Pacific League’s streaming umbrella — and Pacific League TV reaches the United States. The result is an accidental gift: three weeks a year when the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers are legally, affordably watchable in America.
This year the window runs May 26 to June 14. Hanshin enters it in first place in the Central League. SoftBank, the team that beat them in last year’s Japan Series, sits near the top of the Pacific. The interleague schedule will put Central League contenders in Pacific League parks for the better part of a month — and for once, you will not have to be in Japan to see it.
Subscribe to Pacific League TV before May 26. Mark the window. It does not come around again until next year.
A weekly publication of the World Baseball Network. Every week, we pick the most-watchable matchup in international baseball, tell you exactly when and where to watch, and explain why it matters.
Verified May 2026 · Game of the Week · NPB · Standings as of May 19 · Interleague window May 26–June 14
