Nippon Professional Baseball has revealed the final results of fan voting for the 2026 All-Star Games, with the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters leading all teams with six selections.
Game 1 of the All-Star Series will be held at Tokyo Dome on July 28, followed by Game 2 at Toyama Municipal Stadium on July 29. It will mark the first time the festivities have been held at Tokyo Dome since 2019, while Toyama will become the first countryside venue to host an All-Star Game since Matsuyama in 2022.
The Central League All-Stars will be managed by Hanshin’s Kyuji Fujikawa, while SoftBank’s Hiroki Kokubo will lead the Pacific League. Both managers guided their teams to pennants last season.
The Pacific League swept last year’s series, winning 5-1 and 10-7, improving its all-time All-Star record to 93-82-11.
Additional All-Stars will be selected through voting by players and coaches, with the results set to be announced in the coming days. The Plus One Vote, which allows fans to choose one additional player from each league, will run from July 14 to 20, with the winners announced on July 22.
One of the biggest stories from the fan vote is the resurgence of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. After the last-place side failed to produce a single fan-voted All-Star in 2025, Yakult earned four selections this year under first-year manager Takahiro Ikeyama, with starting pitcher Taichi Yamano, closer José Quijada, catcher Yudai Koga, and outfielder Shu Masuda all voted in.
Hanshin also had four players finish first at their respective positions in the Central League: first baseman Yusuke Oyama, second baseman Takumu Nakano, third baseman Teruaki Sato, and outfielder Shota Morishita. Morishita received 790,498 votes, the most of any player in NPB. Starting pitcher Haruto Takahashi, who leads NPB with a 1.29 ERA, was a notable omission, though he is expected to be added later in the selection process.
In the Pacific League, Nipponham’s six fan-voted selections were starting pitcher Hiromi Itoh, catcher Yua Tamiya, first baseman Kotaro Kiyomiya, shortstop Tatsuki Mizuno, outfielder Chusei Mannami, and designated hitter Franmil Reyes. The defending champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks had two players voted into the starting lineup: third baseman Ryoya Kurihara and outfielder Ukyo Shuto.
All-Star Fan Voting Winners
Pacific League
C: Yua Tamiya (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
1B: Kotaro Kiyomiya (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
2B: Ryusei Ogawa (Chiba Lotte Marines)
3B: Ryoya Kurihara (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks)
SS: Tatsuki Mizuno (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
OF: Chusei Mannami (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
OF: Misho Nishikawa (Chiba Lotte Marines)
OF: Ukyo Shuto (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks)
DH: Franmil Reyes (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
SP: Hiromi Itoh (Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters)
RP: Shota Suzuki (Chiba Lotte Marines)
CL: Andrés Machado (Orix Buffaloes)
Central League
C: Yudai Koga (Tokyo Yakult Swallows)
1B: Yusuke Ohyama (Hanshin Tigers)
2B: Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers)
3B: Teruaki Sato (Hanshin Tigers)
SS: Kaito Muramatsu (Chunichi Dragons)
OF: Shota Morishita (Hanshin Tigers)
OF: Seiya Hosokawa (Chunichi Dragons)
OF: Yukihiro Iwata (Tokyo Yakult Swallows)
SP: Taichi Yamano (Tokyo Yakult Swallows)
RP: Taisei Ota (Yomiuri Giants)
CL: José Quijada (Tokyo Yakult Swallows)
Photo: The Tokyo Dome is hosting the Super Round and final games of the 2024 WBSC Premier12. (Photo Courtesy WBSC)
