Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
Japanese baseball award
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The Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award (最優秀選手, Saiyūshūsenshu) is an annual Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) award given to two outstanding players, one each for the Central League (CL) and Pacific League (PL).
Each league's award is voted on by national baseball writers.[1] Each voter selects three players: a first-place selection is given five points, a second-place selection three points, and a third-place selection one point. The award goes to the player who receives the most overall points.[2] The winners are announced every year in November during Nippon Professional Baseball's awards ceremony called NPB Awards.
The first recipient of the award was Eiji Sawamura.[3] The most recent winners, in 2025, are Teruaki Satō, from the Central League's Hanshin Tigers, and Liván Moinelo, from the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. In 1940, Victor Starffin became the first player to win the award consecutively and multiple times.[3] Eiji Sawamura and Kazuhisa Inao are the youngest players to receive the awards in 1937 and 1957, respectively, at the ages of 20.[4] In 1988, Hiromitsu Kadota became the oldest player to receive the award at the age of 40.[5]
A majority of the MVP awards were given to players who played on the pennant winning team. There are a few cases where the MVP was awarded to a player who was not on the pennant winning team, however. These include 2 of Oh's MVP seasons in 1964 and 1974, Wladimir Balentien in 2013, Hisashi Iwakuma in 2008, and Hiromitsu Kadota in 1988. Only twice was the award given to a foreigner in both leagues; in 1989 with Ralph Bryant in the Pacific League and Warren Cromartie in the Central League, and in 2001 with Tuffy Rhodes in the Pacific League and Roberto Petagine in the Central League.
Key
| Position players |
RBIs | Runs batted in |
| AVG | Batting average | |
| Pitchers | Record | Record of decisions (tie games are omitted) |
| Saves | Number of saves[B] | |
| ERA | Earned run average | |
| (#) | Indicates number of times winning MVP Award (if multiple winner) | |
| * | Elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame[6] | |
Winners
Japanese Baseball League (1937–1949)
Nippon Professional Baseball (1950–present)
Central League
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Pacific League
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Multiple winners
There have been 22 players who have won the award multiple times. Sadaharu Oh currently holds the record for the most awards won, with nine. Hisashi Yamada (1976–1978) and Ichiro Suzuki (1994–1996) share the record for the most consecutive awards won. Yutaka Enatsu and Michihiro Ogasawara are the only players to have won the award in both the Central League and Pacific League. Alex Ramírez is the only non-Japanese player receive the award multiple times after the formation of two league system.
Wins by team
Pink indicate team that no longer exists
| Team | League | # of Awards | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri Giants[a] | JBL / Central | 47 | 1937 (Spring), 1938 (Fall), 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2024 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks[b] | JBL/Pacific | 26 | 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2024, 2025 |
| Orix Buffaloes[c] | Pacific | 17 | 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions[d] | Pacific | 15 | 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2018, 2019 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows[e] | Central | 10 | 1978, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2013, 2015, 2021, 2022 |
| Hanshin Tigers[f] | JBL / Central | 9 | 1944, 1947, 1949, 1962, 1985, 2003, 2005, 2023, 2025 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp[g] | Central | 9 | 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1991, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters[h] | Pacific | 8 | 1962, 1980, 1981, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2016 |
| Chunichi Dragons | Central | 8 | 1954, 1982, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines[i] | Pacific | 6 | 1950, 1960, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1985 |
| Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | Pacific | 4 | 1979, 1989, 1990, 2001 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | Pacific | 2 | 2008, 2013 |
| Tokyo Senators | JBL | 1 | 1938 (Spring) |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | Central | 2 | 1960, 1998 |
| Yamato Baseball Club | JBL | 1 | 1937 (Fall) |
| Shochiku Robins | Central | 1 | 1950 |
Notes
- B The save statistic was not formally recorded in the NPB until the 1974 season.[133]
- C The 1945 Japanese Baseball League was cancelled due to World War II.[134]
- D After 1958, Kazuto Yamamoto became known as Kazuto Tsuruoka.
- E Tetsuharu Kawakami received his first MVP award in 1941, nine years before the formation of Nippon Professional Baseball.
- Formerly known as Tokyo Kyojin
- Formerly known as Nankai Club, Kinki Nippon Club, Great Ring, Nankai Hawks, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
- Formerly known as Hankyu Club, the Hankyu Braves, the Orix Braves, Orix BlueWave
- Formerly known as Nishitetsu Clippers, the Nishitetsu Lions, the Taiheiyo Club Lions, the Crown Lighter Lions, Seibu Lions
- Formerly known as Kokutestu Swallows, Sankei Swallows, Sankei Atoms, Tokyo Swallows
- Formerly known as Osaka Tigers, Hanshin Club
- Formerly known as Hiroshima Carp
- Formerly known as Senators, Tokyu Flyers, Kyuei Flyers, Toei Flyers, Nittaku Home Flyers, Nippon-Ham Fighters
- Formerly known as Mainichi Orions, Mainichi Daiei Orions, Tokyo Orions, Lotte Orions