Everything you need to know about the Tokyo Series
Dodgers and Cubs set to open 2025 season in Japan on March 18-19
Thomas Harrigan
@HarriganMLBThe MLB season will get underway when the Dodgers and Cubs square off in the 2025 Tokyo Series in Japan on March 18-19.
Here's everything you need to know about the Tokyo Series.
What is the Tokyo Series?
The 2025 Tokyo Series is the latest installment of the MLB World Tour, a historic slate of games bringing MLB teams and players to the league’s global fan base. The tour made stops in Seoul, Mexico City, London and Santo Domingo last year.
The 2025 international event schedule also includes a pair of exhibition games between the Red Sox and the Sultanes de Monterrey on March 24-25 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.
When are the games and how can I watch them?
Both games between the Dodgers and Cubs will be broadcast nationally, with FOX airing Game 1 on March 18 (6:10 a.m. ET) and FS1 airing Game 2 on March 19 (6:10 a.m. ET). They'll also be available on the clubs’ regional sports networks, SportsNet LA and Marquee, as well as MLB.TV (blackout restrictions apply).
Additionally, the Dodgers and Cubs will each play a pair of exhibition games against Nippon Professional Baseball opponents prior to their matchup.
The Cubs will take on the Hanshin Tigers at 11 p.m. ET on March 14 and the Yomiuri Giants at 6 a.m. ET on March 16, with both games being broadcast on Marquee and MLB.TV.
The Dodgers will face Yomiuri at 6 a.m. ET and Hanshin at 11 p.m. ET on March 15. Los Angeles’ exhibition games will be broadcast on SportsNet LA and MLB.TV.
Where are the games being played?
The Tokyo Dome will host the 2025 Tokyo Series (including all exhibition games). The indoor stadium opened in 1988 and serves as the home of the Yomiuri Giants, as well as the location for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Tokyo Dome measures 400 feet to dead center, 330 feet down the left-field and right-field lines and 360 feet to left-center and right-center.
Over the years, the site has played host to a wide variety of events, including MLB regular-season games, World Baseball Classics, NFL exhibition games, music concerts, professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts and more.
What is the history of MLB season openers played abroad?
The Tokyo Series will mark the second straight year and the 10th time overall that the MLB season has opened outside the 50 U.S. states and Canada. Previous international openers include:
- 1999 -- Monterrey, Mexico (Rockies vs. Padres)
- 2000 -- Tokyo, Japan (Mets vs. Cubs)
- 2001 -- San Juan, Puerto Rico (Rangers vs. Blue Jays)
- 2004 -- Tokyo, Japan (Rays vs. Yankees)
- 2008 -- Tokyo, Japan (Red Sox vs. A's)
- 2012 -- Tokyo, Japan (A's vs. Mariners)
- 2014 -- Sydney, Australia (Dodgers vs. D-backs)
- 2019 -- Tokyo, Japan (A's vs. Mariners)
- 2024 -- Seoul, South Korea (Dodgers vs. Padres)
How many MLB regular-season games have been played in Japan?
This year is the 25th anniversary of the first MLB regular-season games played in Japan -- a season-opening matchup between the Cubs and Mets at the Tokyo Dome on March 29-30, 2000.
MLB returned to Japan in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2019, each time staging a season-opening series at the Tokyo Dome. All told, 10 regular-season games have taken place in Japan.
Have the Dodgers and/or Cubs participated in any other international games?
This will be the Dodgers’ first time playing in Japan, but the franchise has previously participated in three international series: 2014 in Sydney, 2018 in Monterrey and 2024 in Seoul.
The Cubs’ international history includes the 2023 London Series (against the Cardinals) in addition to their 2000 matchup against the Mets in Tokyo.
Do the Dodgers or Cubs have any Japanese-born players?
The Tokyo Series will be replete with Japanese stars on both sides, none larger than three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who is entering the second season of a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.
Although he took the year off from pitching while recovering from right elbow surgery, Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers was extraordinary, as he notched the first 50/50 campaign in MLB history, won his third MVP Award and led L.A. to a World Series title. Ohtani is expected to regain two-way status in 2025, with a return to the mound planned for sometime in May.
Ohtani is joined on the Dodgers roster by countrymen Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
Yamamoto was superb in the first year of a 12-year, $325 million deal -- the richest contract signed by a pitcher in MLB history -- posting a 3.00 ERA with 105 strikeouts over 90 innings in the regular season and adding a 3.86 ERA over four postseason starts.
The Dodgers signed Sasaki as an international amateur free agent after he was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines this past offseason, emerging victorious in the much publicized race to land the 23-year-old phenom. Sasaki will now look to join Ohtani and Yamamoto among the many Japanese stars to find success with the Dodgers.
The Cubs were also involved in the Sasaki sweepstakes, though they were eliminated from the chase when the righty began to narrow his potential destinations. While they missed on Sasaki, the Cubs have had their share of recent successes courting Japanese stars, signing slugger Seiya Suzuki to a five-year, $85 million deal prior to 2022, and landing starter Shota Imanaga on a four-year, $53 million deal before the 2024 campaign.
Suzuki has been one of the Cubs' best players since he joined the club, producing 55 homers, 31 steals and a .278/.354/.470 slash in 381 games. Imanaga, meanwhile, didn't arrive in the Majors with the same level of hype or anticipation as Yamamoto in 2024, but his rookie year was even more impressive. The lefty finished fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year Award race and fifth in the league’s Cy Young voting after recording a 2.91 ERA with an NL-leading 6.21 K/BB ratio over 173 1/3 innings.
Who are the probable starting pitchers for both games?
Yamamoto, Sasaki and Imanaga should all get a chance to start on their home soil in this series. The Cubs have named Imanaga their Opening Day starter, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Yamamoto will start Game 1, with the expectation being that Sasaki would get Game 2.
Justin Steele is in line to start Game 2 for the Cubs. Steele has been one of the most effective starters in baseball over the past three seasons, posting the seventh-lowest ERA (3.10) among pitchers with at least 400 innings in that span. The left-hander was the Cubs’ Opening Day starter in 2024, though he strained his left hamstring during the outing and ended up missing all of April.
What is the history of baseball in Japan?
Baseball, now over 150 years old in Japan, is as ingrained in Japanese culture as the national pastime is in America. The game was introduced there in 1872 by American professor Horace Wilson, who taught it to his students at Kaisei Academy in Arakawa, Tokyo. In the century and a half since, it's become the country's most popular sport.
A seminal moment for Japanese baseball came in 1934: Yomiuri Shimbun president Matsutaro Shoriki organized a Japanese baseball all-star team that helped the sport take off. That year, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx arrived in Tokyo, leading an American all-star team of MLB legends on a tour of Japan, where they played a series of exhibitions against the All-Nippon team. Ruth & Co. brought a huge turnout from Japanese fans, and when the tour was over, Shoriki kept his all-star team together as the Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club. That team would become the Yomiuri Giants.
Two years later, in 1936, Japan's first professional league formed with seven teams, including Shoriki's club. By 1950, it had grown to the point that it needed to reorganize into two leagues -- the Central League and the Pacific League -- under one name: Nippon Professional Baseball.
In the present day, NPB is widely recognized as the world's top baseball league outside of MLB. Baseball is an institution in Japan at every level, from the youth teams that routinely win the Little League World Series to the legendary summer Koshien high-school tournaments to the hugely popular NPB to the Japanese stars who jump to the Major Leagues.
You can read more about the history of Japanese baseball here.
-- David Adler, MLB.com
What community events are planned in conjunction with the trip?
A range of events will offer fans exciting opportunities to connect with the game through interactive experiences and special exhibitions centered around the Tokyo Series. Here’s a breakdown of what fans can look forward to:
- MLB Tokyo Series Fan Fest presented by Guggenheim: A fan festival is taking place at Tokyo Skytree Town from March 8-19, featuring a batting experience zone, baseball diamond with outfield seating, photo opportunities, MLB-themed foods, appearances from Japanese-born former Major League players, trophy and jersey displays, an MLB Tokyo Series official store operated by Fanatics and watch parties.
- Topps ZeroBase Shibuya activation: A three-floor interactive event will be open to fans from March 13-16, telling the story of iconic Japanese players -- including Ohtani, Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui and 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki -- through digital touchscreens in a gamified environment that blends trading cards and memorabilia. The event will feature a full floor of Ohtani memorabilia, including a base from his historic 50/50 game and a game-used bat from the 2024 World Series.
- Dodgers fan experience: A fan event dedicated to the defending World Series champions is being held at Tokyo Node from March 5-30, featuring an immersive area replicating the sights and sounds of Dodger Stadium, an exhibition space showcasing the Ohtani 50/50 commemorative collection, a VR batting cage, photo opportunities, displays on Dodgers club history -- including the team’s unique connection to Japan -- a bobblehead exhibit and a dedicated 2024 World Series showcase complete with the Commissioner’s Trophy.
- Tokyo Skytree Light Up: The world’s tallest tower will be illuminated with three different light-up patterns representing the Tokyo Series, Cubs and Dodgers on March 7, 17, 18 and 19. The tower will remain in the colors of the winning team after each game of the Tokyo Series.
- Tobu Railway: The Tobu Railway’s Ryomo limited express train has been wrapped in MLB’s red, white and navy blue colors to celebrate the arrival of the Tokyo Series and will continue to run in MLB colors until the end of the year. Trains across three Tobu lines will also have their interiors completely wrapped in MLB imagery.
- Tokyo Series viewing opportunities: Fans will be able to watch the Tokyo Series games in up to 150 movie theaters across Japan, at Giants Town Stadium in Tokyo and at the MLB Tokyo Series Fan Fest.
Is there anything else fans should know?
- The Tokyo Series kicks off the Dodgers' World Series championship defense, as Los Angeles tries to become the first team to repeat since the Yankees won three straight titles from 1998-2000. On the heels of their 2024 World Series win, the Dodgers remained aggressive in free agency, landing Sasaki and fellow starter Blake Snell, relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, infielder Hyeseong Kim and outfielder Michael Conforto. They also re-signed a trio of key players from their title team: outfielder Teoscar Hernández, reliever Blake Treinen and utility man Kiké Hernández.
- The Cubs missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024, but there are a host of new faces in the fold to help in their attempt to end that drought. That includes three-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker and two-time All-Star closer Ryan Pressly, both of whom were acquired from the Astros in separate trades during the offseason. The Cubs also signed veteran infielder Justin Turner, whose red-bearded face should be quite familiar to Dodgers fans. Turner spent nine seasons and earned two All-Star selections with Los Angeles before playing for the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners over the past two years.