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The story
It has emerged that Chunichi Dragons manager Kazuki Inoue has personally told the club of his intention to resign, taking responsibility for the team’s poor performance. Chunichi finished last in the league for the second year running, and this season again saw them fall as far as 8 games off the pace. On 5ch’s live-discussion board, debate spread over possible successors, with names like coach Eichi and various Chunichi alumni floated one after another. Fans also clashed over how to judge Inoue’s management — some argued that “by the advanced stats, this team should be at .500, not buried in last place,” while others shot back that “a bullpen’s performance doesn’t always show up in the numbers.”
What people said
I think it'll be Eichi.
He's got the local pipeline — Gifu Prefectural Commercial High to Meijo University, same as a lot of Chunichi guys.
Lol, the die-hard Chunichi apologists are still talking in their sleep.
Wasn't there that time back in summer when some front-office director showed up on a road trip and everyone thought 'this is it, he's finally getting fired' — but instead there was a tearful press conference about fully backing him to stay on, and it was a total anticlimax?
Just run that play again.
That's the downside of making Kataoka the farm-team manager when everyone knew he'd be gone the second Tatsunami left.
Just a reminder that rice was way cheaper back during the 2023 Chunichi 'rice riot' incident.
Wada was the batting coach but got let go along with Tatsunami, so that's off the table.
For his own sake, it's probably time to let him go.
Managing just seems to age people overnight.
Even 'Gaffe' aged fast in his first year too.
That's just going to double home runs allowed too!
Inoue rebuilt this team all the way up to Climax Series contention from '666' — why would he need to quit?
If the front office had actually reinforced the roster, they could've even fought for 2nd place this year.
Even though they're currently fighting Yakult and Hiroshima for last place this year?
8 games back, and contending for what exactly?
Lol, Chunichi's the only team whose expectations keep cratering.
If drawing fans is the only bar, then Inoue's outdrawing Ochiai from the powerhouse-Dragons era, which would make him a great manager, right?
Only three managers in NPB history have led a team in their 70s:
Mr. Ohgi
Nomu-san (Katsuya Nomura)
…and Joynus (lol)
If you mean Hiromitsu (Ochiai), doing commentary or interviews is one thing, but there's no way he could handle the grind of managing again.
You see the occasional photo on his son Fukushi's X account, and he really does look like an old man now.
He's already settled into his 'living out his golden years on YouTube' phase, so no chance.
There's zero point in climbing within the 4th-to-6th place pack.
If it's a dead game, treat it like one and just run out the young guys.
It's the same pointless move as when Yoda, in a year he'd already decided not to chase the Climax Series, worked the team half to death down the stretch just to sneak into 3rd.
And what's the plan for the coaching staff?
He'd obviously call up his buddy Kataoka.
Watching Yoshinobu (Takahashi) lately, it feels like it's already a done deal.
He's been dropping hints.
Source: Weekly Jitsuwa
[Chunichi] Dark Clouds Over the Inoue Regime After 15 Straight Pennant-less Years… Escalating In-House 'Factional Feuding' and the Sudden Imanaka-Nakata Regime Proposal
https://weekly-jitsuwa.jp/archives/24232
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Chunichi finished last in the league in both 2024 and 2025, and this season — Inoue’s third at the helm — the team again struggled to climb above .500. The thread split over how to judge his in-game management: some defended him, arguing that “by sabermetric-style stats, this team shouldn’t have a losing record at all,” while others countered that “a bullpen’s performance doesn’t always show up in the numbers” — a debate that highlights how hard it is to judge a manager when the stats and the results don’t line up. On the question of a successor, names of former coaches and Chunichi alumni kept coming up one after another, but readers should note that the Imanaka/Nakata plan reported by Weekly Jitsuwa is just one outlet’s speculative report, not an official club announcement. There’s also underlying frustration with front-office management for failing to groom a successor — for instance, former farm-team manager Atsushi Kataoka left the organization once Tatsunami (“Tatsu”) stepped down.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Breaking] Chunichi Manager Kazuki Inoue to ‘Resign’ — Takes Responsibility for Team’s Slump, Personally Requests Departure from the Club…“
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