From our other sites
The story
New Balance Japan announced on October 7 that it has signed a Diamond Partner agreement with NPB Enterprise, which operates the Samurai Japan national baseball team, and unveiled the new uniform and “SJ”-embroidered cap for the “Laqzus Asia Professional Baseball Championship 2026,” set to kick off on November 12. On 5ch threads, confusion spread over whether the visual of players standing in overgrown grass was meant as a Field of Dreams homage or just looked like guys fetching stray balls at a riverside ballpark, with doubts also raised about the striped design and the apparently AI-generated promotional images. Meanwhile, the discussion branched out in multiple directions, including comparisons with the Japan national soccer team’s uniform and the origins of the “Samurai Japan” nickname.
New Balance Japan announced on the 7th that it has signed with NPB Enterprise, which operates Japan’s national baseball team “Samurai Japan,”
a Diamond Partner agreement as an official supplier to Samurai Japan.
The new uniform was unveiled at the press conference announcing the roster for the “Laqzus Asia Professional Baseball Championship 2026,” which kicks off on November 12.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Baseball should just be played out on a riverbank like in this photo.
The uniform suits you, though.
It's probably a Field of Dreams homage, but it just looks like a boy doing farm work sometime during the war.
At least make it seven to match 'Seven Samurai,' or nine for a baseball lineup — put a little more thought into it, lol.
Even the baseball otaku ('yakibuta,' a mocking term for diehard baseball fanboys) are calling it bad, lol
Feels like plenty of other sports have updated their look over the years, but baseball's stuck with that same Showa-era fit forever.
Pure Showa era.
The away uniform looks like it's from right after the war, doesn't it?
Only in baseball can a used-car dealership become the national team's title sponsor and an international tournament's namesake, lol
Wasn't it taken from the field hockey national team, not handball?
Is this supposed to be copying the cornfield from Field of Dreams?
Looks more like they're picking up stray balls at a riverside ballpark.
Soccer's uniform is better.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The new uniform is for the “Asia Professional Baseball Championship 2026,” which opens in November, and the tournament’s title sponsor is Laqzus, a used-car dealership. As for the “Samurai Japan” nickname discussed in the thread, some pointed out that it was originally used by a different sport’s national team first — background that may need spelling out for readers unfamiliar with the history. No official explanation has been given for the creative intent behind this grass-backdrop visual, so the thread’s back-and-forth over whether it evokes “Field of Dreams” or just a riverside ballpark remains speculation rather than confirmed fact. Because this topic easily blurred the line between legitimate design criticism and mockery aimed at the designers or the models wearing the uniform, comments making blanket claims about nationality or insulting anyone’s appearance were excluded from this writeup.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[Baseball] Samurai Japan Unveils Newly Designed Uniform — “SJ”-Embroidered Cap Also Revealed.”
Leave a Reply