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The story
In the search for the Chunichi Dragons’ next manager, Nikkan Sports reports that Kudo Masayuki (63), who led SoftBank to five Japan Series titles, has emerged as a leading candidate. Kuwata Masumi (now with Oisix) and Tsuji Hatsuhiko, both floated as outside hires, are said to be out of the running; if an outside appointment falls through, team alumnus Ibata Hirokazu reportedly becomes the frontrunner. On 5ch, opinions split — some questioned why Kudo would leave a perennial winner like SoftBank to grab a “chestnut from the fire” (i.e., take on such a thankless, risky job), others pointed to Chunichi’s tendency to treat even hometown figures as outsiders, and still others raised structural problems surrounding the club itself.
Nikkan Sports
[October 5, 2026, 4:00 AM]
It was learned on the 4th that former SoftBank manager Kudo Masayuki (63) has emerged as a leading candidate for Chunichi’s new manager post. According to sources around the league, Kuwata Masumi (58), CBO of farm-league club Oisix, and former Seibu manager Tsuji Hatsuhiko (67) — both floated as outside hires — appear to be out of contention. If an outside appointment doesn’t materialize, team alumnus and former Samurai Japan manager Ibata Hirokazu (51) becomes the leading candidate.
Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here
What people said
There is one upside: once you're linked to the Dragons, work in Nagoya picks up.
This is a region with two Dragons fan shows a week.
Even Nakata Sho, who barely produced for two years, still gets TV work.
He won't take it.
He's no use anymore, but hey, at least he's an alum.
Even being from Aichi, he'd still get treated as an outsider at Chunichi, so it'd be a tough gig.
He won't take it.
Shima, who's from Gifu, actually has a better shot.
No chance.
Wait, is Matsunaka even staying?
Wasn't he brought in by Inoue?
The manager's skill barely even factors in.
Weren't they weak under Fujimoto, though?
They need to sort out the factional infighting inside the Chunichi Shimbun company first.
I really wanted to see a Kuwata-led team.
Though Seibu probably won't let him go.
When Kuwata's name came up I thought it was basically a done deal…
Is the front office — roster building, player development, scouting — actually okay?
In that case it sounds like it'd be Ibata.
In that case just call up Matsuzaka.
This is the same vibe as when Ochiai took over as manager.
He didn't start getting properly recognized as a skipper until around year two.
Is that normal elsewhere too? ("dorai-ichi" = first-round draft pick)
Inoue's the most entertaining one of the bunch.
Kudo Masayuki is actually pro-brown rice too.
Kudo is a disciple of the "Hirooka school" and champions "managed baseball" (kanri yakyu) —
he'll even manage players' diets.
Modern nutrition management is way beyond that level, lol.
https://content.bookoff.co.jp/goodsimages/LL/001548/0015489610LL.jpg
There was a time Makihara Taisei got a leg cramp and Kudo told him, "Eat brown rice."
Hirooka Tatsuro was Kudo's mentor.
When his health broke down, his wife took strict control of his diet and turned him around.
It's not Nagoya, it's the Chunichi Shimbun that's the problem.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Over his playing career, Kudo Masayuki racked up 224 wins, and as a manager he built one of the most decorated records in the game, leading SoftBank to five Japan Series titles. It’s worth noting that this report is still at the “candidate” stage — there’s been no official announcement from the club. The thread’s discussion takes as a given that Kuwata Masumi (CBO) and Tsuji Hatsuhiko, both earlier floated as outside hires, have fallen out of contention; that frames Kudo less as the clear frontrunner and more as the first option in a two-tier plan — “Ibata Hirokazu if the outside hire doesn’t pan out.” Where opinion split was over whether someone with Kudo’s résumé would actually gain anything from taking on an unstable team like Chunichi, with many voicing doubts about his motive for leaving a perennial winner like SoftBank. Others pointed to structural problems on the management side — like factional infighting within the Chunichi Shimbun company — arguing that a managerial change alone won’t fix things.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Chunichi] Kudo Masayuki Emerges as Leading Candidate for New Manager — Hometown Native, SoftBank’s 5-Time Champion “Title Fixer”.”
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