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The story
On November 14, in Game 3 of the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship, Samurai Japan defeated the Australian national team 16-1, the game ending early under the mercy rule after the 7th inning. It was their third straight win, following a 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei on the 12th and a 9-5 win over South Korea on the 13th, securing their third consecutive trip to the final. Manager Atsunori Inaba praised the team’s disciplined hitting, saying the final “should be a game played in the best possible atmosphere.” Japan’s final opponent is South Korea, a team they already faced the day before. On 5ch, while some commenters praised individual plays, the thread was dominated by a side debate comparing baseball’s prestige and TV ratings to soccer — with comments like “the opponent wasn’t even trying” and “the ratings are low” — so discussion drifted away from the game itself and into this surrounding argument.
[Asia CS] Samurai Japan crushes Australia 16-1, wins third straight to reach the final — Manager Atsunori Inaba praises disciplined hitting, says the final “should be a game played in the best possible atmosphere”
In Game 3 of the “Lagzas Asia Professional Baseball Championship 2026” (Asia CS), held on November 14, Japan’s national team “Samurai Japan” faced off against the Australian national team.
They won decisively, 16-1 (ending early via the mercy rule after the 7th inning), marking a third straight win following a 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei on the 12th and a 9-5 win over South Korea the next day — securing their third consecutive appearance in the final.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
This is a seriously niche-sport thread, you know (ドマイナー = "ultra-minor/niche").
only cares about lining its own pockets,
zero interest in growing the game worldwide,
so international games end up being a total joke.
Already throwing up a preemptive excuse, shaking like a leaf, baseball-boy lol (やきぶた = a mocking term for baseball fans, mirroring サカ豚)
Hope we can pull out a win somehow.
Oh right, this is the sport that sucks up tax money, apparently. (a jab implying soccer/the J.League leans on public subsidies)
Kento Takasaki (a powerhouse high school baseball team) might be stronger than this.
Nah, Matt's even more amazing.
Punchline: the other team isn't even playing seriously.
Kind of sad, playing against what's basically a bunch of tourists on a convenience-store run.
Baseball's international matches are just pretend.
Stirring up rivalry over a friendly match like some [other sport] does is just plain dumb.
Most countries don't even have a standing national team for this — what exactly is there to 'practice' against?
Kind of a letdown.
Well, they wanted to wrap it up quick lol.
It's held November 12-15, 2026 at the Tokyo Dome, officially sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Key features are as follows.
1. Participating countries/regions (4 teams)
Four nations face off: Japan (Samurai Japan), South Korea, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), and Australia.
2. Eligibility (rosters centered on young players)
To give players international experience, the following age/career restrictions generally apply:
• Young players aged 24 or under, or within their first 3 years as pros
• Over-age slots (OA slots): up to 3 players aged 29 or under may be used
Does Australia even have professional baseball?
Daibo's older brother actually went pro once.
There's a pro league called the ABL — apparently it's around the level of U.S. Double-A ball.
A little kindergarten recital pulling a 3.5% rating 🤔 (お遊戯 = "children's play/recital," mocking it as trivial)
This is what happens when a niche sport ('ball-kicking' = soccer) chickens out of a match against Brazil.
If the MLB guys joined in too, we'd be at the point where people start discussing excluding Japan from international baseball tournaments entirely.
If that's the case, stop just playing the same usual countries in your own backyard —
go tour the Caribbean and play the Caribbean teams lol.
Starting with Gen Z (25 and under): there's a slight upward trend, but in every case it stays below 10%. Interest in baseball seems pretty low in this generation.
The core demographic (ages 13-49) isn't high either. It's trending slightly upward, but it's more than 5% below the overall population average.
Age-wise, it's the middle-aged and elderly who are propping up the popularity. People in their 50s-60s run 7-8% above the overall average. And for those 70 and older, it's nearly double the overall average. Baseball really is a sport held up by its elderly fans.
https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/rock1963roll/imgs/1/9/1982bc18.jpg
It's really just there to show Japanese fans, 'see, baseball has international tournaments too.'
NHK General — Saturday Watch 9: 5.3%
Nippon TV — Our Hakone Ekiden: 5.6%
TV Asahi — Soccer: Japan vs Brazil: 17.5%
TBS — How Much Is That Worth?: 4.5%
TV Tokyo — Pop-Up! Ad-Street Expedition: 4.8%
Fuji TV — Ariyoshi's Summer Vacation 26: 77 Hours in Hawaii: 2.9%
Ariyoshi's Summer Vacation has been unpopular garbage forever — how long are they gonna keep running this?
TV stations really do spoil their celebrities lol.
Well yeah, when you're surrounded by that many skilled teammates, of course.
Japan doesn't have an ounce of interest in cricket either.
Same thing.
Grandpa, 'no rivals in Asia' means something different for baseball —
there's no rivals because barely any countries even play it lol.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The “Asia CS” is an international tournament aimed at developing young talent, with eligibility generally limited to players aged 24 or under, or within their first three years as pros; it was held at the Tokyo Dome under WBSC sanction. Only these four countries took part, and under the rules, established MLB-caliber stars and veterans are essentially barred from competing. Reactions in the thread like “Japan is too strong” or “no rivals in Asia” tend to overlook that this is really a comparison between each country’s young-player squads — treating it the same as a full-roster international tournament like the WBC risks misjudging the real gap in ability. Another recurring thread is the popularity comparison between baseball and soccer, with plenty of discussion built around TV ratings — but without accounting for what else was airing that same night, or the tournament’s actual purpose of developing young players, a straightforward popularity comparison doesn’t really hold up. Japan’s final opponent, South Korea, is a team they already played a close game against the day before (9-5), so fatigue from consecutive games and pitcher usage could end up being the deciding factors.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Samurai Japan advances to the final! Beats Australia 16-1 by mercy rule — Final opponent is South Korea, Manager Inaba: “The final should be a game played in the best possible atmosphere”.”
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