With Shohei Ohtani on the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series roster and Roki Sasaki also taking the mound, fans are curious about the total number of Japanese players on the defending champions’ roster, in total, there are only three Japan-born players on the roster.
While the number of Japanese players isn’t large, seeing the dominant Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, and then watching the Dodgers attempt to close out Game 6 against the Blue Jays with another Japanese pitcher like Sasaki, leaves people wondering where the Dodgers manage to acquire so many high-caliber pitchers from Japan.
The youngest of the three Japanese players on the Dodgers’ roster is obviously Sasaki, who recently joined the team. At 23 years old, he shares the title of the team’s youngest pitchers alongside Edgardo Henriquez.
How many Japanese players have the Dodgers had in their history?
In total, 10 players from Japan have played for the Dodgers since 1995. The first was Hideo Nomo in 1995, followed by Kazuhisa Ishii in 2002, and Masao Kida in 2003, marking the first three pitchers from Japan to play for the team.
| Player name | Position | Years with Dodgers |
| Hideo Nomo | Pitcher | (1995–1998, 2002–2004) |
| Kazuhisa Ishii | Pitcher | (2002–2004) |
| Masao Kida | Pitcher | (2003–2004) |
| Norihiro Nakamura | Infield | (2005) |
| Takashi Saito | Pitcher | (2006–2008) |
| Hiroki Kuroda | Pitcher | (2008–2011) |
| Yoshi Tsutsugo | Infield | (2021) |
| Shohei Ohtani* | Pitcher | (2024-) |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto* | Pitcher | (2024-) |
| Roki Sasaki* | Pitcher | (2025-) |
The majority of these players have been pitchers, mirroring the trend among Japanese players currently active on other MLB teams. Only two Japanese players not currently with the Dodgers play a different position in the majors: Seiya Suzuki, who plays right field for the Cubs, and Masataka Yoshida, who plays left field for the Red Sox.