NPB Spring Camps: 5 “Must-Watch” Points – How to Enjoy Okinawa, Miyazaki, Remote Islands and a WBC Year

February 1 has become the traditional joint start date for NPB spring camps. With all 12 clubs scattering to their respective camp sites, many fans probably wonder “which camp should I visit to get the most out of it?”

In this guide, we整理five key viewing points to help you fully enjoy NPB spring camps, taking into account the characteristics of each area and topics that are unique to this year.

1. Okinawa’s main island is basically a “camp theme park”

Chunichi (Chatan), Hanshin (Ginoza), DeNA (Ginowan), Yakult (Urasoe), Nippon-Ham (Nago/Kunigami), Rakuten and Lotte (Itoman, Kin, Kume Island)… in other words, multiple clubs cluster on and around Okinawa’s main island.

With Naha Airport as your hub and a rental car in hand, it’s perfectly feasible to “watch Chunichi in Chatan in the morning, then Hanshin in Ginoza in the afternoon” – a full day of camp-hopping between sites. You can experience the raw power of spring training again and again in a single day: the sound of balls jumping off the bat in free hitting, live batting practice, bullpen sessions with pitchers airing it out – all things you don’t sense the same way during the regular season.

• Easy to combine with sightseeing (beaches, Kokusai-dori and other tourist spots)
• You can check out “faces of the year” such as new foreign signings and first-round draft picks in one sweep
• Ballparks are relatively close together, keeping travel time and cost low

For fans thinking “I just want to go somewhere once” or “I haven’t decided which club to focus on yet,” Okinawa’s main island as a base is the safest choice with the lowest risk of disappointment.

2. Miyazaki is the “capital of baseball spring” – Giants, Hawks and Buffaloes in one area

In the Miyazaki area, you will typically find the Giants (Sun Marine), SoftBank (Ikime-no-mori) and Orix (Kiyotake), plus clubs like Lotte and Seibu rotating through for part of the period. With multiple teams located within a 30–40 minute drive of the city, it’s easy to “hop” between two or three clubs in a single day.

From late February, the schedule also fills up with practice games, open games and Miyazaki-hosted exchange games. If you want to see not only batting practice and live BP, but also new signings and roster battles in real game situations, Miyazaki is ideal.

• You can see recent perennial contenders like the Giants, Hawks and Buffaloes in one trip
• Sometimes the same stadium hosts NPB vs overseas-team matchups
• The city has well-developed accommodation and transport infrastructure, making it easy to stay for multiple days

If you’re the type who wants to watch new foreign players’ first game action or judge starting jobs through live competition, then Miyazaki camps plus pre-season games are a perfect combination.

3. Ishigaki, Kume Island and Haruno: “connoisseur spots” for watching young talent

Lotte’s Ishigaki Island camp, Rakuten’s Kume Island camp, Seibu’s farm camp in Haruno (Kochi)… these “remote island / regional camps” tend to draw fewer spectators than the main sites, making them a paradise for fans who want to closely observe prospects and developmental players.

• You’re physically closer to bullpens and sub-fields, allowing you to study pitching mechanics and ball movement in detail
• Farm and developmental players often spend long stretches working through batting, fielding and defensive drills
• With fewer spectators, you can clearly hear players’ voices and coaches giving instructions

If you want to “discover future regulars a few years ahead of everyone else” or carefully watch how coaches teach, then camps like Ishigaki, Kume Island and Haruno are truly a treasure trove. For baseball fans who enjoy the process just as much as (or more than) the results, it’s an ideal environment.

4. In WBC years, pay attention to how national team candidates prepare

In seasons that lead into the WBC, you’ll often notice that Samurai Japan candidates go about their camp work in noticeably different ways.

• Pitchers who are throwing bullpens with the official WBC ball they’ll use with the national team
• Position players rotating through multiple spots on the field to prepare for utility roles
• Team Japan staff and scouts making the rounds of camp sites to check on candidates

Even routine spring training menus can look completely different if you watch them with the mindset of “this is probably based on how they’ll be used in the actual tournament”.

For example, if a pitcher is:

• Working almost exclusively out of the set position
• Frequently doing menus that simulate back-to-back short-relief outings

That might suggest the staff is considering him for a relief or one-batter specialist role on the national team. On the other hand, pitchers being stretched out for longer innings are more likely being evaluated as rotation candidates.

5. Camps with fierce position battles are pure drama

The places where you feel the most “human drama” at camp are around positions where roster battles are especially intense. If you see news headlines like:

“Third base job is wide open” / “Closer to be decided based on camp competition”

for a particular club, you can bet that the players involved in those positions will be engaged in an all-out showcase battle from Day 1.

• “Quad-A” level hitters swinging full power in batting practice day after day
• Young pitchers throwing 100+ pitches in the bullpen, then coming back the next day to impress again
• Defense and baserunning coaches giving endless one-on-one fungo work to specific players

These are the kinds of scenes that television broadcasts during the season almost never convey. When you experience the atmosphere on site, you can physically feel the “temperature” of things – “this guy is dead serious about winning that starting job” or “this young player is clearly a big part of the club’s first-team plans.”

List of links to each club’s official site

Detailed camp schedules, participating players, fan-service information and other updates are posted on each club’s “camp special” page on its official site. For the latest information, start by checking the official links below.

Summary: Choose your camp site based on how you like to enjoy baseball

Even though they’re all called “spring camps,” every club and camp site offers its own atmosphere and points of interest.

• Want to bounce around and see lots of teams in a lively setting? → Okinawa main island / Miyazaki
• Want to quietly track prospects and developmental players? → “Connoisseur” camps like Ishigaki, Kume Island, Haruno, etc.
• Want to feel the survival vibes of national team candidates and position battles? → Camps of contending clubs in WBC years

If you first整理 how you personally enjoy watching baseball, and then choose your camp site accordingly, you’ll get a far richer “camp experience” out of that same single day. This spring, instead of watching from the stands, why not feel the start of the season right next to the bullpen or on the edge of the sub-field?