The Nippon Professional Baseball NPB All-Star Game gallery. Pictured here are many of the very rare Mizuno and Sun-Up (Sunup) official on-field game balls from Japan’s premier midseason showcase. And how lucky are NPB fans, they get two All-Star Games per year, at different venues. For a few seasons the NPB featured three All-Star games!
1996–2006 NPB All-Star Game (Sanyo Sponsored)
1996 NPB All-Star Games Fukuoka, Tokyo, & Toyama. 1997 NPB ASG Black-stamped, Osaka Dome (Kintetsu Buffaloes) (Practice?). 1997 ASG Official Game Ball 1 Osaka Dome. 1997 ASG Official Game Ball 2 Jingu Stadium, Tokyo (Yakult Swallows). 2000 ASG Nagasaki Big N Stadium. 2000 ASG Tokyo Dome (Yomiuri Giants). 2001 ASG Fukuoka. 2001 ASG Yokohama. 2001 ASG Sapporo. 2002 ASG Tokyo Dome (Giants). 2002 ASG Matsuyama. 2003 ASG Chiba. 2003 ASG Osaka (Buffaloes). 2004 ASG Nagoya. 2004 ASG Nagano. 2005 ASG Invoice Seibu Dome (Saitama Seibu Lions). 2005 ASG Hanshin Koshien Stadium (Tigers). 2006 ASG Sunmarine Stadium. 2006 ASG Jingu Stadium, Tokyo (Swallows). (TBA ASG Balls: 1998, 1999, 2000 Kobe, pre-1996.)
We believe the league started using a special game ball for their Midsummer Classic in the mid 1990s. We have, however, seen a few examples from the early 1980s that have simple English text stamp with the year, but without any design or logos (e.g., “1982 All-Star Game”). We’re unsure of their validity; they might just be high-end leather commemorative “sign balls” (souvenirs).
2007 (Gulliver) & 2008–2016 (Mazda) NPB ASG Baseballs
2007 Gulliver ASG, Tokyo Dome (Giants). 2007 Gulliver ASG, Fullcast Stadium, Sendai, Miyagi (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles). 2008 Osaka. 2008 Yokohama. 2009 Hiroshima. 2009 Sapporo. 2010 60th Year, Niigata. 2010 60th Year, Fukuoka. 2011 Nagoya. 2011 Chiba. 2011 Sendai, Miyagi. 2012 Osaka. 2012 Matsuyama. 2012 Iwate. 2013 Sapporo Dome, Hokkaido (Nippon Ham Fighters) (IMAGE TBA). 2013 Meijing Jingu Stadium, Tokyo (Yakult Swallows) (TBA). 2013 Fukushima. 2014 Hanshin Koshien Stadium (Tigers) (TBA). 2014 Seibu Dome (Saitama Seibu Lions) (TBA). 2015 Mazda Zoom-Zoom, Hiroshima (Carp). 2015 Tokyo Dome (Giants). 2016 Yokohama Stadium (DeNa BayStars). 2016 PayPay Dome, Fukuoka (Softbank Hawks).
There’s plenty to learn about NPB baseballs. What we do know is the NPB and Mizuno make some amazing commemorative special logo game balls – on par with Rawlings MLB game balls – and some would say even better! We have also learned most of these were incredibly difficult to acquire each season and they’ve become incredibly scare over the years.
2017–2025 NPB All-Star Game Baseballs (Mynavi)
2017 Nagoya Dome (Chunichi Dragons). 2017 Chiba, ZozoMarine Stadium (Chiba Lotte Marines). 2018 Osaka, Kyocera Dome (Orix Buffaloes). 2018 Kumamoto (neutral site). 2019 Hanshin Koshien Stadium (Tigers). 2019 Tokyo Dome (Giants). 2021 Saitama, 70th Year, MetLife Dome (Seibu Lions). 2021 Miyagi, 70th Year, Seimei Park (Rakuten Golden Eagles). 2022 Fukuoa, PayPay Dome (SoftBank Hawks). 2022 Matsuyama, Botchan Stadium (neutral site). 2023 Nagoya, Vantelin Dome (Chunichi Dragons). 2023 Hiroshima, Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium (Carp). 2024 Hokkaido, Es Con Field (Nippon Ham Fighters). 2024 Tokyo, Meiji-Jingu Stadium (Yakult Swallows). 2025 Osaka, Kyocera Dome (Orix Buffaloes). 2025 Yokohama Stadium (DeNA BayStars).
Unless you played in the game or worked for the league at a high level, you probably could not find an NPB official ASG game ball, until recently. And to make it even more difficult for both foreign and domestic collectors, most of these were exceptionally limited when compared to their American MLB ASG counterparts. Not long ago they simply weren’t available for sale. Even most game balls hit into the stands had to be returned by fans. What a shame! Only recently has the league made a some quantities available onsite on game days, plus some made-to-order by Mizuno for limited retail sales prior to the events.
Needless to say, we’re still looking for quite a few. But we’re relentless! Always wheeling, dealing and trading. And if you really have an interest, we may have a few extras from some seasons. Personally, I think it’s wise to stock up on a few years for a few players in particular. The obvious example, Shohei Ohtani. He was voted into all NPB ASGs from 2013–2017. That’s 11 different rare official game balls from the Ohtani official game ball collection that nearly all USA collectors will surely be missing!
If you’re an NPB collector with extra commemoratives to sell or trade, as mentioned above, we’re missing a few, so please contact us!
NPB All-Star Game Baseballs – Game-Used Examples
1996 (Fukuoka, Tokyo or Toyama). 1997 Jingu Stadium, Tokyo. 1997 Osaka Practice/BP Version. 2004 Nagoya. 2005 Seibu.
