sports
3 min read•Sep 29, 2026
Japan’s ‘Office Worker’ Baseball Shocks Korea: How Social Baseball Stars Stopped a ₩5.4 Billion Team
Japan’s social baseball system became a major talking point at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after its players defeated Korea 5-0 in the Super Round. The spotlight fell on left-handed pitcher Shin Higuchi, an employee of Japanese paper company Oji, who held Korea scoreless over seven innings. Although Korea later defeated Japan 3-1 in the final to win its fifth consecutive Asian Games baseball gold, the earlier defeat highlighted the depth and professional-level infrastructure behind Japan’s corporate baseball teams.
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