January 9, 2026

Akahata ‘current’ column

Where there’s struggle, there’s progress. One labor union proved this: The Professional Baseball Players Association.

It was launched 40 years ago today. In an interview with the Akahata Sunday edition, Nakahata Kiyoshi, a Yomiuri Giants player at the time and the union’s first president, shared his aspirations: “I want to pave the way for professional baseball leagues where players can perform with confidence and power, delighting fans with exciting games.”

Contrary to their glamorous public image, players were treated as the property of their teams and forced to comply with team demands. Although classified as self-employed individuals, professional baseball players in Japan had no authority and could not even retire when they wanted to.

In the Diet, Japanese Communist Party lawmakers argued that “players are workers,” pushing for the formation of a union.

A dramatic change came in 1985 when the Tokyo Labor Relations Commission recognized the players’ association as a labor union. This enabled the association to hold collective bargaining talks with team management, paving the way for better working conditions and the protection of basic human rights.

Minimum salaries increased, players gained the freedom to transfer teams, and an agent system was introduced. The expansion of players’ rights simultaneously revitalized professional baseball as a whole. In 2004, their first strike received overwhelming support from fans and the general public, successfully blocking the team owners’ unilateral league restructuring plan.

During the strike, Furuta Atsuya, then president of the players association, often stated that the strike is “for the future of professional baseball.” The strike demonstrated the players’ determination to protect their workplace and develop professional baseball as a public asset of society. It is precisely because of the union that each team now makes management efforts, and Japanese baseball players, including Ohtani Shohei, are able to flourish overseas.

Past related article:
> Baseball Hall of Fame and war [January 14, 2008]