Japan Pro Baseball to Introduce Paternity, Other Special Leave

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association has agreed with the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, to introduce paternity and other special leave for players from the 2026 season. The agreement was reached at the two groups’ meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, according to officials of the players’ association. The association has called for allowing players to take leave for special occasions, such as spousal childbirth and funerals for relatives, during the season. “Such a system is commonplace in society, and we are finally getting it,” Tadahito Mori, head of the association’s secretariat, said. Under the NPB rules, a player removed from the active list has to wait for at least 10 days before reregistration. This rule will not apply to players taking the special leave as an exception, according to the association. The NPB will officially announce the introduction of the special leave system after obtaining approval from its executive committee. U.S. Major League Baseball’s paternity list system, which allows players to take paternity leave, drew attention when Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani used it for his wife’s childbirth in April this year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]