Skipper Hiroki Kokubo announced the Samurai Japan national baseball team's first provisional roster for November's inaugural WBSC Premier 12 on Thursday afternoon.
The group of 65 players is exclusively made up of NPB stars including 40-year-old ex-major league hurler Hiroki Kuroda and a 19-year-old new kid on the block, Tomoya Mori.
Kokubo said at a Tokyo news conference that he and his staff selected "top players who represent today's professional baseball" in Japan, yet added that while some may not be doing great presently, they had established themselves in the past.