One of Japanese baseball's new rules at home plate, or rather the determination to start enforcing one that was technically already in effect, has been the source of some consternation on NPB diamonds.
The new part of the rule is simple enough, with runners basically tasked with avoiding collisions at home plate. This is similar to the rule introduced in the majors in 2014. The existing part, now being enforced after years of being ignored, has been the problem.
Catchers can no longer get away with blocking the plate and must give runners a path to the dish. If they don't, the runner is ruled safe whether the tag is made in time or not.