Orix Buffaloes manager Junichi Fukura will stay on for his second full season next year, the Pacific League club announced Wednesday.
Formerly the team's head coach, Fukura, was named interim manager in June 2015 when former skipper Hiroshi Moriwaki stepped down. Fukura's club sat at the bottom of the PL standings heading into Wednesday's game.
"He understands the players well. I have a big expectation of him building a good team from here," said Ryuzo Setoyama, Orix's head of baseball operations.
Said Fukura: "I said at the time of my appointment I will aim for water-tight baseball, but it's anything but. We have lots of things to work on."