The latest chapter in a long history of pro baseball exchanges between Japan and the United States will open Friday with the start of the six-game Japan All-Star Series.
For the second time, visiting major leaguers will square off against Japan's national team, Samurai Japan, a format that started in 2014. Japan beat the major leaguers 3-2 over five games, including one game in which the big league side was no-hit.
Japan sees these games as a spring board in its quest to win an Olympic gold medal when the sport appears for the first time since 2008 in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.