Updated October 19, 2026: The confirmed NPB schedule for Monday, October 19, through Sunday, October 25, has one headline series: DeNA vs. SoftBank in the opening two games of the 2026 Japan Series. The league’s October calendar lists no games from October 19 through October 23, then places Game 1 on Saturday and Game 2 on Sunday at Yokohama Stadium. That makes the weekend series the key fixture to follow in Japan during this seven-day window.
For readers comparing schedules across countries, the published start times below show both Japan Standard Time and UTC. The dates stay the same in both time zones. The times come from NPB’s current schedule and individual game pages; they are not estimates or a prediction of when a game will finish.
| Date | Series game | Matchup | Venue | Start time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, October 24, 2026 | Japan Series Game 1 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama | 6:30 p.m. JST (UTC+09:00); 9:30 a.m. UTC |
| Sunday, October 25, 2026 | Japan Series Game 2 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama | 6:00 p.m. JST (UTC+09:00); 9:00 a.m. UTC |
The official NPB October schedule shows the empty dates earlier in the week and both weekend fixtures. The league’s Game 1 page and Game 2 page list Yokohama and their respective start times. NPB publishes the stadium’s scheduled start for Game 1 as 6:30 p.m. and for Game 2 as 6:00 p.m.
Both games take place in Yokohama, Japan, so the local label is Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+09:00). The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology explains that JST is maintained nine hours ahead of UTC. Converting the NPB times gives 9:30 a.m. UTC on October 24 for Game 1 and 9:00 a.m. UTC on October 25 for Game 2. Neither conversion crosses midnight, so each game remains on the same calendar date in UTC as it does in Yokohama.
Illustrative example (hypothetical): Imagine a reader outside Japan building a weekend baseball calendar. They could first save the official Japan times—Saturday at 6:30 p.m. JST and Sunday at 6:00 p.m. JST—then use the matching UTC entries as a neutral reference before converting to their own time zone. This example describes a planning method only; it is not a real viewer’s schedule, a broadcast confirmation, or a report of a test. The NICT explanation of Japan Standard Time is the reference for the UTC offset.
The Japan Series is NPB’s championship matchup between the Central League and Pacific League representatives. The 2026 schedule begins with two games at the Central League representative’s home stadium, then shifts to the Pacific League representative’s home venue for the next scheduled block. The official 2026 Japan Series outline identifies October 24 as Game 1 and October 25 as Game 2, and says the series ends when one club reaches four wins. That format gives this week’s two dates a clear role: they open a best-of-seven title series, rather than add another regular-season matchup.
NPB’s completed October schedule also explains how these clubs reached the final. DeNA finished its Climax Series Final Stage against Hanshin with four wins, while SoftBank won three straight scheduled games against Nippon-Ham in the Pacific League Final Stage. Those are completed postseason results, not games still to come during October 19–25. The league’s schedule records the four DeNA wins from October 14–17 and SoftBank’s three wins from October 14–16. The teams therefore enter this week as the two Japan Series participants, with the championship games themselves still ahead on the listed calendar.
That background makes the weekend notable without requiring a forecast. Game 1 establishes the opening score in the series; Game 2 follows the next evening at the same venue. The schedule alone does not show which club will have the better matchup, how either manager will deploy the bullpen, or how many games the series will last. Those are questions for the games themselves, not facts that can be settled from the calendar.
As of the October 19 schedule check, NPB confirms the two dates, opponents, Yokohama venue, and start times. The schedule pages reviewed do not list starting pitchers, batting orders, or a broadcast provider for these games. No lineup or player-availability claim is made here. In particular, a scheduled game time should not be treated as proof of a television or streaming service in every country; viewers should check their own official broadcaster listings as game day approaches.
The official Japan Series information says NPB uses announced starting pitchers for every game, but that rule is not the same as an announcement for these two games. For changes to the venue, timing, or game status, use the current NPB schedule and the two individual match pages. The hypothetical calendar example above is useful for converting a confirmed time; it cannot substitute for checking the official listing for a late change.
For the October 19–25 NPB schedule, the weekend’s Japan Series opener is the clear focal point: two confirmed games, one venue, and different start times on consecutive days. Use the official game pages for the latest schedule status, and treat any separate lineup or broadcast report as confirmed only when it appears in an official club, league, or broadcaster announcement.
See the confirmed NPB schedule for October 19–25, 2026, including DeNA vs. SoftBank at Yokohama Stadium, Japan-local start times, and UTC conversions.
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