Hotaka Yamakawa on His Breakthrough Moment—It All Started with Sato

From struggle to awakening

“Of course, I was happy to receive the MVP, but becoming Japan’s champion was the most important thing. I’ve experienced winning four times before, but during my time with Seibu, we were eliminated in the Climax Series. Two years ago, we lost in the Japan Series.

Finally, my long-cherished wish came true. It was truly a grueling season, so I feel like the baseball gods gave me a reward at the very end.”

In the 2025 Japan Series, where the Central League champions Hanshin faced SoftBank, Yamakawa Hotaka (34) exploded at the plate, hitting three home runs in three consecutive games, driving in seven RBIs, and batting .385. With his own bat, he brought the team to its long-awaited championship, earning the Series MVP. However, during the season, he struggled with a .226 batting average, 23 home runs, and 62 RBIs, ending without any major title.

“Throughout the season, some part of my body was always in pain, and each time I had to adjust my form. When my oblique injury healed, my Achilles tendon hurt next.

Ideally, I’d play in perfect condition, but as a regular, you have to play while managing injuries. That didn’t go well for me this year. Because of the pain, I had to reduce my practice volume and couldn’t find my ideal form—that’s the essence of it.

Your ideal form changes every year. I search for it every season, and sometimes I find it just two or three days after the season starts. I’ve had three seasons hitting more than 40 home runs, and in each case, I reached my ideal form early. In 2024, when I became the two-crown king, it was in August. Once you find a form that says, ‘This will work!’ or ‘Here it is!’ you can start hitting home runs in volume.

Even if your swing falters slightly, you can correct it if you have a solid base. Last year, I couldn’t establish that base until the very end.

Without a base, you have to bat in a different form each time. You step up to the plate feeling uncertain. It’s a problem before even facing the pitcher.

It felt like I was battling myself that was really painful.”

Drawing on his years of experience, Yamakawa analyzes: “When things go well, you have your ideal form and a solid base, and results usually follow.” The “thing I was searching for” that he couldn’t find until the end of the season came from an unexpected place.

“In the first game of the Japan Series against Hanshin, I wasn’t in the starting lineup, so I was on the bench. I was watching Sato Teruaki (26) of the Tigers, not at the plate but his practice swings. Then I noticed his footwork. It somehow looked like his weight was on his heels.

At that moment, I had an ‘aha!’ moment. I thought, ‘I’ll try this.’ The MVP batting method was actually modeled after Sato.”

In the January 8 release of FRIDAY (January 23 issue) and the paid edition FRIDAY GOLD, Yamakawa—who rarely gives media interviews—openly talks about putting weight on the heels in his new form, the sensations he regained in the Japan Series, his most satisfying at-bat last season, and why he sacrifices the off-season to practice.

For full details and multiple photos, click here ↓

From the January 23, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”