Nankai Electric Railway Company ownership (1938–1988) The franchise that eventually became the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks was founded on February 22, 1938, by
Nankai Electric Railway president Jinkichi Terada as
Nankai Club, based in central
Osaka. The organization was said to be created as a result of rival railway companies
Hanshin Electric Railway and
Hankyu convincing Nankai to create a baseball club of their own. While initially met with resistance, the club was admitted to the
Japanese Baseball League (JPBL) in the fall of 1938, playing their first games at Sakai Ohama Stadium, but moved into Nakamozu Stadium in the city of
Sakai in 1939. The team's name was changed to
Kinki Nippon in mid-1944 as wartime austerity measures forced Nankai to temporarily merge with
Kinki Nippon Railway. After the 1945 hiatus in the JBL due to the ending stages of
World War II in Japan, in 1946 the team's name was changed to
Kinki Great Ring and the team won the JBL championship. The name was chosen as a translation of Japan's ancient name, Yamato, in a similar way to the
Montreal Canadiens or the
New York Yankees. In mid-1947, when Nankai broke away from Kinki Nippon Railway, they decided to change the team's name, also due to the fact that the name was popular with American soldiers stationed in Osaka, since they also found it funny, and settled upon the moniker they would use until they would sell the team in 1988 – ''''''. The team was named after Nankai's logo, which, at that time, was a winged wheel. Other names considered were Condors, which was rejected because the Nankai representative who supervised the team was bald, and Cardinals, which was rejected because the club wanted to retain their colors, so they settled on the Hawks moniker. After the JPBL was reorganized into
Nippon Professional Baseball in , the Hawks chose to join the upstart
Pacific League alongside the
Mainichi Orions,
Hankyu Braves,
Tokyu Flyers,
Daiei Stars,
Nishitetsu Clippers, and
Kintetsu Pearls. They also moved into the freshly built
Osaka Stadium in the ward of
Naniwa-ku, Osaka, where they would play until their move to Fukuoka after the season. Under player-manager
Kazuto Tsuruoka (known as
Kazuto Yamamoto from 1946 to 1958) they became one of the most successful franchises through the first two decades of the Pacific League's existence, taking two Japan Series championships in
1959 and
1964, as well as 10 Pacific League pennants, an amount that would not be duplicated by the club until . Tsuruoka managed the team from 1946 to 1968, becoming the full-time manager after his retirement as a player in 1952. In 1964, the Hawks sent second year pitcher
Masanori Murakami and two other young players to the
San Francisco Giants'
single-A affiliate in
Fresno as baseball "exchange students". On September 1st of that year, Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in
Major League Baseball when he appeared on the mound for the
San Francisco Giants at
Shea Stadium against the
New York Mets. In his debut, Murakami pitched one inning, allowing one hit and facing four batters in a 1–4 loss for the Giants. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, which effectively barred Japanese players from playing in MLB until
Hideo Nomo exploited a loophole in the contract agreement to join the
Los Angeles Dodgers in , although others had tried before, most notably pitcher
Yutaka Enatsu, who tried to walk on to the
Milwaukee Brewers in , but he was cut at the end of spring training. Murakami returned to the Hawks in 1966, playing for them through 1974. He contributed to the team's
1973 Japan Series appearance, their last under Nankai's ownership. After player-manager
Katsuya Nomura, the last player-manager to win a pennant in NPB, was traded to the
Lotte Orions after he, under the influence of his second wife, Sachiyo, tried to float the idea of releasing
Hiromitsu Kadota to management in , the Hawks fell straight to the basement for two decades, not finishing with a winning record again until . Following this debacle, Nankai's board of directors and union leadership put pressure on Den Kawakatsu, then-president of Nankai Electric Railways and primary owner of the team, to sell the team, which he refused to do. In response, Nankai's board refused to spend money on the Hawks beyond the bare minimum necessary to keep the team afloat. However, Kawakatsu, who represented the most ardent supporter of Nankai's ownership of the Hawks, died on April 23, 1988, and Nankai immediately put the team up for sale following Kawakatsu's death. The team was sold to supermarket chain
Daiei, who moved the team to Fukuoka, to become the
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (福岡ダイエーホークス) after the 1988 season.
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988–2004) After the franchise was acquired by department store chain Daiei, Inc., the Hawks were moved to
Fukuoka for two reasons; the first being the fact that the city had gone a decade without a team in the area, as the
Crown Lighter Lions moved to
Tokorozawa to become the
Seibu Lions in 1978, and the second was that Daiei was looking to expand their reach as a brand to
Kyushu, which Daiei had little to no presence in before the acquisition. As a result, they were no longer competing with the
Hanshin Tigers,
Kintetsu Buffaloes or even the by-then rechristened
Orix Braves (later the Orix Blue Wave, now the Orix Buffaloes) for a market share of the
Greater Osaka metropolitan area. However, in spite of those efforts of the new ownership, the Hawks still were usually in the cellar of the Pacific League, and continued to be at the bottom half of the league until 1997. The Hawks would play their first four seasons in Fukuoka at the Lions' old home of
Heiwadai Stadium. In 1993, the Hawks moved out of Heiwadai Stadium and into the newly constructed
Fukuoka Dome, now known as
Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, located 2.2 kilometers northwest of Heiwadai Stadium's former grounds. Heiwadai Stadium would later be closed in November 1997 and fully demolished by 2008. The Fukuoka Dome would be the first retractable roof stadium in NPB and the only retractable roof stadium until 2023, when
Es Con Field Hokkaido opened. However, due to inefficient design, high operating costs, and the rainy climate of Fukuoka, the roof is only opened on special occasions (i.e. on
Children's Day and other holidays) when the weather is clear, or if the Hawks win and there is a 30% or less chance of precipitation and the wind speed at 10 meters above the roof is 10 meters per second or slower. Since the Hawks moved to the Fukuoka Dome, they have led Pacific League in annual average attendance every single year except for 2021, where
pandemic restrictions in Japan prevented them from reaching said goal. The Hawks front office adopted a strategy of drafting and developing younger players, supplemented by free agent signings, a policy overseen by team president Ryuzo Setoyama and his aides. Setoyama's most brilliant moves were the hiring of home run king
Sadaharu Oh in 1995 to take the reins of manager, a title he would hold until 2008 before he moved into the general manager's position. As of 2026, Oh is still with the Hawks organization as a
chairman of the Hawks'
board of directors, and still engages with day-to-day operations of the team at the age of 85. Oh replaced then-manager Rikuo Nemoto, who was named team president and held that position until his death in 1999. Also tapped was Akira Ishikawa, a little-known former player, who was tasked with bringing in talented amateurs. He brought in the likes of
Kenji Johjima,
Kazumi Saitoh,
Nobuhiko Matsunaka,
Tadahito Iguchi,
Munenori Kawasaki, and future team captain and current manager
Hiroki Kokubo through the draft, all of whom went on to become stars for the Hawks. Supplementing the amateur signings were some notable free-agent acquisitions. Daiei competed with the then richest man in Japan,
Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, to pull former Seibu stars from their 1980s championship teams to Fukuoka. Among them were infielder
Hiromichi Ishige, outfielder and Hawks manager from 2008 to 2014
Koji Akiyama, and left-handed pitcher and former manager
Kimiyasu Kudoh. These moves, alongside a few unpopular cost-cutting measures, helped to make the Hawks gradually more competitive with each passing year, and in 1999, the team finally broke through. That season, Daiei made their first
Japan Series appearance since 1973 (and first as a Fukuoka team), and defeated the
Chunichi Dragons in five games, giving them their first championship since 1964. Kudoh was dominant in his Game 1 start (complete game, 13 strikeouts), and Akiyama was named the
1999 Japan Series's
most valuable player. The following year, the Hawks again made the Japan Series, but this time lost to the
Yomiuri Giants in six games, which saw two of the greatest players in NPB history, Oh and fellow Giants legend
Shigeo Nagashima, face off as managers of their respective clubs. Despite the shaky financial ground that Daiei was on thanks to their rampant expansion in bubble-era Japan, the team continued to be competitive. The team won their second Japan Series in five years, defeating the
Hanshin Tigers in seven games in the
2003 Japan Series, a series in which the home team won every game.
Home run record controversy In , American
Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, playing for the
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, hit 55 home runs with several games left, equaling Hawks' manager
Sadaharu Oh's single-season home run record. The Buffaloes played a weekend series against the Oh-managed Hawks late in the season, after already clinching the pennant on a
walk-off grand slam against the
Orix BlueWave on September 26. Rhodes was intentionally walked during each at-bat of the series. Video footage showed Hawks' catcher Kenji Johjima grinning as he caught the intentional balls. Oh denied any involvement and Hawks battery coach Yoshiharu Wakana stated that the pitchers acted on his orders, saying, "It would be distasteful to see a foreign player break Oh's record." Rhodes completed the season with 55 home runs. League commissioner Hiromori Kawashima denounced the Hawks' behavior as "unsportsmanlike", and Wakana would be fired from the position as a result. Hawks pitcher
Keisaburo Tanoue went on record saying that he wanted to throw strikes to Rhodes, but did not want to disrespect the orders of his catcher. In , Venezuelan
Alex Cabrera hit 55 home runs with five games left in the season, with several of those to be played against Oh's Hawks. Oh told his pitchers to throw strikes to Cabrera, but most of them ignored his order and threw balls well away from the plate, although this also had to do with Cabrera later on being revealed to have likely been on steroids, likely taken during his time with the
Arizona Diamondbacks after having been named to the
Mitchell Report in 2007, and that other pitchers were intentionally walking him. After the game, Oh stated, "If you're going to break the record, you should do it by more than one. Do it by a lot." Eventually, in ,
Curaçaoan-
Dutch Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder
Wladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record, finishing the season with 60 home runs. In , Swallows
infielder Munetaka Murakami broke Oh's record for the most home runs in a single season by a Japanese-born player, hitting 56 home runs in the regular season.
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2005–present) Daiei had been under financial pressure to sell its stake in the team over the previous few years, with reports in 2003 suggesting the company would sell the team and the
Fukuoka Dome. After filing for a bankruptcy reorganization provision in 2004, Daiei attempted to hold on to the team and held discussions with its primary lenders, including
UFJ Bank, to see if it could find a way to retain the team, but ultimately sold the team to
SoftBank Group on January 28, 2005. Daiei also had rejected a merger attempt from the
Chiba Lotte Marines during the bankruptcy process, as their bankruptcy proceedings also coincided with the vastly unpopular
Orix-Kintetsu merger that eventually resulted in the creation of the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to serve as a
phoenix club of the
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, who had been dissolved as a result of the aforementioned merger. SoftBank had been interested in owning a baseball team since 2002 and agreed to purchase all 14,432,000 of Daiei's shares in the team, which accounted for 98% of team ownership, for 15 billion yen. This deal did not include the Fukuoka Dome and surrounding Hawks Town complex, which was sold in 2003 to
Colony Capital and then later sold to an affiliate of the
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation in 2007. SoftBank initially decided to lease the rights to the Fukuoka Dome for 4.8 billion yen per year for 20 years, but they would eventually purchase the stadium from the GIC affiliate for 87 billion yen in March 2012, with the stadium being fully owned by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Marketing Corporation by July 1, 2015. The Hawks continued their winning ways after the sale of the team to SoftBank. Following the sale, the Hawks represented one of the richest teams in the world, with a player core still intact from the last years of the Daiei era. Particularly strong was the team's starting pitching behind Saitoh,
Tsuyoshi Wada,
Nagisa Arakaki, and
Toshiya Sugiuchi. In 2005, the Hawks finished in first place during the regular season, but fell to the eventual
Japan Series champions, the
Chiba Lotte Marines in the second stage of the
Climax Series. In 2006, a dramatic pennant race led to an even more exciting playoff run that ended in the Sapporo Dome at the hands of the eventual Japan Series Champions, the
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Team manager Sadaharu Oh missed most of the
2006 season due to stomach cancer. The Hawks' season was plagued by injuries and general ineffectiveness and inconsistency, leading to another 3rd-place finish and first-stage exit in the playoffs at the hands of the Marines. In , though various injuries still affected the Hawks' bench (especially the bullpen), the club claimed its first Interleague title in June, winning a tiebreaker against the
Hanshin Tigers. However, injuries caught up with them in the final month of the season, and the Hawks finished in last place with a 54–74–2 record. The finish represented their worst since 1996. Oh announced his transfer to a front office role at the end of the season, as former Hawk and fan favorite
Koji Akiyama was named as his successor. In , the team cracked the playoffs once again on the backs of breakout seasons from surging starting pitcher
D. J. Houlton, outfielder
Yuya Hasegawa, Rookie of the Year
Tadashi Settsu and another stellar season from ace Sugiuchi. However, the team still was unable to get out of the first stage, as the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ousted the Hawks in a 2-game sweep.
Team of the 2010s The Hawks finally reclaimed the Pacific League regular season title in after a seven-year wait. The title came after a see-saw season in which the team recovered several times after extended losing streaks. Starting pitcher Wada, back from injury through much of the previous two seasons, was, along with fellow ace Sugiuchi, at his best. Wada set career highs in wins and games started. The reliable "SBM" relieving trio of Settsu,
Brian Falkenborg, and Mahara limited opponent offenses late in games. The bullpen also benefited from the emergence of
Keisuke Kattoh and
Masahiko Morifuku, with the latter blossoming in the second half of the season. The Hawks offense was largely composed of role players who seemed to take turns having big games and off days, and it was the team's speed that drove the team as the Hawks led the league in stolen bases in the regular season with 148, well ahead of their nearest challenger, who had 116.
Yuichi Honda and Kawasaki combined to steal 89 bases. However, despite putting forward a strong group, the Hawks failed to make it to the
Japan Series, losing to the
Chiba Lotte Marines in six games in the Climax Series despite having a 3–1 series lead. Following the Climax Series defeat, the Hawks became the first team in NPB to form a second farm team for additional development and rehabilitation, which is often credited for their run of dominance throughout the 2010s, as many key contributors, such as current
New York Mets pitcher
Kodai Senga,
2018 Japan Series MVP Takuya Kai, and two-time
World Baseball Classic utility man Taisei Makihara, were taken through the developmental draft and started their professional careers on the second farm team. SoftBank won the Pacific League again in 2011, with a dominating season on all fronts. The offense was bolstered further by the acquisition of former
Yokohama BayStars outfielder
Seiichi Uchikawa, who led the league in batting average in 2011. Pitching from Sugiuchi, Wada, and an excellent bounce-back season from Houlton also helped propel the team to the best record in NPB. After sweeping the
Saitama Seibu Lions in the Pacific League Climax Series, the Hawks took on the
Chunichi Dragons to win the Japan Series, a rematch of the 1999 Japan Series. The Dragons pushed SoftBank to the full seven games, but the Hawks shut out the Dragons 3–0 in the seventh game to win their first Japan Series since 2003. The 2012 season started with losses for the Hawks. During the off season, they lost their star starters
Tsuyoshi Wada (to the
Baltimore Orioles),
Toshiya Sugiuchi and
D.J. Houlton (to
Yomiuri Giants) through free agency. All star shortstop
Munenori Kawasaki also left the team for the
Seattle Mariners. Closer
Takahiro Mahara would sit out the season through injury. To compensate for these losses, the team acquired outfielder
Wily Mo Peña and starter
Brad Penny from MLB, in addition to starter
Kazuyuki Hoashi from the Lions. However, of the 3 major signings, only Peña made regular contributions. Hoashi and Penny made two starts combined in 2012, as Hoashi missed almost the entire season with an injury and Penny was released. The team had to deal with their off season losses to their pitching staff from within the organization. Settsu was elevated to the team's ace, while young pitchers such as
Kenji Otonari and
Hiroki Yamada were given bigger roles.
Nagisa Arakaki returned from long-term injury to join the rotation. However, new closer Falkenborg had to sit out most of the season through injury, eventually handing over the role to Morifuku. Arakaki could not regain his former numbers. In the end, the losses could not be mitigated. Despite a tailspin to end the season, the Hawks snuck into the Climax Series, finishing 3rd in the Pacific League regular season standings, one game over the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, but eventually lost out to the pennant-winning
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the P.L. Climax Series Final Stage. The bright spark of the season came from rookie starter
Shota Takeda, who went 8–1 with an ERA of 1.07. The Hawks took a step back in , missing the postseason for the first time since . In 2014, the Hawks held off the breakout of the
Shohei Ohtani-led Fighters and resurgent
Orix Buffaloes to win the Pacific League pennant by a .002 winning percentage difference over the Buffaloes, later winning that year's
Japan Series in five games over the
Hanshin Tigers. Manager Koji Akiyama retired after the season, and the team named his former teammate, Kimiyasu Kudoh, to succeed him. Under Kudoh's stewardship, the Hawks won back-to-back Japan Series championships for the first time in club history, defeating the
Tokyo Yakult Swallows in five games in the
2015 Japan Series. Outfielder
Yuki Yanagita won Pacific League MVP, the batting title, a Triple 3 (.300
BA, 30
HR, 30
SB or better in all 3 categories), and tied the franchise's best single season performance with 11.5
fWAR, first set by
Tadashi Sugiura in . It marked the first time since the Seibu Lions won three in a row from
1990 to
1992 that a team had won consecutive Japan Series championships. After falling to Shohei Ohtani and the Fighters in , the Hawks rebounded to win the
2017 Japan Series on the back of a dominant 94–49–0 season, their best season since 1959 in terms of winning percentage, in six games over the
Yokohama DeNA BayStars, in a series where the Hawks led 3–0, but were almost pushed to a seventh game, winning their third title in four seasons on an 11th-inning walk-off RBI single by
Keizo Kawashima in Game 6. The following year, the Hawks upset the pennant-winning Saitama Seibu Lions in the
2018 Pacific League Climax Series, and then won the
2018 Japan Series against the
Hiroshima Toyo Carp in six games, winning back-to-back titles for a second time in the past five seasons. In , the Hawks became the first team to win three straight Japan Series titles since the –
Seibu Lions, by once again upsetting the pennant-winning Lions in the
2019 Pacific League Climax Series, and then swept the
Yomiuri Giants in four games. This also meant that the Hawks defeated each of the six
Central League clubs in the
Japan Series in the 2010s. Kodai Senga would blossom into the team's ace over their run of six championships in seven seasons, as he threw the team's first
no-hitter since 1943 on September 6, 2019, against the Chiba Lotte Marines.
2020s In , the Hawks won the
2020 Japan Series, again in a four game sweep over the Yomiuri Giants, becoming the first team to win more than three consecutive Japan Series titles since the Yomiuri Giants won the last of nine consecutive titles in 1973. They also became the first team in NPB history to sweep two
Japan Series against the same opponent in back-to-back seasons. Most notably,
Matt Moore pitched seven no-hit innings in Game 3 of that Japan Series as the Hawks came within one out of the first combined no-hitter in Japan Series play since
Daisuke Yamai and
Hitoki Iwase threw a
combined perfect game for the Chunichi Dragons to end the
2007 Japan Series. The Hawks finished an injury-plagued and disappointing season with a 60–62–21 record, placing fourth in the Pacific League. It was the team's first time missing the playoffs since 2013 and their first sub-.500 season since 2008. Manager Kimiyasu Kudoh stepped down following the conclusion of the 2021 season. Following Kudoh's departure, farm team manager
Hiroshi Fujimoto was promoted to the majors to be the new manager for . Yuki Yanagita was named team captain by Fujimoto, becoming the first team captain since
Seiichi Uchikawa gave up the role after the season. The Hawks went on a tear to begin the season, winning eight straight games, with Fujimoto being the first new manager to win seven consecutive games, and the first time since 1955 that the Hawks won eight straight games to open the season. A solid spring, including a
Maddux no-hitter by
Nao Higashihama on May 12 against the Saitama Seibu Lions, followed by a less than ideal summer filled with ups and downs, including going 1–9 in their annual Hawk Festival series and being the first team since the Seibu Lions to be no-hit by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, led to the Hawks losing the pennant race to the
Orix Buffaloes via tiebreaker after the Hawks lost to the Chiba Lotte Marines on the final day of the season, with both teams finishing with a record of 76–65–2. This marked the first time the top two teams in a league shared the exact same record in NPB history at the conclusion of the regular season, resulting in a tiebreaker being necessary. The Hawks lost the overall regular season series against Orix, as the Buffaloes won 15 games against them in comparison to SoftBank's 10 wins, resulting in Orix taking the 2022 Pacific League pennant. They would eventually fall to the Buffaloes in the second stage of the Climax Series, breaking an eighteen game playoff winning streak in the process. On October 10, 2022, the Hawks announced the formation of a yon-gun squad (third farm team), becoming the first team in NPB to begin operations on a third farm team, beginning play in 2023. Before the season, the Hawks added to their already loaded core in response to losing ace Kodai Senga to the
New York Mets by signing elite contact hitter
Kensuke Kondoh to a 7-year deal from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, poaching elite reliever
Roberto Osuna away from the
Chiba Lotte Marines, and signing
Kohei Arihara after a failed stint with the
Texas Rangers. Despite these additions and Kondoh breaking out for a near
Triple Crown season, only losing it out to
Yuma Tongu also having a breakout campaign and winning the 2023 Pacific League Batting Title, the Hawks were hampered by a lack of foreign power and subpar pitching, being unable to climb the mountain and settled for a third place finish in Pacific League, losing out on second on the final day of regular season play, the second year in a row where they lost position on the final day of the regular season. Eventually, they would fall short, losing to the Marines in the 1st Stage of the Pacific League Climax Series. After that, it was announced that Fujimoto was to step down as manager due to health concerns, and was replaced by the club's farm team manager
Hiroki Kokubo. The Hawks once again were active in the 2023–24 off-season, trading pitchers
Keisuke Izumi and
Rei Takahashi for Yomiuri Giants slugger
Adam Walker, acquiring first baseman slugger
Hotaka Yamakawa after a scandal tarnished his image with the Lions, and extended foreign pitchers
Liván Moinelo and
Carter Stewart to long-term, record setting deals, as well as converting Moinelo from a reliever to a starter to bolster their lackluster pitching. These moves worked, as the Hawks would dominate in 2024, locking up their 20th Pacific League pennant on September 23, having taken first in Pacific League on April 4 and never relinquishing it. This led them to a 91–49–3 record, the most wins put up by an NPB team since their 94–49 record in 2017. This was also their 6th 90-win season, just 1 shy of every team in NPB combined (4 by the Lions, 2 by the Giants, and 1 by the defunct Shochiku Robins). However, they would get shut down by the
Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the
2024 Japan Series in six games, breaking an NPB record 14 game
Japan Series win streak and marking the first Hawks' Japan Series loss in the SoftBank era. They also became the first team since the 2002 Seibu Lions to win 90 games in a season and lose the Japan Series. The Hawks also set a Japan Series record of going 29 consecutive innings (from the 1st inning of Game 3 to the 4th inning of Game 6) without scoring a single run. Following the 2024 Japan Series loss, the Hawks rallied past a poor start to their campaign to win the PL pennant again over the Fighters by 4.5 games. They became the first team in Climax Series history to allow a winner-take-all Game 6 to happen after starting the series up 3-0, but were able to squeeze past the Fighters in Game 6 to advance to the
2025 Japan Series. There, they defeated the Hanshin Tigers in five games to win their 12th Japan Series as a franchise and the club's eighth Japan Series title since 2011. ==Seasons==