"Nothing Is Confirmed," Said Seibu… Report Says Nakamura Will Keep Playing, 18 Home Runs From 500

A report says Seibu's Takeya Nakamura will play in the 2027 season too. With 482 career home runs, he is 18 away from 500. No official announcement of a new contract from the club has been confirmed.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-Line Summary

Sponichi reported on Oct. 6 that Nakamura will keep playing in the 2027 season, but no official announcement from the club has been confirmed.
With 482 career home runs (as of 05:00 on 2026.10.06), he is first among active NPB players. 18 more would make him the 9th hitter to reach 500 home runs.
His estimated 2026 salary is 75 million yen, cut for a third straight year. The terms of a 2027 contract have not been confirmed.

There is a hitter who won his first home run title in 2008 and took that title six times through 2015. His 2026 numbers: 25 games, 1 home run. His salary, as estimated by the media, has fallen from 200 million yen to 75 million yen in three years. These are numbers that would not be out of place in retirement talk. Yet on Oct. 6, a report emerged that Seibu Lions' Takeya Nakamura will play in 2027 as well.

Nakamura's Salary Down From 200 Million to 75 Million Yen: The Timeline of a 25-Year One-Club Man

Seibu Lions official player profile shows that Nakamura was born on Aug. 15, 1983, and is currently 43 years old. After graduating from Osaka Toin High School, he joined Seibu as a 2nd-round pick in the 2001 draft, and this is his 25th year as a pro. He has never worn another team's uniform. Along the way he has piled up 6 home run titles, 4 RBI titles and 7 Best Nine awards. He also holds the career record for grand slams.

Full-Count reported that his estimated salary shrank every year from 200 million yen in 2023, reaching 75 million yen for the 2026 season. That is a third straight cut. A drop of 125 million yen from 200 million yen is a 62.5% decrease. Keep in mind that the club does not disclose the amounts, so all of these are media estimates.

Season	Estimated salary (yen)	Change from previous year (yen)
2023	200 million	-
2024	150 million	-50 million
2025	100 million	-50 million
2026	75 million	-25 million

His confirmed 2025 record was 44 games, a 0.240 batting average, 3 home runs and 10 RBI. Even so, Seibu officially announced a contract renewal on Dec. 4, 2025. Nikkan Sports reported it as a contract for the 2026 season. His salary was cut, but his place for 2026 was kept. That announcement is the last official contract news confirmed so far.

Nakamura 18 Home Runs From 500, a Bid to Become the 9th Ever

According to Sponichi, Nakamura's career home run total is 482 (as of 05:00 on 2026.10.06), first among active NPB players. On the NPB all-time career home run list he ranks 10th. He is 4 behind Katsuo Osugi (486) just above him. By NPB's official count, only 8 players have passed 500 home runs.

Rank	Player	Career home runs
1	Sadaharu Oh	868
2	Katsuya Nomura	657
3	Hiromitsu Kadota	567
4	Koji Yamamoto	536
5	Kazuhiro Kiyohara	525
6	Hiromitsu Ochiai	510
T-7	Jang Hun	504
T-7	Sachio Kinugasa	504
Challenger	Takeya Nakamura	482 (18 to go)

Measure the remaining 18 against his recent pace and the weight changes. Nakamura hit 3 home runs in 2025 and 1 in 2026. Across the two seasons combined, that is just 4. 18 is 4.5 times that. This year, as of the Oct. 5 NPB tally, he has played 25 games, batting 0.246 with 8 RBI.

When reading the records, it is worth checking the tally date. This article uses the Oct. 5 tally: 2169 career games, a 0.252 batting average and 1374 RBI.

Report of Nakamura Continuing His Career, 2027 Contract Terms Not Announced

Let's turn the clock back to Sept. 27. That day, in Nikkan Sports' reporting, a Seibu club official answered about next season's contract, "Nothing has been confirmed at this point." Sponichi Annex published its report on the 6th, based on reporting done on Oct. 5. The content is that Nakamura will keep playing in the 2027 season.

However, this report is based on reporting from sources and is not an announcement of a new contract by the club. The signing date, length, salary and options have not been officially confirmed. The often-cited 75 million yen is also just an estimate for the 2026 season, not a 2027 amount. Nor should the Dec. 4, 2025 renewal announcement be read as this new contract.

Rank	Player	Career home runs	Note
1	Takeya Nakamura	482	18 to 500 home runs
2	Hideto Asamura	315	167 behind 1st
3	Tetsuto Yamada	313	2 behind 2nd
4	Hayato Sakamoto	303	10 behind 3rd
5	Yoshihiro Maru	292	11 behind 4th

The table of active players shows just how unrivaled his position is. In 2nd place, Hideto Asamura has 315, a gap from Nakamura of 167 home runs. The four players from 2nd through 5th are packed within 23. On Aug. 15, 2027, Nakamura will turn 44.

Starting with the 2001 draft, he has hit 482 for one team over 25 years. The number left to reach the open spot below the top 8 on the list is 18.

Related official sites

NPB Takeya Nakamura official individual records — check games, batting average and home runs by season in the raw data
NPB all-time career home run rankings — check the 8 players who reached 500 home runs and Nakamura's all-time rank
NPB active career home run rankings — check the home run gaps between active players with the latest tally
Seibu Lions official player guide — check player profiles published by the club

Lead image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of a current game in the article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Cake6 (talk)), CC BY-SA 4.0