About

Japanese-American Yuri Karasawa founded the Yakyu Cosmopolitan project in February 2021 to share his passion for Japanese baseball in English. Originally intended as a hub for translated interviews of Japanese players, the YouTube channel quickly grew to cover everything related to Nippon Professional Baseball. Yakyu Cosmopolitan aims to bridge the gap between different cultures and languages to promote free and accessible information about baseball in Japan.

In August 2022, Yuri joined JapanBall.com as a contributor, publishing his first article on Munetaka Murakami’s historic home run pace. In March 2023, Yuri was featured on the BBC World Service radio for his independent coverage of Team Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In June 2024, he began working for SportsLook and the World Baseball Network. In October 2024, he made another appearance on the BBC to talk about the impact on Japanese players in the Dodgers/Yankees World Series. In November 2024, he attended the WBSC Premier12 tournament as credentialed media. Thanks to continued exposure on various platforms, Yakyu Cosmopolitan has gained over 19,000 followers on X (Formerly Twitter) and over 11,000 subscribers on YouTube (channel was shut down in February 2025).

To expand its horizons, this website was launched in August 2024 by Yuri and his friend Christian Johnson to provide up-to-date NPB statistics and analysis for the 2020s. The ultimate mission of YakyuCosmo.com is not only to be a top source for contemporary NPB information but also to present a balance between traditional stats, which still dominate most Japanese discourse, and Sabermetrics. In short, a modernized approach to Japanese baseball. Thank you for being a part of our journey.