If you are visiting Japan this summer, why not start your morning by visiting the hometown of some of baseball’s biggest Japanese stars?
Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, is closely tied to a remarkable group of MLB talent. Shohei Ohtani, Yusei Kikuchi and Roki Sasaki all grew up in Iwate before making their way to the Majors.
Now, that local connection is becoming part of MLB’s morning experience in Japan.
MLB is continuing its “MLB Breakfast Club” campaign, an initiative built around the idea of “Start your morning with MLB.” Beginning this season, the project has introduced the “Breakfast Caravan,” bringing MLB-themed food trucks and cafés to locations across Japan and giving fans a new way to connect with the game through breakfast.
After the first stop at Toranomon Hills Café in Tokyo, the Caravan is heading north for its second installment: MLB Breakfast Club at Morioka.
The event will take place in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, a city in Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region. Located roughly 500 kilometers north of Tokyo, Morioka is easily accessible by the JR Tohoku Shinkansen, with the fastest trains taking about two and a half hours from Tokyo Station. At Uchimaru Green Space, fans will be able to try original food and drinks inspired by local stadium cuisine, served from an MLB-inspired kitchen truck. Visitors can also explore Morioka itself, a city where history and nature come together, which was selected by The New York Times as one of the places to visit in 2023.
Event Details
- Dates: Saturday, June 6, through Saturday, June 27, 2026
- Hours: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Location: Uchimaru Green Space, Morioka, Iwate Prefecture
- Address: 3 Uchimaru, Morioka, Iwate 020-0023
Of course, watching MLB in Japan is a very different experience from watching it in the United States. As of June, Japan is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time. That means a 7 p.m. first pitch in New York begins at 8 a.m. the next morning in Japan. For day games in the U.S., Japanese fans often have to tune in in the middle of the night.
That time difference is exactly what makes the “MLB Breakfast Club” feel so fitting. For fans in Japan, MLB is often part of the morning routine — something to enjoy with coffee, breakfast and the start of a new day.
For fans in Morioka, the event also adds a local connection to that morning routine. In a prefecture with deep ties to some of Japan’s biggest MLB names, the Caravan turns breakfast into an easy, everyday entry point into the Majors.
So, if you find yourself in Japan and want to experience MLB through the local roots of Ohtani, Kikuchi and Sasaki — with breakfast, Morioka flavor and plenty of baseball spirit — why not stop by and experience it for yourself?