# List of Nippon Professional Baseball earned run average champions

The List of Nippon Professional Baseball earned run average (ERA)(最優秀防御率) champions.

## Winners
### Japanese Baseball League (1937–1949)

| Year | Player | Team | ERA |
| 1936 (Fall) | Masaru Kageura | Osaka Tigers | 0.79 |
| 1937 (Spring) | Eiji Sawamura | Tokyo Kyojingun | 0.81 |
| 1937 (Fall) | Yukio Nishimura | Osaka Tigers | 1.48 |
| 1938 (Spring) | Yukio Nishimura | Osaka Tigers | 1.52 |
| 1938 (Fall) | Victor Starffin | Tokyo Kyojingun | 1.05 |
| 1939 | Tadashi Wakabayashi | Osaka Tigers | 1.09 |
| 1940 | Jiro Noguchi | Tsubasagun | 0.93 |
| 1941 | Jiro Noguchi | Taiyogun | 0.88 |
| 1942 | Yasuo Hayashi | Asahigun | 1.01 |
| 1943 | Hideo Fujimoto | Tokyo Kyojingun | 0.73 |
| 1944 | Tadashi Wakabayashi | Hanshingun | 1.56 |
| 1945 | Season suspended | Season suspended | Season suspended |
| 1946 | Hideo Fujimoto | Tokyo Kyojingun | 2.11 |
| 1947 | Giichiro Shiraki | Tokyu Flyers | 1.74 |
| 1948 | Hiroshi Nakao | Yomiuri Giants | 1.84 |
| 1949 | Hideo Fujimoto | Yomiuri Giants | 1.94 |

### Nippon Professional Baseball (1950–present)

| Year | Central League | Central League | Central League | Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League |
| Year | Player | Team | ERA | Player | Team | ERA |
| 1950 | Nobuo Oshima | Shochiku Robins | 2.03 | Atsushi Aramaki | Mainichi Orions | 2.06 |
| 1951 | Kiyoshi Matsuda | Yomiuri Giants | 2.01 | Susumu Yuki | Nankai Hawks | 2.08 |
| 1952 | Tabayoshi Kajioka | Osaka Tigers | 1.71 | Susumu Yuki | Nankai Hawks | 1.91 |
| 1953 | Takumi Otomo | Yomiuri Giants | 1.85 | Tokuji Kawasaki | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.98 |
| 1954 | Shigeru Sugishita | Chunichi Dragons | 1.39 | Motoji Takuwa | Nankai Hawks | 1.58 |
| 1955 | Takehiko Bessho | Yomiuri Giants | 1.33 | Takashi Nakagawa | Mainichi Orions | 2.08 |
| 1956 | Shozo Watanabe | Osaka Tigers | 1.45 | Kazuhisa Inao | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.06 |
| 1957 | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 1.63 | Kazuhisa Inao | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.37 |
| 1958 | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 1.30 | Kazuhisa Inao | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.42 |
| 1959 | Minoru Murayama | Osaka Tigers | 1.19 | Tadashi Sugiura | Nankai Hawks | 1.40 |
| 1960 | Noboru Akiyama | Taiyo Whales | 1.75 | Shoichi Ono | Daimai Orions | 1.98 |
| 1961 | Hiroshi Gondo | Chunichi Dragons | 1.70 | Kazuhisa Inao | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.69 |
| 1962 | Minoru Murayama | Hanshin Tigers | 1.20 | Osamu Kubota | Toei Flyers | 2.12 |
| 1963 | Minoru Kakimoto | Chunichi Dragons | 1.70 | Hiroyuki Kubo | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 2.36 |
| 1964 | Gene Bacque | Hanshin Tigers | 1.89 | Yoshiro Tsumajima | Tokyo Orions | 2.15 |
| 1965 | Masaichi Kaneda | Yomiuri Giants | 1.84 | Kiyohiro Miura | Nankai Hawks | 1.57 |
| 1966 | Tsuneo Horiuchi | Yomiuri Giants | 1.39 | Kazuhisa Inao | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.79 |
| 1967 | Masatoshi Gondo | Hanshin Tigers | 1.40 | Mitsuhiro Adachi | Hankyu Braves | 1.75 |
| 1968 | Yoshiro Sotokoba | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.94 | Mutsuo Minagawa | Nankai Hawks | 1.61 |
| 1969 | Yutaka Enatsu | Hanshin Tigers | 1.81 | Masaaki Kitaru | Lotte Orions | 1.72 |
| 1970 | Minoru Murayama | Hanshin Tigers | 0.98 | Michio Sato | Nankai Hawks | 2.05 |
| 1971 | Kazuhiro Fujimoto | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.71 | Hisashi Yamada | Hankyu Braves | 2.37 |
| 1972 | Takeshi Yasuda | Yakult Atoms | 2.08 | Toshihiko Sei | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 2.36 |
| 1973 | Takeshi Yasuda | Yakult Atoms | 2.02 | Tetsuya Yoneda | Hankyu Braves | 2.47 |
| 1974 | Shitoshi Sekimoto | Yomiuri Giants | 2.28 | Michio Sato | Nankai Hawks | 1.91 |
| 1975 | Sohachi Aniya | Hanshin Tigers | 1.91 | Choji Murata | Lotte Orions | 2.20 |
| 1976 | Takamasa Suzuki | Chunichi Dragons | 2.98 | Choji Murata | Lotte Orions | 1.82 |
| 1977 | Hisao Niura | Yomiuri Giants | 2.32 | Hisashi Yamada | Hankyu Braves | 2.28 |
| 1978 | Hisao Niura | Yomiuri Giants | 2.81 | Keishi Suzuki | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 2.02 |
| 1979 | Masaji Hiramatsu | Taiyo Whales | 2.39 | Tetsuji Yamaguchi | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 2.49 |
| 1980 | Hiromu Matsuoka | Yakult Swallows | 2.35 | Isamu Kida | Nippon Ham Fighters | 2.28 |
| 1981 | Suguru Egawa | Yomiuri Giants | 2.29 | Noriaki Okabe | Nippon Ham Fighters | 2.70 |
| 1982 | Akio Saito | Taiyo Whales | 2.07 | Satoshi Takahashi | Nippon Ham Fighters | 1.84 |
| 1983 | Osamu Fukuma | Hanshin Tigers | 2.62 | Osamu Higashio | Seibu Lions | 2.92 |
| 1984 | Seiji Kobayashi | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.20 | Yutaro Imai | Hankyu Braves | 2.93 |
| 1985 | Tatsuo Komatsu | Chunichi Dragons | 2.65 | Kimiyasu Kudō | Seibu Lions | 2.76 |
| 1986 | Manabu Kitabeppu | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.43 | Yoshinori Sato | Hankyu Braves | 2.83 |
| 1987 | Masumi Kuwata | Yomiuri Giants | 2.17 | Kimiyasu Kudoh | Seibu Lions | 2.41 |
| 1988 | Yutaka Ohno | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.70 | Hirofumi Kono | Nippon Ham Fighters | 2.38 |
| 1989 | Masaki Saito | Yomiuri Giants | 1.62 | Choji Murata | Lotte Orions | 2.50 |
| 1990 | Masaki Saito | Yomiuri Giants | 2.17 | Hideo Nomo | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 2.91 |
| 1991 | Shinji Sasaoka | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.44 | Tomio Watanabe | Seibu Lions | 2.35 |
| 1992 | Koki Morita | Taiyo Whales | 2.05 | Motoyuki Akahori | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 1.80 |
| 1993 | Masahiro Yamamoto | Chunichi Dragons | 2.05 | Kimiyasu Kudō | Seibu Lions | 2.06 |
| 1994 | Genji Kaku | Chunichi Dragons | 2.45 | Hiroshi Shintani | Seibu Lions | 2.91 |
| 1995 | Terry Bross | Yakult Swallows | 2.33 | Hideki Irabu | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2.53 |
| 1996 | Masaki Saito | Yomiuri Giants | 2.36 | Hideki Irabu | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2.40 |
| 1997 | Yutaka Ohno | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.85 | Satoru Komiyama | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2.49 |
| 1998 | Shigeki Noguchi | Chunichi Dragons | 2.34 | Satoru Kanemura | Nippon Ham Fighters | 2.73 |
| 1999 | Koji Uehara | Yomiuri Giants | 2.09 | Kimiyasu Kudō | Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | 2.38 |
| 2000 | Kazuhisa Ishii | Yakult Swallows | 2.61 | Nobuyuki Ebisu | Orix BlueWave | 3.27 |
| 2001 | Shigeki Noguchi | Chunichi Dragons | 2.46 | Nate Minchey | Chiba Lotte Marines | 3.26 |
| 2002 | Masumi Kuwata | Yomiuri Giants | 2.22 | Masahiko Kaneda | Orix BlueWave | 2.50 |
| 2003 | Kei Igawa | Hanshin Tigers | 2.80 | Kazumi Saito | Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | 2.83 |
| 2003 | Kei Igawa | Hanshin Tigers | 2.80 | Daisuke Matsuzaka | Seibu Lions | 2.83 |
| 2004 | Koji Uehara | Yomiuri Giants | 2.60 | Daisuke Matsuzaka | Seibu Lions | 2.90 |
| 2005 | Daisuke Miura | Yokohama BayStars | 2.52 | Toshiya Sugiuchi | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2.11 |
| 2006 | Hiroki Kuroda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.85 | Kazumi Saito | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 1.75 |
| 2007 | Hisanori Takahashi | Yomiuri Giants | 2.75 | Yoshihisa Naruse | Chiba Lotte Marines | 1.82 |
| 2008 | Masanori Ishikawa | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 2.68 | Hisashi Iwakuma | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1.87 |
| 2009 | Chen Wei-Yin | Chunichi Dragons | 1.54 | Yu Darvish | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 1.73 |
| 2010 | Kenta Maeda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.21 | Yu Darvish | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 1.78 |
| 2011 | Kazuki Yoshimi | Chunichi Dragons | 1.65 | Masahiro Tanaka | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1.27 |
| 2012 | Kenta Maeda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.53 | Mitsuo Yoshikawa | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 1.71 |
| 2013 | Kenta Maeda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2.10 | Masahiro Tanaka | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1.27 |
| 2014 | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 2.33 | Chihiro Kaneko | Orix Buffaloes | 1.98 |
| 2015 | Kris Johnson | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 1.85 | Shohei Ohtani | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2.24 |
| 2016 | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 2.01 | Ayumu Ishikawa | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2.16 |
| 2017 | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 1.59 | Yusei Kikuchi | Saitama Seibu Lions | 1.97 |
| 2018 | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 2.14 | Takayuki Kishi | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 2.72 |
| 2019 | Yūdai Ōno | Chunichi Dragons | 2.58 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.95 |
| 2020 | Yūdai Ōno | Chunichi Dragons | 1.82 | Kodai Senga | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2.16 |
| 2021 | Yūya Yanagi | Chunichi Dragons | 2.20 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.39 |
| 2022 | Kōyō Aoyagi | Hanshin Tigers | 2.05 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.68 |
| 2023 | Shoki Murakami | Hanshin Tigers | 1.75 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Orix Buffaloes | 1.21 |
| 2024 | Hiroto Takahashi | Chunichi Dragons | 1.38 | Liván Moinelo | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 1.88 |