SBS Hit Drama ‘Stove League’ to Be Remade in Japan with Kazuya Kamenashi

By Jeeyoung, Jo

Jul 24, 2025

SBS Hit Drama ‘Stove League’ to Be Remade in Japan with Kazuya Kamenashi



SBS hit drama 'Stove League' will be remade into the Japanese version.

SBS Media Group's drama production?Studio S, a distribution company, began production of the Japanese drama 'Stove League' in July with NTT Docomo Studio & Live, a joint venture co-founded by NTT Docomo and Yoshimoto Heung-up, Japan's largest telecommunications company.

Broadcasting on SBS in 2019, 'Stove League' is a drama about new general manager Baek Seung-soo (Nam Goong-min) preparing for the new season with the appointment of the team Dreams, which has been at the bottom of professional baseball for four consecutive years. It was greatly loved by viewers at the time of broadcasting and ended with a maximum viewership of 20.8%.




This Japanese version of 'Stove League' goes beyond a simple remake, and Studio S will jointly develop production and global business with a Japanese production company. Based on Korea's strong original IP, it is expected to be a work that can deeply empathize with both viewers through adaptations tailored to the emotions of Japanese viewers.

In particular, as baseball is a popular sport in Japan, attention is being paid to whether the remake, which reflects Japan's unique baseball culture and reality, will draw as hot a response as Korea.

SBS Hit Drama ‘Stove League’ to Be Remade in Japan with Kazuya Kamenashi
Meanwhile, Kazuya Kamenashi, a former popular Japanese idol group KAT-TUN member who is active in a wide range of fields such as actors and sportscasters, was cast in the role of Dreamz, which Nam Goong-min played in the original film. He has a high profile in Korea with his work 'Kokusen2'Nobuta Production' and others, and feels fresh about the new challenge in that it is a joint project with Korea. While respecting the excellent original work, we will carefully create it by adding Japanese-style elements." He expressed his affection and expectation for the work.




On the other hand, the director was directed by Toichiro Ruto, who directed the drama series 'Ajae's Love' (original: おっさんずラブ) which caused a social syndrome in Japan.

Studio S said that amid the recent increase in Korea-Japan joint dramas, it expects strong Korean drama IP like 'Stove League' to attract attention and succeed once again in Japan, and plans to continue to expand Korea-Japan joint production projects in the future.





soulhn1220@sportschosun.com