The 2006 Japan Series, the 57th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 26, and matched the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

Game 1 saw both aces pitch for their respective teams: Darvish for the Fighters, Kawakami for the Dragons.

Both pitchers started off well, but Darvish, who had bouts with wildness in the regular season, saw his control unravel in the 2nd inning, giving away the 2-0 Fighters lead to which he had been staked in the top of the inning.

Super rookie Tomoya Yagi took the mound for Nippon Ham in Game 2, still flying high from out-dueling SoftBank Hawks ace Kazumi Saitoh.

In the battle of the lefties, the only two mistakes Yagi would make would be to Hirokazu Ibata and Kosuke Fukudome, both solo shots.