Climax Series

The Climax Series(クライマックスシリーズ Kuraimakkusu Shirīzu) is the annual playoff system employed by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which two teams from the Central League (CL) and the Pacific League (PL) will compete in the Japan Series for the national championship. Since the creation of the NPB's two-league system in 1950, the leagues have used several different methods to determine entry to the Japan Series. The current system has been used since the 2007 season.