Former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine guided the Chiba Lotte Marines to the title in 2005, becoming the first American to win the Japan Series. Last year, Trey Hillman led the Nippon Ham Fighters to the championship.

This season, the Orix Buffaloes hired former Houston Astros and Anaheim Angels skipper Terry Collins.

Along with Marty Brown of the Hiroshima Carp, American managers now hold a third of the managerial positions in Japanese professional baseball.

Overcoming the language barrier and a different approach to the game are just some of the challenges facing American managers in Japan.

''I wake up every morning with a whole new set of questions that I want to find the answers to,'' said Collins. ''Obviously, the biggest challenge is the language barrier.''

Collins was working in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization last season when he got offered the job to manage the Buffaloes.

''I was looking for something different to do,'' said Collins. ''This is what I love to do. I love to manage a game and compete and I missed that.''

Since he arrived, Collins has noticed more than a few things that are unique about the game in Japan, mostly to do with the amount of practice Japanese teams expect from their players.

Two of the Buffaloes' relief pitchers are out with arm injuries and Collins thinks the amount of practice has a lot to do with it.

''My 35 years in baseball tell me there are only so many bullets in a pitcher's arm,'' said Collins. ''I don't mind a lot of practicing as long as there are positive results.''

Valentine's success here has had a lot to do with the trend toward American managers.

Now in his second stint in Japan. Valentine was fired after the 1995 season despite leading the Marines to a second-place finish, their best in 10 years.

Tatsuo Hirooka, the general manager of the Marines at the time, said Valentine had lost control of his team. Valentine said Hirooka resented the close relationship he had with his players.

Nobody's arguing with Valentine's methods now, after he returned to Japan in 2004 and led his team all the way in 2005. The 56-year-old manager says that creating the right atmosphere on a team is a key to success here.

''A non-Japanese manager will do things before and after the game that will allow players to relax and enjoy the game a bit more than a Japanese manager might,'' said Valentine. ''The way the player feels about playing the game can often be responsible for improved performance.''

After a successful career as a minor league manager in the Yankees organization, Trey Hillman jumped at the opportunity to manage in Japan and is now in his fifth season with the Fighters.

''I did all I could do to learn about Japanese baseball before coming over,'' said Hillman, who even rented the Tom Selleck movie ''Mr. Baseball.''

All the studying paid off as Hillman's Fighters went all the way last season, upsetting the favored Chunichi Dragons.

Hillman interviewed with three major league teams in the offseason but ended up back in Japan and is thrilled to be part of the American wave.