| 1978 NPB season | |
| League: | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Mvp: | CL |
| Mvp Link: | Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | League Postseason |
| Conf1: | CL |
| Conf1 Link: | Central League |
| Conf1 Champ: | Yakult Swallows |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Yomiuri Giants |
| Conf2: | PL |
| Conf2 Link: | Pacific League |
| Conf2 Champ: | Hankyu Braves |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Kintetsu Buffaloes |
| Finals: | Japan Series |
| Finals Link: | 1978 Japan Series |
| Finals Champ: | Yakult Swallows |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Hankyu Braves |
| Finals Mvp: | Katsuo Osugi (YAK) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Nippon Professional Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NPB |
| Prevseason Link: | 1977 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1977 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1979 Nippon Professional Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1979 |
The 1978 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 29th season of operation for the league.
| Central League[1] | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 | 68 | 46 | 16 | .596 | – | ||
| 130 | 65 | 49 | 16 | .570 | 3.0 | ||
| 130 | 62 | 50 | 18 | .554 | 5.0 | ||
| 130 | 64 | 57 | 9 | .529 | 7.5 | ||
| 130 | 53 | 71 | 6 | .427 | 20.0 | ||
| 130 | 41 | 80 | 9 | .339 | 30.5 |
| Pacific League[2] | G | W | L | T | Pct. | 1st Half Ranking | 2nd Half Ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 | 82 | 39 | 9 | .678 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 130 | 71 | 46 | 13 | .607 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 130 | 55 | 63 | 12 | .466 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 130 | 53 | 62 | 15 | .461 | 5 | 3 | ||
| 130 | 51 | 67 | 12 | .432 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 130 | 42 | 77 | 11 | .353 | 6 | 6 |
See main article: 1978 Japan Series. Yakult Swallows won the series 4–3.
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swallows – 5, Braves – 6 | October 14 | Korakuen Stadium | 34,218[3] | |
| 2 | Swallows – 10, Braves – 6 | October 15 | Korakuen Stadium | 39,406 | |
| 3 | Braves – 5, Swallows – 0 | October 17 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium | 20,296 | |
| 4 | Braves – 5, Swallows – 6 | October 18 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium | 20,456 | |
| 5 | Braves – 3, Swallows – 7 | October 19 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium | 18,298 | |
| 6 | Swallows – 3, Braves – 12 | October 21 | Korakuen Stadium | 44,956 | |
| 7 | Swallows – 4, Braves – 0 | October 22 | Korakuen Stadium | 36,359 |