This appears to be the subscription site for the Pacific League. According to this post at Yakyubaka.com, the approximate cost for an all pass in 2010 was $80 for the season.

While the TOS noted the service was restricted to residents of Japan, commenters noted that the streams were not region-restricted.

No info on online DVR-like functionality.

I would really like an app similar to the MLB.tv and MiLB.tv apps, moreso than watching the content on a computer. I mean, I have a Mac Mini connected to our TV so it’s not that big a deal to play content to the tube via the computer, but generally last year I watched more games on my phone via justin.tv, both NBP and MLB, than I did via my actual paid subscription to MLB.tv.

So my actual use case for baseball programming is live Mariners ball and time-delayed Japanese ball to my handheld devices and my computer, but not to my TV, unless by paying for it on my TV I can get it on my devices, without going as far as getting a cable or satellite service provider.

I am obviously aware that this specific use case with regard to MLB is exactly what the blackout rules are designed to prevent, that is, MLB is treating the cable provider as the primary customer rather than the viewer. I kinda suspect the in-Japan restriction in the NPB TOS, which did not have teeth at rollout in 2010, is a reflection of NPB respecting MLB’s desire to maintain a pro ball media monopoly in the US.

Which, whatever, I would pay MLB for the NPB content, just as I did for the minor league content last year. I turned out to never really watch the minor league stuff though. Well, who knows. I would assume that the media team at MLB have a number of other overseas leagues to consider for app-based deployment and although the Japanese games would probably be the easiest to get content for they might not have the largest potential audience.

A couple years old, but here is a rundown on computer-oriented Japanese TV remote access options.

Update from October 2011 regarding iOS viability. Looks like a subset of Japanese broadcasters publish rtsp:// streams.

The site is emphatically not about baseball though, so I am somewhat dubious if the various yakyu providers expose their programming in such a manner. It would be really cool if they did, though. One thing I noticed last year was that sometimes there were multiple competing broadcasts of the same game, and the relay originator would switch between them occasionally, like if an ad came on.

One of these channels appeared to specialize in non-commented broadcasts, so that the game would play without any narration or commentary, just with the sound of the park and the game itself. I really liked that.

It seems like someone this year mentioned that that may be an option on HD sports broadcasts in general, a setting that the viewer can select.