is a former Japanese

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player in Japan's

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. He started his career as the Number 2 Draft pick with the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

in , and played for the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

from 1998 until his retirement in 2010.

References

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Career statistics - NPB.jp
1968 births Living people Baseball people from Osaka Nippon Professional Baseball catchers People from Hirano, Osaka Chunichi Dragons players Hanshin Tigers players Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for Japan Managers of baseball teams in Japan Hanshin Tigers managers Goodwill Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 1990 Goodwill Games {{Japan-baseball-catcher-stub