The is a term used to collectively describe the (usually Japanese)

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

players that belong to current

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 ...

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice ...

's age group. As per Japanese laws on how children are to be divided into

grade levels Educational stages are subdivisions of formal learning, typically covering early childhood education, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) re ...

, this term refers to players born between April 2, 1980, and April 1, 1981. The term was coined by the Japanese

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

as the age group that came to be known as one of the deepest and most talented in

Japanese professional baseball Professional baseball in Japan first started in the 1920s, but it was not until the was established in 1934 that the modern professional game had continued success. History Baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, and its first ...

history.

Background

Precursor

In , then- Waseda Jitsugyo High School pitcher Daisuke Araki rose to national stardom for his sensational performance in the 62nd

National High School Baseball Championship The of Japan, commonly known as , is an annual nationwide high school baseball tournament. It is the largest scale amateur sport event in Japan. The tournament, organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation and ''Asahi Shimbun'', t ...

despite being in only his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

(Japanese equivalent of tenth grade) of high school. Araki went on to pitch in five consecutive national tournaments (spring and summer), including the

National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament (選抜高等学校野球大会 ''senbatsu kōtō gakkō yakyū taikai'') of Japan, commonly known as "Spring Kōshien" (春の甲子園 ''haru no kōshien'') or "Senbatsu" (センバツ ...

. His popularity, particularly among women, became such a cultural phenomenon that studies showed that Daisuke (in particular, that with the

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...

characterization "大輔") was the most popular name given to newborn

infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used t ...

s in Japan from 1979 to 1986. Four of the players belonging to the Matsuzaka Generation (namely, Daisuke Matsuzaka,

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

Daisuke Katoh and former

pitchers Daisuke Sakai and Daisuke Ue) were given this name and Kanji.

Origin

Although the year is often associated with Matsuzaka's stellar performance as the

ace pitcher In baseball, an ace is a starting pitcher considered the best pitcher on a team and nearly always the first pitcher in the team's starting rotation. Barring injury or exceptional circumstances, an ace typically starts on Opening Day. In additio ...

for

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

Senior High School in the 80th National High School Baseball Championship, it was also the

final year Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of co ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

for many current NPB players. Some went on to the pros immediately after high school, while others did so after playing in

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

or the industrial leagues. The media coined the term "Matsuzaka Generation" to describe those born between 2 April 1980 and 1 April 1981 for a number of reasons; namely, that an exceedingly high number of players who played in the 80th National High School Baseball Tournament succeeded at the professional level; that many who went on to play at some of the highest levels of Japanese

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

like the Tokyo Big6 and Tohto University leagues became ace pitchers for their teams as

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

and

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educati ...

s; and that many prominent Japanese

athletes An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

as well as

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

were born during this span as well. (It can also be said, in turn, that Matsuzaka was able to enjoy an exceptional career in the pros despite being surrounded by such a concentration of talent.) The name is thus not accredited to any particular

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived fro ...

and is said to have occurred naturally. While other age groups seen to consist of many talented players have since been given similar names—those born between 2 April 1988 and 1 April 1989 are sometimes referred to as the or in reference to Waseda University pitcher Yuki Saito or, alternatively, the in reference to

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

pitcher

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be si ...

—Matsuzaka's age group was the first to be given the name "世代", meaning "Generation". No single age group has produced players who have as yet collectively succeeded at the professional level to the extent to which Matsuzaka's has.

MBS Documentary

On March 3, 2003, major Japanese television network

Mainichi Broadcasting System , or MBS, is a radio and television broadcasting company headquartered in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network (JRN), National Radio Network (NRN), Japan News Network (JNN) and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. It ...

ran a special feature titled "Matsuzaka Generation – Spring, For Each of the 22-Year-Olds" (using the "ジェネレーション", the literal

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...

syllabary for "Generation", instead of the Japanese word "世代", or ''sedai'') on its popular documentary television series ''Jounetsu Tairiku''. It covered the lives of various players who belonged to the group, some who had gone on to the pros (

Nagisa Arakaki is a former Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Despite having one of the best fastballs and sliders of anyone in the league, Arakaki has battled control ...

), some who still hoped to be drafted (Katsumi Higaki) and some who had decided to pursue other careers altogether (Satoshi Kamishige), nearly five years after the now-legendary 80th National High School Baseball Championship.

Criticism

The term "Matsuzaka Generation" is often used to describe players belonging to this age group more so for its sheer ''simplicity'' rather than to recognize the accomplishments of Matsuzaka himself. Despite this, players' reactions to this name being used have been mixed: the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

organization is famous for rejecting the name altogether and announcing, "Please refer to the players that belong to the Matsuzaka Generation on ''our'' team as the '80's' (Eighties)."

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

pitcher

Tomoyuki Kubota is a Japanese pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He was selected as a member in the 2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball ...

once remarked, "It makes it sound like Matsuzaka is the only one who makes this group relevant. The only thing we have in common is that we're the same age." Likewise,

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka ...

pitcher

has said, "Someday I'll make them call it the 'Arakaki Generation'". The

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...

once referred to the age group as the "Koike Generation" for then-BayStars

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Masaaki Koike (now with the Chunichi Dragons) within the team.

"The Last Star"

While all of the players belonging to the group were naturally born within a one-year span, they entered the pros in different years depending on how many years they had spent in college, the industrial and/or the independent leagues (if at all). As the term "Matsuzaka Generation" became more commonplace, the media began to refer to a player who was drafted into the NPB in ''later'' years because he had enjoyed an established career at the amateur level prior to going pro as . There is no record of any member of this group who went pro straight after high school or spent four years in college (and was thus drafted in ) ever being referred to as "The Last Star". The first player known to have been called by this name is current Hanshin Tigers pitcher Yasutomo Kubo, who spent six years in the industrial leagues before being drafted in despite being a well-known draft prospect since high school who once led his team to the finals of the 80th National High School Baseball Championship (losing to Yokohama Senior High).

Shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Eishin Soyogi was also referred to as "The Last Star of the Matsuzaka Generation" when he played well in his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

with the

Hiroshima Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mats ...

in , though the title failed to catch on. (The name has only been used for players with established track records at the amateur level, explaining why players like shortstop

Naoto Watanabe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who is currently a coach for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Golden Eagles, Yokohama BayStars/Yokohama DeNA BayStars and Saita ...

were not called "The Last Star" when they were drafted in .) In , Triple-A

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

pitcher

Kazuhito Tadano is a Japanese former baseball pitcher. He had previously pitched in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians. He is currently the Pitching Coach for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters farm team in Nippon Professional Baseball's Eastern Leag ...

was again referred to as "The Last Star of the Matsuzaka Generation" upon being drafted, though his situation differed in that he was not a true "rookie", having played for the major league team

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

from to . (His situation was complicated due to an appearance in a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

porn Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

film that caused NPB teams to blackball him and force him to play in the United States.) The last ''actual'' player belonging to this age group to go pro is shortstop/

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

Jobu Morita, who played for

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Okazaki Okazaki may refer to: *Okazaki (surname) *Okazaki, Aichi, a city in Japan *Okazaki Castle, a castle in Japan *Okazaki fragments Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs long in eukaryotes) w ...

of the Japanese industrial leagues, the

Elmira Pioneers The Elmira Pioneers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They have been affiliated with many major league teams throughout their history. The current Elmira Pioneers play as members of the Perfect Game Collegiate Base ...

of the

New York Collegiate Baseball League The New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 1978 and sanctioned by the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, National Amateur Baseball Federation and Major League Baseball. Each NY ...

, and the

Kagawa Olive Guyners The are a professional baseball team in the Shikoku Island League Plus of Japan. Established in 2005, the Guyners play at Olive Stadium in the Kagawa Prefectural Baseball Complex in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. They won the 2006, 2007, 2008, ...

of the independent Shikoku-Kyushu Island League before being drafted by the Golden Eagles in .

Major League Baseball players

The term is typically only used in reference to Japanese players, but the Japanese media has, at times, referred to other (non-Japanese) major leaguers born during the aforementioned span as belonging to the "Matsuzaka Generation", most notably former Red Sox pitchers

Josh Beckett Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Afte ...

and

Jonathan Papelbon Jonathan Robert Papelbon (; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he was an Major League Baseball ...

."Central League Report: Notebook,"
''Japan Baseball Daily'' (Feb. 17, 2007). Many other established major leagues belong to this age group, including

pitcher C.C. Sabathia,

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

pitcher

Dan Haren Daniel John Haren (born September 17, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Haren played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, W ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

outfielder

Curtis Granderson Curtis Granderson Jr. (born March 16, 1981), nicknamed the "Grandyman", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Ange ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

pitcher

Brett Myers Brett Allen Myers (born August 17, 1980) is an American singer and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. Born and rai ...

, Phillies outfielder

Shane Victorino Shane Patrick Victorino (born November 30, 1980), nicknamed "The Flyin' Hawaiian", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodger ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

outfielder

Alex Ríos Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and Kansas City Royals. A World Serie ...

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Hank Blalock Hank Joe Blalock (born November 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays. High school Blalock attended Rancho Bernardo High School in ...

first baseman/outfielder

Nick Swisher Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...

and free agent pitcher

Mark Prior Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. A onetime top prospect of the Chicago Cubs, he pitched for the team from 2002 to 2006 in a career that was marred by injuries. In ...

Players

There are currently 53 active players in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...

that belong to the Matsuzaka Generation (excludes foreign players acquired outside of the amateur draft). A total of 94 players belonging to this generation (including all active players) have once been on one of the twelve professional baseball teams' rosters. Matsuzaka himself and

played for teams in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

. ''Below is a partial list of said players. It includes only those for which

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

pages exist (as of 9 October 2010).''

Nippon Professional Baseball

Central League

Kyuji Fujikawa is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Fujikawa pitched in the 2006 and 2009 World B ...

- retired as of 2020 **

- retired as of 2014 *

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mat ...

Hirotaka Egusa is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. His wife is a former Japanese volleyball player Yoshie Takeshita Yoshie Takeshita (竹下佳江 ''Takeshita Yoshie'', born March 18, 1978) was a Japanese volleyball player who played for ...

- retired as of 2017 **

Akihiro Higashide is a Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan's Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league champion ...

- retired as of 2015, currently Hiroshima batting coach **

Katsuhiro Nagakawa is a former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan's Central League. External links * Living people 1980 births Baseball people from Hiroshima Asia University (Japan) alumni Japanese baseball players ...

- retired as of 2019, currently Hiroshima pitching coach ** Eishin Soyogi - retired as of 2017, currently playing at industrial league *

Ken Katoh is a Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League. When he played in Nippon Series on November 1, 2012, Kazuhito Tadano is a Japanese former baseball pitcher. He had previously pitched in Major Leagu ...

- retired as of 2016, currently Yomiuri battery coach **

Shuichi Murata is a third baseman for the Tochigi Golden Braves of Baseball Challenge League. Murata led the Central League in home runs in both and and is one of the few pure home run hitters in Japanese professional baseball today. He played in the 2008 ...

- retired as of 2018, currently Yomiuri batting coach **

Toshiya Sugiuchi is a Japanese baseball player. He is a left-handed starting pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants. Sugiuchi was the Eiji Sawamura Award winner in . He has had some of the most international experience of any active Japanese baseball player, pitching ...

- retired as of 2018, currently Yomiuri pitching coach *

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

Taketoshi Gotoh is a former Japanese baseball player. He played infielder for the Saitama Seibu Lions and Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Y ...

- retired as of 2018, currently Rakuten batting coach ** Yasutomo Kubo - retired as of 2017, currently playing at Atlantic League **

Shuichiro Osada is a professional Japanese baseball player. He plays pitcher for the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club. External links NPB.com 1980 births Living people Baseball people from Yokohama Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball ...

- retired as of 2016 *

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Y ...

- retired as of 2016 ** Chikara Onodera - retired as of 2012, currently Yakult pitching coach **

Shohei Tateyama is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher and currently pitting coach for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the NPB. Background Tateyama began his pro ...

- retired as of 2019, currently Rakuten pitching coach *

Yudai Kawai is a retired professional Japanese baseball player. He played pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons. Kawai announced his retirement on 23 September 2016, and played his final game for the Dragons against the Hanshin Tigers at Nagoya Dome The Nag ...

- retired as of 2016 ** Masato Kobayashi - retired as of 2014 ** Takahito Kudo - retired as of 2018, currently Chunichi outfield and base-running coach

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugu ...

** Ryotaro Doi - retired as of 2007 ** Kentaro Hashimoto - retired as of 2012 *

Shinsuke Ogura is a Japanese baseball player. He has been with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks since 1999, and plays as pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the cat ...

- retired as of 2012 **

Tsuyoshi Wada is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs. Wada pitched in the 2004 Athens and 2008 B ...

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Figh ...

Hiroshi Kisanuki Hiroshi Kisanuki (木佐貫洋, born May 17, 1980) is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East ...

- retired as of 2015, currently Yomiuri pitching coach **

Toshimasa Konta is a former Nippon Professional Baseball outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and t ...

- retired as of 2012, currently Nippon-Ham outfield and base-running coach **

- retired as of 2014 ** Kenji Yano - retired as of 2018, currently Nippon-Ham outfield and batting coach **

Kazunari Sanematsu is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. Before playing for the Fighters he was a member of the Yomiuri Giants. External links 1981 births Japanese baseball p ...

- retired as of 2019, currently Yomiuri battery coach *

** Shogo Akada - retired as of 2014, currently Seibu batting coach ** Eiichi Koyano - retired as of 2018, currently Orix batting coach *

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, ...

** Matsuzaka Daisuke **

Hichori Morimoto Hichori Morimoto (Japanese: 森本稀哲, Korean: 이희철, Hanja: 李稀哲, born January 31, 1981) is a Japanese professional baseballer of Korean descent for the Saitama Seibu Lions. He was the number 4 draft pick for the Fighters in . For ...

- retired as of 2015 **

Naotaka Takehara is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside ...

- retired as of 2016 ** Tatsuyuki Uemoto - retired as of 2017, currently Seibu battery coach **

Shogo Kimura is a professional Japanese baseball player and a cricketer. He plays infielder for the Saitama Seibu Lions. He took up cricket with the Japan Cricket Association after going unsigned following his release by the Seibu Lions. In September 2022, ...

- retired as of 2018, currently playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shoppin ...

Yosuke Hiraishi is a former Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The r ...

- retired as of 2011, currently SoftBank batting coach ** Daisuke Kato - retired as of 2013 ** Yuya Kubo - retired as of 2020 ** Jobu Morita - retired as of 2011 ** Toshiya Nakashima - retired as of 2014 ** Keiji Oyama - retired as of 2015 **

- retired as of 2020 **

Koji Yamasaki Koji Yamasaki (山﨑浩司, born October 31, 1980) is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia ...

- retired as of 2015

Other figures

Many well-known Japanese

as well as

were also born during this aforementioned span. ''Below is a partial list of such figures.'' *

Hozumi Hasegawa is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He is the first Japanese boxer to win world titles in three weight classes, having held the WBC bantamweight title from 2005 to 2010; the WBC featherweight title from 2010 ...

(

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

) *

Kenta Kobayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the mononymous ring name Kenta (stylised in all capital letters), and is a member of the Bullet Club stable. He also makes occasional appeara ...

(

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

) *

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

(professional wrestler)

References

{{reflist Nicknames Baseball in Japan Nippon Professional Baseball players