Japanese Players In The KBO

There was some big news out of the KBO a few months back - the SSG Landers signed Keisho Shirakawa, a Japanese pitcher.  This was the first time a KBO team had signed a Japanese player in 13 years.  The event prompted people to ask on Twitter "how many Japanese players have played in the KBO?"  Dan Skrezyna of Korean Cardboard did some research and came up with a list of five players (including Shirakawa).  I told Dan that I'd probably do a post about the subject at some point in the future (I was in Japan at the time).

I finally started looking into this seriously about a week or so ago, using Dan's list as a starting point.  It turned out to be a little more complicated that I had thought and I'm not completely convinced that I have a definitive answer.  Or maybe I'm overthinking it and I do have a definitive answer. 

I'm going to stop for a second and explain that I may not fully understand what I'm writing about in the next couple paragraphs.  It wouldn't surprise me if I ended up revising this after folks who know more about this weigh in.

The complicating issue is defining what a "Japanese player" is.  You might think that's pretty straightforward - people from Japan - but it's a little more complex due to the sizable population of "Zainichi Koreans" in Japan.  These are long-term Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots to Korea under Japanese rule (1910-45).  They aren't necessarily Japanese citizens but are considered permanent residents of Japan.  Masaichi Kaneda, Isao Harimoto, Tomoaki Kanemoto and Takehiro Arai are some of the prominent baseball players who are Zainichi.  Note that this doesn't apply to anyone who has emigrated to Japan from Korea since the war ended.  I also don't think Japan has birthright citizenship so Lee Jung-hoo, born in Nagoya when his father was playing for the Dragons, is not a Japanese citizen (and is also not Zainichi).

Why does this matter?  It matters because before 1998, foreigners were excluded from playing in the KBO with the exception of Zainichi Koreans from Japan.  I know of at least four who played in the KBO pre-1998 although I am unsure if that's a complete list*.  As far as I can tell there are seven Japanese players (including Shirakawa) who are NOT Zainichi Koreans who have appeared in the KBO.  So depending on how you define "Japanese", there's either been seven players or at least eleven.

* I discovered the fourth while writing this post so, yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't have the complete list.

Let's go through the list in roughly chronological order.  I'll show a baseball card of the player if I can.

2020 BBM Carp History 1950-2020 #35

The earliest Zainichi player I've identified (so far) is Hiroaki Fukushi who played for the Sammi Superstars/Chungbo Pintos from 1983-85 and the Binggrae Eagles in 1986.  Fukushi had spent 14 years in NPB with the Giants (1969-72), Hawks (1973-76) and Carp (1977-82) before coming to Korea.  He holds the KBO records for most victories in a season (30 in 1983) and losses (25 in 1985).  He threw 36 complete games in 1983 along with 427 1/3 innings pitched (both of which are still KBO records) which may account for the reversal of fortunes following his first KBO season.  He played in Korea under the name Jang Myeong-bu.

1979 TCMA #64

The next two Zainichi players in the KBO were Hisao Niura and Kazuhide Ishiyama who both played for the Samsung Lions from 1984-86.  Niura, who played under the name Kim Il-yong, had been a pitcher with the Giants from 1968 to 1983 and had had some decent seasons on the mound.  Ishiyama was a catcher with the Buffaloes from 1970 to 1983 and used the name Song Il-soo with Samsung.  Ishiyama was pretty much Niura's personal catcher for the three years they were with the Lions.  Niura led the league in wins with 25 in 1985.  Ishiyama (who I have not been able to find a card of) retired following the 1986 season but Niura returned to NPB and played another six seasons with the Whales (1987-91), Hawks (1992) and Swallows (1992).  He won comeback player of the year in 1987.  Ishiyama returned to Korea in 2013 when he joined the coaching staff of the Doosan Bears and became the Bears manager in 2014 although he was let go after that season.

1986 Takara Swallows #40

Hiroaki Miyagi was the first Japanese player to play in the KBO who was not a Zainichi Korean when he joined the Binggrae Eagles in 1988 but no one knew it until 2003 when it was revealed that he had lied about his nationality.  Miyagi had spent seven mediocre years with Yakult from 1981 to 1987 before the Swallows released him.  After failing in a tryout with the Whales, he ended up signing with Binggrae using the name Kim Hong-myung.  He spent five seasons in Korea but was pretty much the same mediocre pitcher he'd been with the Swallows.  (If it isn't obvious, I swiped the image of his card off the internet.)

1986 Takara Buffaloes #24

1987 TacoTime Salt Lake Trappers #20

Yasuhiro Hiyama was the first round pick of the Buffaloes in the 1985 but ultimately never played on the ichi-gun team (although he did spend the 1987 season with the Salt Lake City Trappers of the Pioneer League).  Kintetsu released him after the 1991 season and, at the urging of Isao Harimoto, he signed with the Ssangbangwool Raiders, using the name Hwang Tae-ho.  He got injured and only played in a single game, giving up three runs in one third of an inning pitched for a career ERA of 81.00.  Hiyama is the final Zainichi Korean that I'm aware of to play in the KBO.  

2002 BBM 2nd Version #445

Satoshi Iriki was the first Japanese player in the KBO who wasn't either Zainichi or claimed to be Zainichi.  He had spent 13 seasons with the Buffaloes, Carp, Giants and Swallows between 1990 and 2002 before joining Doosan in 2003.  After one season in Korea he finished his career in the CPBL with the La New Bears.

2005 Konami Baseball Heroes Old White Edition #B05W146

1994 Classic Best Bristol Tigers #23

Kazuhiro Shiotani and Kazuhide Ishiyama are the only non-pitchers on this list.  Shiotani joined the SK Wyverns in 2006 after a 13 year career in NPB with the Tigers (1993-2001) and Orix (2002-05).  (He also played in Bristol, Virgina in 1994.)  He'd only spent a month with SK before a pitch broke his hand, an injury that ultimately ended his career.

2007 Calbee #293

Hall Of Famer Shingo Takatsu is probably the best known player on this list.  He had spent 13 seasons with the Swallows from 1991 to 2003 before spending two years in MLB with the White Sox and Mets.  He returned to the Swallows for the 2006-07 seasons.  He joined the Woori Heroes in 2008 after an unsuccessful attempt to join the Cubs that spring.  He pitched well, going 1-0 with eight saves and an ERA of 0.86 but was let go after the season.

2007 BBM 1st Version #333

 Ken Kadokura played for four teams during his 13 year NPB career - the Dragons (1996-99), the Buffaloes (2000-03), the Baystars (2004-06) and the Giants (2007-08).  He had was non-roster invitee with the Cubs in spring training of 2009 (after being released by Yomiuri) but was not picked up by the club despite pitching pretty well.  He ended up signing with SK a few weeks later and spent two years with the Wyverns.  He joined the Samsung Lions for the 2011 season but his poor performance caused them to release him midway through the season.  He was the most recent Japanese player in the KBO prior to Shirakawa.

2009 BBM 1st Version #003

Shinya Okamoto played for the Dragons (2001-07) and Lions (2008-09).  After the Lions released him and he drew no interest in the 12 team tryout, he successfully tried out for the LG Twins.  He notched 16 saves with the Twins and returned to Japan after the 2010 season, signing with Rakuten.  He and Niura are the only players on this list to return to NPB after playing in Korea - although in Okamoto's case he spent all of 2011 on the farm team before announcing his retirement.

Keisho Shirakawa is the only player on this list to not have played in NPB.  SSG acquired him from the Tokushima Indigo Socks of the Shikoku Island League.  Shirakawa had played for his hometown team since 2020.  He joined the Landers as a replacement foreign player when Roenis Elías got hurt and was traded to Doosan when Elías returned.  Doosan is using him as a replacement for the injured Brandon Waddell.

There's one additional player I want to mention here - according to Shirakawa's Japanese Wikipedia page, there was a previous Japanese player without NPB experience who had signed with a KBO team.  In 2003 the Lotte Giants signed Kazuma Mori but Mori never played for their top team.  I don't know any details about Mori - he didn't play for a Japanese independent team as there weren't any at that point but he could possibly have played in the corporate league.  All I know about him is this blurb from the 2003 "Korean Pro Baseball Guide Book":

One interesting thing about this is that while Mori never pitched in NPB, he did pitch in an MLB organization.  There's an entry in Baseball-Reference for a Kazuma Mori who made three appearances with the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Expos' entry in the Florida State League, in 1999.  The birthdate and birthplaces match so it looks like it's the same guy.