I had always been under the impression that the late Isao Harimoto was the only survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing that ever played professional baseball. I discovered, however, while researching my memorial post for him, that that was not the case. I believe that the correct answer is that there were three other survivors who also played pro ball, one of whom is still alive at the age of 83.
Wataru Nonin was 30 years old and working at his father's sawmill at the time of the bombing. He had played seven years in the Japan Baseball League (the predecessor to NPB), missing time in 1938 when he was drafted and served in the army in China. He was about 2.5 kilometers from ground zero and was buried under the rubble but was otherwise unharmed. He played one more season after the war with the Kinsei Stars in 1948 and managed the Dragons in 1961 and 1962 and the Tokyo/Lotte Orions in 1965 and 1967-71. He passed away in 1990.
13 year old Takashi Harada had been conscripted along with other children of the same age (like Harimoto's sister Jang Jeom-ja) to help demolish buildings to create fire breaks. He was laying on his back, talking to friends when the bomb detonated. The school uniform he was wearing at the time is now in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Harada would play for the Carp from 1954 to 1957 although he only appeared in 14 games with the top team in 1954. He later played for and managed the Mazda Motors corporate league team. He died in 2016.
Kunio Fukutomi's story is similar to Harimoto's. He was two years old and at his family's home when the bomb dropped. His home, like Harimoto's was shielded from the blast by Hijiyama Hill. Fukutomi would have a 16 year career in NPB, playing for Sankei/Yakult Atoms from 1965 to 1972, the Taiheiyo Club Lions in 1973-74 and the Yakult Swallows from 1975-80. He coached for the Swallows from 1981 to 1993 and the Buffaloes (1997-2000) as well as the CPBL's China Times Eagles in 1995 and the KBO's Ssangbangwool Raiders in 1996.
The three players do not have many baseball cards. Engel lists two cards of Nonin when he managed the Dragons - both cards are in somewhat obscure sets. I do not believe there are any cards of Harada. There are seven cards of Fukutomi - two cards from the 1974/75 Calbee set, the Swallows multi-player card from the 1975/76/77 Calbee set, the Takara Swallows sets from 1978, 1979 and 1980 and the 2022 BBM Swallows History 1950-2022 set.
I have two of Fukutomi's cards:
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| 1975/76/77 Calbee #439 |
Fukutomi is the player on the far right of the bottom row (#7).
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| 2022 BBM Swallows History 1950-2022 #12 |
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