2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures - Where Are They Now?

Ten years ago this week, Panini released the 2013 edition of their USA Baseball set.  This set was sold in boxes that included the complete 63 card base set, seven autograph or autograph/memorabilia cards and two memorabilia cards.  There were over twenty different types of autographed cards available but the one that is the subject of this post is the one that's actually not listed in TCDB's information on the set - the "Japanese All-Stars Signatures"*

*This is not the official name of these cards but it's my best guess at it

These autographed cards featured the members of the 2013 Japanese Collegiate All Star team that took on the US Collegiate All Star team in Japan in a five game series in July of that year.  There are 24 cards available and each is serially numbered to 25.  The autographs differ from the ones on the 2019 and 2020 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes Collegiate Samurai Japan autograph/memorabilia cards in that they appear to all be in English rather than kanji.  I suspect most of the players weren't used to writing their names that way as some of them have the name written out rather than what you'd expect for a signature.

18 of the 24 players went on to play in NPB - 16 of them directly after college and the other two after playing in the corporate leagues for a couple seasons.  Sixteen of the eighteen were still active in 2023.  The other six players all played in the corporate leagues and at least one of them was still active this past season.  Here's the list of all 24 players:

Card	Name	College	Year	Drafted	Notes
21	Taiga Egoshi	Komazawa	3	2014 Tigers 3rd	Played for Tigers 2015-22, Fighters 2023-present
5	Yudai Fujioka	Asia	2	2017 Marines  2nd	Played for Toyota until 2022
19	Kenta Ishida	Hosei	3	2014 Baystars 2nd	Played for Baystars 2015-2023.  All Star in 2016
24	Ryohei Ishikawa	Kokugakuin	4	N/A	Played for ENEOS after graduation
3	Kanji Kawai	Hosei	4	N/A	Played for Toyota until 2022
1	Ryo Miki	Jobu	4	2013 Marines 3rd	Played for Marines 2014-2023
20	Hiroki Minei	Asia	4	2013 Baystars 3rd	Played for Baystars 2014-2022, Hawks 2023-present.
7	Tomohiro Mineshita	Kinki	3	N/A	Still playing for Osaka Gas as of 2023
8	Gen Mizumoto	Asia	1	N/A	Played for Toho Gas until 2021
2	Shogo Nakamura	Waseda	3	2014 Marines 1st	Played for Marines 2015-present.  Won Best 9 in 2021. Golden Glove in 2018, 2021 & 2023.  All Star in 2018 & 2021
6	Naomichi Nishiura	Hosei	4	2013 Swallows 2nd	Played for Swallows 2014-23, Baystars 2023-present
9	Shohri Ohkido	Hosei	4	N/A	Last name is spelled "Ookido" on card. Played for Honda Suzuka until 2022
13	Daichi Ohsera	Kyushu Kyoritsu	4	2013 Carp 1st	Last name is spelled "Osera" on card.  Played for Carp 2014-present.  Won Rookie Of The Year Award in 2014.  All Star in 2018
4	Koji Ohshiro	Rikkio	2	2015 Buffaloes 3rd	Played for Buffaloes 2016-present
22	Hiromi Oka	Meiji	4	2013 Fighters 3rd	Played for Fighters 2014-18, Marines 2018-present.
11	Masaji Rokuno	Tokai	4	N/A	Played for Toyota until 2017
12	Seishiro Sakamoto	Meiji	2	2015 Tigers 2nd	Played for Tigers 2016-present.  Won Golden Glove award in 2023
18	Ryota Sekiya	Meiji	4	2015 Marines 2nd	Played for JR East after graduation.  Played for Marines 2016-19
17	Toshihiro Sugiura	Kokugakuin	4	2013 Swallows 1st	Played for Swallows 2014-17, Fighters 2017-present
15	Toyoki Tanaka	Nihon Bunri	2	2015 Fighters 5th	Played for Fighters 2016-19, Giants 2020-23
10	Ryutero Umeno	Fukuoka	4	2013 Tigers 4th	Played for Tigers 2014-present.  Golden Glove winner in 2018-20.  All Star in 2017, 2019, 2021 & 2023.  Member of Samurai Japan in 2021 Olympics
16	Sachiya Yamasaki	Meiji	3	2014 Buffaloes 1st	Played for Buffaloes 2015-2023.  Signed with Fighters for 2024.  All Star in 2023
14	Yasuaki Yamasaki	Asia	3	2014 Baystars 1st	Played for Baystars 2015-present.  Won Rookie Of The Year Award in 2015.  All Star in 2015-19 & 2021.  Member of Samurai Japan for 2015 & 2019 Premier 12 and 2021 Tokyo Olympics
23	Masataka Yoshida	Aoyama Gakuin	2	2015 Buffaloes 1st	Played for Buffaloes 2016-22, Boston Red Sox 2023-present.  Won five Best 9 Awards (2018-22).  Four time All Star (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022).  Member of Samurai Japan for 2019 Premier 12, 2021 Olympics and 2023 World Baseball Classic

I've got 20 of the 24 cards - I'm just missing the cards for Miki, Nakamura, Umeno and Yasuaki Yamasaki.  Here's all the cards I do have with a recent NPB card of the player:

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #21

2023 BBM 1st Version #154

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #5

2023 BBM 2nd Version #454

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #19

2023 BBM 2nd Version #501

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #20

2023 BBM 1st Version #037

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #6

2022 BBM Swallows #S43

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #13

2023 Topps NPB #180

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #4

2023 Epoch NPB #024

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #22

2023 Epoch NPB #173

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #12

2023 Epoch NPB #306

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #18

2019 BBM Marines #M06

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #17

2023 Fighters Team Set #22

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #15

2021 BBM Giants #G24

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #16

2023 BBM 1st Version #002

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #23

2022 BBM 1st Version #179

Here are NPB cards for the four players don't have autographed cards for yet:

2022 BBM Marines #M50

2023 Calbee #022

2023 Calbee #041

2023 Topps NPB #127

Two of the corporate league players - Kanji Kawai and Shori Ohkido - had cards in a couple of BBM's Tokyo Big Six sets.  I don't know if any of the six players appeared in either the 2021 or 2022 JABA sets as I do not have a complete checklist for either set.

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six Set - Where Are They Now?

Ten years ago this month BBM released the 2013 edition of their Tokyo Big Six set.  It was their tenth and final set for the league and eleventh (and also final) collegiate set overall.

This was a box set that contained 37 cards - the 36 card base set plus one "special" insert card.  The base set was split evenly between the six schools so each school had six cards - five player cards plus a team card.  The "special" insert cards were either a "Tokyo Big6 Heroes" insert card (one of six possible cards - one for each school) or an autographed version of one of the player cards.  

Of the 30 players in the set, thirteen of them went on to play in NPB.  That's the largest number from any of the ten Tokyo Big Six sets - the previous high was eleven in both the 2009 Spring and Autumn sets.  Only two of those thirteen - Kohei Arihara and Hiromi Oka - had previously appeared in one of the card sets.  Eleven of the players are still active in NPB (now that Arihara has returned from MLB).  Here's the list of future NPB players from the set:

Player	College	Year	Drafted	Notes
Arihara, Kohei	Waseda	3	2014 Fighters 1st	Played for Fighters 2015-2020, Texas Rangers 2021-22, Hawks 2023-present.  2015 Rookie Of The Year.  Lead PL in wins in 2019.  All Star in 2016 & 2019
Hakumura, Akihiro	Keio	4	2013 Fighters 6th	Played for Fighters 2014-2020.  Drafted as a pitcher, switched to outfield in 2019
Kinoshita, Takuya	Hosei	4	2015 Dragons 3rd	Played for Toyota after graduation.  Played for Dragons 2016-present.  All Star in 2021-22
Mogi, Eigoro	Waseda	2	2015 Eagles 3rd	Played for Eagles 2016-present.  All Star in 2019 (also 2017 but he declined to participate)
Nakamura, Shogo	Waseda	3	2014 Marines 1st	Played for Marines 2015-present.  Won Best 9 in 2021. Golden Glove in 2018 & 2021.  All Star in 2018 & 2021
Nishiura, Naomichi	Hosei	4	2013 Swallows 2nd	Played for Swallows 2014-present
Ohshiro, Koji	Rikkio	2	2015 Buffaloes 3rd	Surname spelled "Ooshiro" in set.  Played for Buffaloes 2016-present
Oka, Hiromi	Meiji	4	2013 Fighters 3rd	Played for Fighters 2014-18, Marines 2018-present.
Saitoh, Shunsuke	Rikkio	2	2017 Baystars 4th	Played for JX-ENEOS after graduation.  Played for Baystars 2018-21
Sakamoto, Seishiro	Meiji	2	2015 Tigers 2nd	Played for Tigers 2016-present
Takayama, Shun	Meiji	2	2015 Tigers 1st	Played for Tigers 2016-present.  2016 Rookie Of The Year.  All Star in 2016
Uehara, Kenta	Meiji	2	2015 Fighters 1st	Played for Fighters 2016-present
Yokoo, Toshitake	Keio	2	2015 Fighters 6th	Played for Fighters 2016-2021, Eagles 2021-present

Here's each of their cards from the set as well as a card of them in NPB.  As usual I tried to get the most recent card of theirs that I hadn't already shown when possible.  I'm also showing Hakumura's "Tokyo Big6 Heroes" card since I pulled that from the box I bought.  Ohshiro and Oka also had cards in that insert set but I don't have those.  Hakumura and Oka are shown as pitchers on their Tokyo Big Six cards but outfielders on their NPB cards.  Hakumura was drafted as a pitcher but converted to being an outfielder in 2019.  Oka had been a two way player in college but was drafted as a position player.

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #10

2020 Epoch NPB #149

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #16

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #SP03

2020 BBM Fighters #F65

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #05

2022 Topps NPB #88

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #11

2022 Calbee #050

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #08

2022 BBM 1st Version #203

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #04

2022 BBM Swallows #S43

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #26

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #B43

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #20

2022 BBM Marines #M62

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #28

2021 BBM Baystars #DB12

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #23

2022 Epoch NPB #052

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #22

2022 BBM Tigers #T61

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #21

2022 BBM Fighters #F09

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #15

2022 BBM Eagles #E54

Of the remaining 17 players in the set, had their only appearance on a BBM card in this set - Kazuki Funamoto (Hosei), Makoto Horino (Keio), Yuta Iida (Tokyo), Takushi Kasahara (Tokyo), Takudai Koo (Rikkio), Toshiya Kurozawa (Tokyo), Shori Ohkido (Hosei), Asahi Satoh (Keio), Masatsugu Seki (Tokyo), Wataru Tohjoh (Waseda), Yuho Yabe (Rikkio), Seigo Yada (Keio) and Kentaro Yoshinaga (Waseda).  The other four players appeared in at least one other BBM Tokyo Big Six set - Naoto Hatsuma (Tokyo), Yota Hirahara (Rikkio),  Kanji Kawai (Hosei), Hiroki Nakashima (Meiji), 

I should point out that at least two of the players that I said had their only BBM collegiate card in this set have other cards.  Shori Ohkido of Hosei appears in the Japanese Collegiate team autographed inserts for the 2013 Panini USA baseball set (as does Kanji Kawai of Hosei) and Sashi Satoh of Keio appears in the 2021 JABA corporate league set:

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #03

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japan Collegiate Autographs #9 

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #14

2021 JABA Player Cards #079

I don't have a checklist for either the 2021 or 2022 JABA sets so it's possible that some of the other 17 non-professional players from this set appear in them.