Genji Kaku/Yuen-chih Kuo (Kaku Genji/Kuo Yuen-chih, 郭源治, born October 4, 1956), is a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

former professional baseball player from Taitung,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. His family comes from the

Taiwanese aborigines Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

. He obtained Japanese citizenship in September 1989, and holds dual Japanese/Taiwan citizenship since 1999. While in Japan, he often uses the Japanese name, 佳久源治.

Biography

Kaku first traveled to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1969 as part of the Taiwanese little league team, where his team won the little league championship. Kaku finished his military service in Taiwan, and joined 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 mid-1981. He was not regarded as a star player at that time, and arrived in Japan with only about 3000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

(roughly $30) in his pocket. His sharp fastball (hit 94 mph) and breaking pitches quickly earned him a spot on the starting rotation, and he won over 10 games from 1983 to 1986. However, he also lost over 10 games each of these seasons due to poor run support. In 1987, Dragons closer

Kazuhiko Ushijima is a former 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 t ...

was traded to the

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 inaugural ...

for

Hiromitsu Ochiai Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合博満 ''Ochiai Hiromitsu'', born December 9, 1953) is a Japanese professional baseball manager and former player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to b ...

, and manager

Senichi Hoshino was a Nippon Professional Baseball player and manager. In 2003, he led the Hanshin Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. In 2007, he managed the Japanese national team for the 2008 Beijin ...

chose Kaku as the new closer. Kaku was a huge success in the closing role, using his solid control and hard screwball to lead the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

in saves in 1987 and 1988. The Dragons won the league championship in 1988, and Kaku received the league MVP award despite having to return to Taiwan during the season to mourn for his younger brother, who had died in a car accident. Kaku obtained Japanese citizenship in 1989, and has a Japanese wife. He returned to the starting rotation in 1990, winning 13 games in 1991. He became a reliever in 1993, and became the fifth Japanese player in history to record 100 wins and 100 saves in 1994. He also led the league with a 2.45 ERA that year. He played his final season in Japan in 1996. Kaku played in the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

from 1997 to 1999. He also participated in the preliminary rounds of the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

with the Taiwanese national team in 1999 at the age of 42. After retiring from baseball, he opened a restaurant in

Naka-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2019, the ward has an estimated population of 90,918 and a population density of 9,693 persons per km2. The total area is 9.38 km2. Geography Naka Wa ...

. Kaku's jersey number (33) is a retired number for the

Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei baseball team () is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederat ...

. He has been serving as the head consultant for the

since 2013.

External links

Official Website (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaku, Genji 1956 births Living people Amis people Chunichi Dragons players Fu Jen Catholic University alumni Japanese baseball players Japanese people of Taiwanese descent Koos Group Whales players Naturalized citizens of Japan Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers People from Taitung County Taiwanese baseball players Uni-President Lions players Japanese sportspeople of Chinese descent