The is one of the two baseball halls of fame in Japan, the other being the . The Meikyukai is a limited company for public benefit. Founded by Hall of Fame pitcher

Masaichi Kaneda was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher of Zainichi Korean origin, one of the best-known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in ...

in 1978, the Meikyukai honors players born after 1926 (the beginning of

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

). Players are automatically inducted if they reach career totals of 2,000

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s, 200 wins in the Japanese professional leagues. Since 2003, players having 250 saves are also inducted, as well as recognizing records 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), ...

(MLB). Since 2019, players who did not reach any of the above three figures, but deemed to have equivalent career achievements can be inducted upon nomination by committee and received 75% more votes from current members. Inductees are awarded a special jacket, and participate in various baseball-related events during the off-season. Meikyukai members mostly make appearances in charity and volunteer events. The organization holds annual meetings and a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament, which is often broadcast on television. All of the money raised from the golf tournament is donated to the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

History

founded Meikyukai on July 24, 1978. In addition to Kaneda, the founding members of the club were

Kazuhisa Inao was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. In 1957, he won 20 consecutive games. In 1958 Japan Series, he pitched six games and won 4 consecutive games after his team lost 3 games. He even hit a home run in fifth game of Japan Series. He was t ...

Masaaki Koyama is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Osaka / Hanshin Tigers from 1953 to 1963, the Tokyo / Lotte Orions from 1964 to 1972, and the Taiyo Whales in 1973. He is a member of t ...

Keishi Suzuki is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1966 to 1985.

Tetsuya Yoneda Tetsuya Yoneda ( ja, 米田哲也, born March 3, 1938) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher who spent most of his career with the Hankyu Braves in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He was so tough that he was known as Gasoline T ...

, Shinichi Etoh,

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

, Morimichi Takagi, Masahiro Doi,

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...

Katsuya Nomura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) catcher and manager. During his over 26-season playing career mostly spent with the Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), he became one of NPB's greatest offensive catchers. He was award ...

Isao Harimoto is a Korean former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun (Hangul: 장훈, Hanja: 張勳). Harimoto has spent his life as a resi ...

, Yoshinori Hirose,

Kazuhiro Yamauchi was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the span of an 18 season-long career (1952–1970). Yamauchi was the first Japanese professional baseball playe ...

Takao Kajimoto was a left-handed Japanese baseball pitcher for the Hankyu Braves from 1954 to 1973. He won 254 games and was a 12-time All-Star during his career. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Meikyukai. Career Kajimoto was signed b ...

Mutsuo Minagawa was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 5' 10" , 162 lb. , Minagawa batted and threw right handed. He was born in Yonezawa, Yamagata.Minoru Murayama was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers (later Hanshin Tigers) in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number ''11'' is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 caree ...

. In 2008, founder

passed on club leadership to home run champion

after running it for more than 30 years. Kaneda later quit the club when it reformed as limited company in 2010. As of December 2022, Atsuya Furuta is the current chairperson of the club. The most recent inductees are

Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (M ...

and

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 Ba ...

in 2022. Despite neither of them reached 200 wins nor 250 saves in their career, Meikyukai offered them membership as Meikyukai deemed both player's overall career achievement are well enough to be introduced.

Qualifications for inclusion

The founding members of the club limited membership to players born after 1926, partly because they only wanted members that had begun their career after the two-league system of Japanese baseball was established in 1950 (when the

Japanese Baseball League was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball. The league's dominant team was Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine league c ...

reorganized into

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 formation ...

), but mostly because Kaneda did not want to include qualified members, such as

Tetsuharu Kawakami was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat, and his nickname . He was a professional player for 18 years, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in ...

, that were older than he was. Originally, only players born in

(1926-1988) can join, the rule was changed in 2012, allowing post-Shōwa born players to be inducted in the near future. Records in

(MLB) are also valid in counting the numbers; However, Meikyukai only takes records from the point where the player started his NPB career (i.e.: records before debut in NPB don't count). For example,

Alex Ramírez Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez (born 3 October 1974) is a Venezuelan-born Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who had a long career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He is the first foreign-born player to record 2 ...

's 86 hits in MLB before his NPB career were excluded and he was not inducted until he recorded his 2,000th NPB hit on April 6, 2013. Though other records such as home runs, stolen bases, and strikeouts are not officially included in the qualifications, they are taken into consideration if a player is few short of required hit/win/save(s).

Yutaka Fukumoto is a retired Japanese professional baseball player in Nippon Professional Baseball. An aggressive lead-off man and superior defensive centerfielder, he holds the Japanese career records in triples and stolen bases. He also hit more lead-off home ...

was specially inducted when he reached 800 career stolen bases (he would later mark 2,000 career hits). Such inductions was formally codified in 2019, allowing players who are originally not eligible to be inducted. As committee considered 200 wins are too difficult to be achieved for modern era pitchers, and players having notable combined pitching(batting) records should get qualified as well. Nationality is not officially regarded as a qualification, as two of the founding members (

and

) did not have a Japanese Nationality when Meikyukai was founded. However, only two non-Japanese player (

and

Alfonso Soriano Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (born January 7, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball left fielder and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and Chicago Cu ...

) so far has met the milestone since foundation, and only Ramírez was recognized as a qualified member.

Members

Current Members

Active NPB/MLB players (as of end of 2022 season) are indicated with an asterisk (*). * Koji Akiyama *

Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the Nippon Professional ...

Norichika Aoki is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toro ...

* * Hiromasa Arai *

Takahiro Arai Takahiro Arai (Japanese: 新井貴浩, born January 30, 1977 in Naka-ku, Hiroshima) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. His younger brother Ryota Arai, Ryota is also a p ...

Masahiro Araki is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. He played predominantly at second base for the Chunichi Dragons. He was noted for his speed and defense. Early career Araki was a first-round draft pick by Chunichi in 1995, out of high schoo ...

* Michiyo Arito * Masahiro Doi *

Taira Fujita is a Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams o ...

Kosuke Fukudome is a retired Japanese professional baseball outfielder. He previously played in Major League Baseball from 2008 to 2012, primarily with the Chicago Cubs and had a long spanning career in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Chunichi D ...

Kazuya Fukuura Kazuya Fukuura (福浦和也, born December 14, 1975) is a Japanese professional baseball first baseman for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He began his career as a pitcher. His play and build drew comparisons ...

* Atsuya Furuta *

Osamu Higashio is a former Japanese baseball player who played in the Japanese professional leagues from 1969–1988, being remembered as one of the leading Japanese pitchers in the 1980s. He also was manager of the Seibu Lions from 1995 to 2001. Professiona ...

* Masaji Hiramatsu * Yoshinori Hirose *

Tadahito Iguchi , nicknamed "Gucci", is a Japanese served professional baseball second baseman and from manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). As a member of the Chicago White Sox in 2005, Iguchi became the first Japanese-bor ...

* Atsunori Inaba *

Takuro Ishii is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. He currently is a coach for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Ishii was regarded as one of the best Japanese shortstops of the late 1990s and early 200 ...

Hitoki Iwase Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬仁紀, born November 10, 1974) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from Nishio, Aichi, Japan. He holds the NPB record for career saves and mound appearances. In 2005, he marked 46 saves with a 1.88 ERA, ...

Hiromitsu Kadota was a Japanese professional baseball player for the Hawks franchise (known during his career as the Nankai Hawks and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks) and the Orix Braves. Reputed for his slugging ability, he ate a lot and became a strong hitter, though ...

Tomoaki Kanemoto is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and manager. In his career as a player he spent 11 years with the Hiroshima Carp before moving to the Hanshin Tigers in 2003, where he spent another 10 years. He holds the world record for c ...

Hideji Katō (born May 24, 1948) is a Japanese former professional baseball first baseman in Nippon Professional Baseball. He played for the Hankyu Braves from 1969 to 1982, Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1983, Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1984 to 1985, Yomiuri Giants in ...

* Manabu Kitabeppu * Kazuhiro Kiyohara * Hiroki Kokubo * Norihiro Komada *

* Kimiyasu Kudo *

Takumi Kuriyama is a Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship ...

* *

Hiroki Kuroda is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1997 to 2007 before playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008 to 2011 and ...

Tomonori Maeda is a former Nippon Professional Baseball player who retired after the 2013 season. Maeda's career spanned 24 seasons, all spent with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan's Central League. He played in one Japan Series, batting .158 with a triple and ...

* Makoto Matsubara *

Hideki Matsui , nicknamed "Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Matsui pl ...

Kazuo Matsui is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese i ...

* Shinya Miyamoto *

Norihiro Nakamura is a Japanese former professional baseball third baseman. Nakamura spent almost all of his professional career in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Nakamura had a .266 career batting average, 404 home runs and 1338 RBI, and was an eight-t ...

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

Kenjiro Nomura Kenjiro Nomura may refer to: * Kenjiro Nomura (baseball) * Kenjiro Nomura (artist) Kenjiro Nomura (1896–1956) was a Japanese American painter. Immigrating to the United States from Japan as a boy, he became a well-known artist in the Pacific Nor ...

Michihiro Ogasawara Michihiro Ogasawara (小笠原道大, born October 25, 1973 in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He is currently the first team head coach for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He had an ...

* Yasunori Oshima *

Hayato Sakamoto is a Japanese professional baseball shortstop with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In , Sakamoto became the first player in Giants franchise history to start a season opener while under the age of 20 since Hideki Mats ...

* *

Kazuhiro Sasaki Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki (佐々木主浩 ''Sasaki Kazuhiro'', born February 22, 1968) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played his entire NPB career with the Yokohama Taiyo W ...

* Isao Shibata *

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began his ...

Keishi Suzuki is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1966 to 1985.

Shingo Takatsu Shingo Takatsu (高津臣吾, ''Takatsu Shingo'') (born November 25, 1968) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and manager. He had a short stint with the Chicago White Sox where he was the closer for two seasons until struggles closing ...

* Yukio Tanaka *

Motonobu Tanishige Motonobu Tanishige (Japanese: 谷繁元信, born December 21, 1970, in Hiroshima) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player and manager. Tanishige played 27 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), appearing in more games than any ...

Kazuyoshi Tatsunami is a former Japanese professional baseball player for the Nippon Professional Baseball Chunichi Dragons, having played his professional career for them since his debut in . He was drafted in the first round in the NPB Draft. Tatsunami holds ...

Takashi Toritani is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball(NPB). He previously played with the Hanshin Tigers. Toritani was one of the most highly coveted position players in years as a senior ...

Seiichi Uchikawa is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama BayStars and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Career Yokohama BayStars ...

* Kazuhiro Wada *

Tsutomu Wakamatsu is a Japanese former baseball player, coach, and manager for the Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Ja ...

Hisashi Yamada is a retired Japanese professional baseball submarine pitcher. He played with the Hankyu Braves in Nippon Professional Baseball from to . Yamada won the Pacific League MVP for three years in a row (1976–1978), sharing a record with Ichiro Su ...

* Koji Yamamoto * Masahiro Yamamoto * Hiroyuki Yamazaki *

Honored Members

Deceased players who died during their membership are considered as "Honored Members". * Shinichi Etoh *

Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa ( 衣笠祥雄; January 18, 1947 – April 23, 2018) was a Japanese professional baseball third baseman for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball league from 1965 to 1987. He was nicknamed ja, Tetsujin, it ...

Mutsuo Minagawa was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 5' 10" , 162 lb. , Minagawa batted and threw right handed. He was born in Yonezawa, Yamagata.Choji Murata Choji Murata (村田兆治, 27 November 1949 – 11 November 2022) was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions over the period 1968 to 1990. Murata led the Pacific League in Earned run average in ...

Minoru Murayama was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers (later Hanshin Tigers) in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number ''11'' is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 caree ...

* Katsuo Osugi * Morimichi Takagi *

Former Members and Non-Inductees

, Kenichi Yazawa,

Tsuneo Horiuchi is a former professional baseball player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and a politician. A right-handed pitcher, in he was voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball career Horiuchi played for the Yomiuri Giants his ...

were once members of Meikyukai, but later quitted due to their own reasons.

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 ...

reached 2,000 hits in 1995, but declined membership because Kaneda and other members had repeatedly criticized him during his career. First baseman Kihachi Enomoto (with 2,314 career hits) didn't decline membership, but never participated in any of the club's meetings or events before his death in 2012, and was not recognized as a formal member nor a honored member. Left fielder and second baseman

(with 2,097 career hits) technically met the 2,000 hits requirement in 2013, but he was not recognized as a formal member. Many suggest his significantly low NPB career hit (only 2 out of 2,097) preventing him from being introduced.

References

External links

* * {{in lang, ja History of baseball in Japan Japanese I Awards established in 1978 1978 establishments in Japan