[AmoebaCulture]

Kiyohara Kazuhiro (ex-Orix Buffalos): a legend



Arai Takahiro (Hiroshima)



Kanemoto Tomoaki / Kim Ji-heon (Hanshin Tigers)

[AmoebaCulture]

Morimoto Hichori / Hee-cheol pronounced as Hichori (Nippon Ham)



Kaneda Masaichi / Kim Jeong-il (Yomiuri Giants): 400 wins (20 wins for 12 straight years) 4490 strike-outs. His number "34" is remained unused since his retirement.



Ogasawara (Yomiuri Giants): Became "Korean-Japanese" from Korean in 2003 to play for Japan's Athens team after persistent persuasion from Japan NT coach Nakashima Shigeo. It usually takes 6 to 12 months for a Korean to naturalize to Japanese citizen. However, his application wen through in 2 days.

[AmoebaCulture]

Matsui Kazuo (Houston Astros): Was North Korean citizen until 2001.



Matsui Hideki (New York Yankees): Grandfather is Korean. Refused to play for Japan's WBC team.



Igawa Kei (New York Yankees): SK coach Kim Seong-guen (Korean-Japanese himself) concluded that Igawa was also Korean-Japanese

[AmoebaCulture]

Hayashi Masanori / Im Chang-beom (Yomiuri Giants)



Miyamoto Shinya (Yakult) :President of the Players' Association



Saito Kazumi (Softbank): Naturalized in 2003

[CanadianGook]

is legit? or more korean BS...wow i didn't know many of these guys have korean heritage. matsui?? (both of them?)

[AmoebaCulture]

I pulled it from Daum but Korean-Japanese playing for Japan and in Japan have been known for a very long time. Some speculate that there are more Zainichis that have yet to "come out". This is something that even most Japanese acknowledge.

[divingisgay]

wtf =(

[woorijim]

Originally Posted by CanadianGook

is legit? or more korean BS...wow i didn't know many of these guys have korean heritage. matsui?? (both of them?)

You'd be even more surprised how many actors, actresses and baseball stars in Japan have Korean heritages. I heard one Japanese TV producer said, "If all the entertainers in Japan come out with their Korean heritages, Japanese viewers will begin to question whether they are in Korea or not." - Something along those lines. Having said this, as long as they use Japanese names and live like Japanese, then I guess they should be regarded as Japanese instead of Korean.

Found this interesting youtube video on Matsui Hideki.

YouTube - ??? ??? ????? ???? (hideki matsui Korean residents in Japan)

YouTube - ??? ??? ????? ???? (hideki matsui Korean residents in Japan)

[AmoebaCulture]

Yes ?

[nad1998]

that's great and all for these guys that they are playing pro baseball....but by daum doing this...all it does is just cause controversy etc. does nothing to help the KBO or the national team. unless they are trying to prove that koreans can play baseball at the same level with the japanese....which i think the past 12 games against japan and asia series has already proven this....it just feels like daum is looking for validity of korean baseball vs japan baseball etc.