NPB Career Records: The All-Time Leaders in Japanese Baseball

Isao Harimoto (NPB career hits record) batting, 1960
Photo: 東亜日報 via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Records › NPB Career Records: The All-Time Leaders in Japanese Baseball

Japanese pro baseball has been played since 1936. In that time, a few players set records that still stand. Some of them may never fall.

This page lists the biggest career records in NPB. NPB stands for Nippon Professional Baseball. It is the top pro league in Japan.

We cover hitting, base running, pitching and more. We tell you who holds each record and how they did it. Everything here is as of the 2025 season.

New to Japanese baseball? Read how NPB works first. For more record pages, visit our records hub.

Quick Facts

  • Most home runs: Sadaharu Oh, 868.
  • Most hits: Isao Harimoto, 3,085.
  • Most runs batted in: Sadaharu Oh, 2,170.
  • Most stolen bases: Yutaka Fukumoto, 1,065.
  • Most wins: Masaichi Kaneda, 400.
  • Most strikeouts by a pitcher: Masaichi Kaneda, 4,490.
  • Most saves: Hitoki Iwase, 407.
  • Most games played: Motonobu Tanishige, 3,021.
  • Most games in a row: Sachio Kinugasa, 2,215.

A Note on These Numbers

Here’s the thing about records. Sources do not always match.

We checked each number in more than one place where we could. When a number came from only one source, we say so. When sources did not agree, we left the number out.

We also left out the totals of players who are still active. Their numbers change every week of the season. We only name them.

Home Runs: Sadaharu Oh, 868

The most famous record in Japan belongs to Sadaharu Oh. He hit 868 home runs. All of them came with the Yomiuri Giants, from 1959 to 1980.

That is more than anyone in MLB has hit, too. Barry Bonds hit 762. Hank Aaron hit 755. But keep in mind that the leagues are different, and the parks are too.

Oh had a famous swing. He lifted his front leg high, like a flamingo. Fans called it the “flamingo” stance.

Next on the list is Katsuya Nomura, with 657. Nomura was a catcher. That makes his total even more amazing. Catching wears a player down.

Read the full story on our Sadaharu Oh page. For the single-season record, see our home run record history.

Hits: Isao Harimoto, 3,085

Isao Harimoto has the most hits in NPB history. He got 3,085.

He played from 1959 to 1981. Most of those years were with the Toei Flyers, the team we now call the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

He is the only player with 3,000 hits in NPB.

Nomura is second here too, with 2,901 hits.

Ichiro Suzuki passed Harimoto in a different way. In 2009, Ichiro’s hits in Japan and in MLB, added together, went past 3,085. But in NPB alone, Harimoto is still the leader.

Runs Batted In: Sadaharu Oh, 2,170

A run batted in, or RBI, is a run that scores because of a batter’s hit or out. Sadaharu Oh has the most, with 2,170.

He led the league in RBIs many times. Twice, he won the Triple Crown. That means he led in batting average, home runs and RBIs in the same year.

Runs and Walks: Oh Again

Oh holds more records too.

  • Runs scored: 1,967. A run is scored when a player crosses home plate.
  • Walks: 2,390. A walk is when a batter gets four balls and goes to first base.
  • Slugging percentage: .634. This stat shows how many bases a hitter gets per at-bat.

Pitchers were scared of Oh. So they walked him a lot. That is one reason his walk record is so high.

Batting Average: Leron Lee, .320

Batting average is hits divided by at-bats. To count for this record, a player needs at least 4,000 at-bats.

The leader is Leron Lee. He hit .320 for his career. He was an American. He played for the Lotte Orions from 1977 to 1987. We found this record in Japanese sources.

Read about him and other stars on our page about Americans in NPB.

Stolen Bases: Yutaka Fukumoto, 1,065

A stolen base is when a runner takes the next base while the pitcher throws. Yutaka Fukumoto stole 1,065 bases. That is the NPB record by far.

He played for the Hankyu Braves from 1969 to 1988. Hankyu is now the Orix Buffaloes.

For a while, it was the world record. Then Rickey Henderson passed him in MLB.

Fukumoto also holds the record for triples, with 115. A triple is a hit where the batter gets to third base.

See the yearly leaders on our stolen base title holders page.

Games Played: Motonobu Tanishige, 3,021

Motonobu Tanishige played in 3,021 games. That is the most ever in NPB.

He was a catcher. He played for the Yokohama BayStars and the Chunichi Dragons. His career ran from 1989 to 2015.

Nomura is close behind, with 3,017 games. Both were catchers. That shows how tough they were.

Games in a Row: Sachio Kinugasa, 2,215

Sachio Kinugasa of the Hiroshima Carp played in 2,215 games in a row. Fans called him “Iron Man.”

His streak began in 1970. It ended when he retired after the 1987 season.

In June 1987, he tied Lou Gehrig’s MLB record of 2,130. Then he passed it. For a time, it was the world record. Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1996.

Kinugasa could hit, too. He had 504 home runs and 2,543 hits.

See our Hiroshima Carp history.

Every Inning: Tomoaki Kanemoto

Tomoaki Kanemoto set a different kind of streak. He played every inning of 1,492 games in a row. He did not miss a single inning. It ended in April 2010.

Most of it came with the Hanshin Tigers. It is a world record. He broke Cal Ripken Jr.’s record for innings in a row in 2006.

See our Hanshin Tigers history.

Sacrifice Bunts: Masahiro Kawai, 533

A sacrifice bunt is when a batter taps the ball on purpose to move a runner up. He gives himself up to help the team.

Masahiro Kawai of the Giants laid down 533 sacrifice bunts. That is the record. When he set it, he passed Eddie Collins of MLB. That made it a world record. It got a lot of news in Japan.

Bunting is a big part of the game in Japan. Read more in our NPB vs MLB guide.

Wins: Masaichi Kaneda, 400

Now for the pitchers. The biggest record of all is 400 wins. It belongs to Masaichi Kaneda.

Kaneda was a left-handed pitcher. He played from 1950 to 1969. Most of that time was with the Kokutetsu Swallows. That team is now the Yakult Swallows. He finished with the Giants.

He is the only pitcher with 400 wins in NPB. Here are the next five:

  • Tetsuya Yoneda: 350.
  • Masaaki Koyama: 320.
  • Keishi Suzuki: 317.
  • Takehiko Bessho: 310.
  • Victor Starffin: 303.

No one today is close. Pitchers start fewer games now. So these records will likely stand for good.

More Kaneda Records

Kaneda holds many other pitching records too.

  • Strikeouts: 4,490.
  • Innings pitched: 5,526 and two-thirds.
  • Complete games: 365.
  • Losses: 298.
  • Walks allowed: 1,808.

Yes, he holds the record for losses too. That happens when you pitch so much for so long. Kaneda’s team was not very good for many of his years. He still won 400.

Victor Starffin

Victor Starffin was born in Russia. His family fled to Japan when he was a boy. He became one of the first great pitchers in pro baseball in Japan.

He first faced American stars on the 1934 Babe Ruth tour. He won 303 games. He also holds the record for career shutouts, with 83. A shutout is a game where the other team scores no runs.

In 1939, he won 42 games in one season. That is still the record for one year.

ERA: Hideo Fujimoto, 1.90

ERA means earned run average. It shows how many earned runs a pitcher gives up for every nine innings. Lower is better.

Hideo Fujimoto has the lowest career ERA in NPB, at 1.90. He pitched mostly for the Giants in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1950, he threw the first perfect game in Japanese pro baseball.

Saves: Hitoki Iwase, 407

A save is earned by a relief pitcher who finishes a close win.

Hitoki Iwase of the Chunichi Dragons has the most saves in NPB, with 407. He also pitched in the most games ever, with 1,002. Both numbers come from Japanese record lists. English sources say he holds both records but we used the Japanese totals.

Iwase pitched for Chunichi from 1999 to 2018. He was a reliever his whole career. See our Chunichi Dragons history.

Holds: Naoki Miyanishi

A hold goes to a relief pitcher who comes in with a lead and keeps it, without finishing the game.

Naoki Miyanishi of the Nippon-Ham Fighters holds the record for holds. On August 4, 2024, he became the first pitcher in NPB to reach 400 holds. We do not list his exact total because it is still changing.

Manager Wins: Kazuto Tsuruoka, 1,773

Records are not just for players. Kazuto Tsuruoka has the most wins as a manager, with 1,773.

He managed the Nankai Hawks for more than 20 years. Nankai is now the SoftBank Hawks. He was also a star player and won the MVP three times. See our MVP award page.

Oh and Nomura: Side by Side

It is worth looking at Oh and Nomura together. They are first and second in so many lists.

Oh played in the Central League for the Giants. Nomura played in the Pacific League, mostly for the Nankai Hawks. So they did not face each other in the regular season.

Oh has the most home runs. Nomura is second. Oh has the most RBIs. Nomura is second. Harimoto has the most hits. Nomura is second.

And Nomura was a catcher the whole time. Catchers squat for every pitch. They get hit by foul balls. They get tired. Most catchers do not hit much at all.

That is why many fans think Nomura is one of the most amazing players ever. He did all this from the hardest spot on the field.

Later, Nomura managed for many years. He won the Japan Series three times with Yakult. See our Japan Series history.

Kaneda: A Pitcher Like No Other

Kaneda was a lefty. He joined the pros as a teen in 1950.

He pitched on a weak team for most of his career. The Swallows did not score many runs for him. Still, about nine of every ten of his wins came with them.

Think about that. He won about 360 games for a team that often lost. That tells you how good he was.

In 1965, he moved to the Giants. There, he finally pitched for a winner. The Giants won the Japan Series in all five of his years with them. He reached 400 wins in his last season, 1969.

He died in 2019, at age 86.

Later, he managed the Lotte Orions. He also started the Meikyukai.

Records That May Never Fall

Some records look safe forever. Here are a few.

Kaneda’s 400 wins. Today, a top starter might win 15 games in a good year. He would need more than 25 years like that to reach 400.

Kaneda’s 365 complete games. Starters today often throw zero to three complete games a year.

Fukumoto’s 1,065 steals. Teams do not run as much as they used to.

Oh’s 868 home runs. No one has come within 200 of it.

Starffin’s 42 wins in one season. Modern starters do not even make 42 starts.

Records That Could Fall

Other records are not as safe.

Saves and holds are newer stats. Relief pitchers today pitch in many games each year. So a young closer could chase Iwase one day.

Games played is also a target for a tough, long-lasting player. But catchers rarely last as long as Tanishige did.

How to Read a Record List

Here are a few tips for reading any list of records.

First, check the years. A record from the 1950s was set in a very different game. Pitchers threw more. Teams ran more. Parks were a different size.

Second, check the rules. Batting average needs a minimum number of at-bats. ERA needs a minimum number of innings. Without that, a player with one hit in one at-bat would be a 1.000 hitter.

Third, check the date. Records for active players change all the time. That is why we give a season, like “as of the 2025 season.”

How Japan Counts Records

A few things make Japan’s records a bit different from MLB.

Shorter seasons. For many years, NPB teams played 130 games or fewer. Today they play 143. MLB plays 162. So a career in Japan has fewer games.

Ties. Games in Japan can end in a tie. A tie is not a win or a loss for the pitcher.

Players who leave. Many stars now go to MLB in the middle of their careers. Ichiro, Matsui and many others did. That means their NPB totals stop early. See our page on NPB players in MLB.

The Meikyukai: Japan’s Golden Players Club

Japan has a special club for great players. It is called the Meikyukai, or the Golden Players Club.

Kaneda started it in 1978. To join, a hitter needs 2,000 hits. A pitcher needs 200 wins or 250 saves.

It is a bit like a hall of fame. But it is based on numbers. Hits and wins in MLB count too. So a player who splits his career can still get in.

Japan also has a real Hall of Fame. It is in Tokyo, at the Tokyo Dome. Read about it on our Tokyo Dome history page.

Where to Find More

Want to see the yearly leaders? Visit our title holder pages:

Key Terms

  • Home run: A hit that lets the batter circle all the bases.
  • RBI: Run batted in.
  • Stolen base: Taking a base while the pitcher throws.
  • Save: Finishing a close win as a relief pitcher.
  • Hold: Keeping a lead as a relief pitcher, without finishing the game.
  • ERA: Earned runs allowed for every nine innings.
  • Complete game: A game where the starter pitches the whole way.
  • Shutout: A game where the other team scores no runs.

See more in our glossary.

Common Questions

Who has the most home runs in Japan? Sadaharu Oh, with 868.

Who has the most hits in NPB? Isao Harimoto, with 3,085.

Who has the most wins? Masaichi Kaneda, with 400.

Did Ichiro break the NPB hits record? No. His NPB and MLB hits added together passed Harimoto. But his NPB total alone did not.

Who has the most saves? Hitoki Iwase, with 407.

The Bottom Line

The career records of NPB tell the story of Japan’s greatest players. Oh hit 868 home runs. Harimoto got 3,085 hits. Kaneda won 400 games. Fukumoto stole 1,065 bases.

Many of these records come from a time when the game was played in a different way. Pitchers threw more innings. Runners ran more. Players stayed with one team for their whole careers. That is why some of them may never be broken.

All numbers are as of the 2025 season.

Sources