Japanese baseball great and Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Isao Harimoto has died at the age of 86.
Harimoto died at a hospital in Tokyo on Wednesday, according to Japanese media reports. His death was also reported by TBS and announced by the Meikyukai, an association of Japanese professional baseball players.
Born in Hiroshima in 1940 to Korean parents, Harimoto was five when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city on 6 August 1945.
He survived the blast after his mother shielded him and his sister with her body. His sister was killed in the bombing.
Harimoto later overcame another childhood setback to build a remarkable baseball career. A serious burn injury to his right hand when he was four left him with limited movement in some of his fingers, prompting him to develop as a left-handed player.
He entered Japanese professional baseball in 1959 with the Toei Flyers and subsequently played for the Yomiuri Giants and Lotte Orions before retiring in 1981.
Across 23 seasons, Harimoto amassed 3,085 hits, a record that remains the highest in Nippon Professional Baseball. He became the first player in the league’s history to reach 3,000 hits.
The left-handed batter also hit 504 home runs, drove in 1,676 runs and won the batting title seven times. He was named the Pacific League’s Most Valuable Player in 1962.
Harimoto’s achievements earned him the nickname “Hit Machine”, while his influence extended beyond his playing career. After retiring, he became a prominent television baseball commentator and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.
He also maintained strong links with Korean baseball. He served as a special adviser to the commissioner of the Korea Baseball Organization from its establishment in 1982 until 2005 and helped facilitate opportunities for Korean-Japanese players in the emerging professional league.
Harimoto remained outspoken about his experience as an atomic bomb survivor and the importance of peace. During commemorations marking 80 years since the Hiroshima bombing last year, he spoke against war and questioned the acceptance of nuclear weapons.
His death brings to an end the life of a man whose childhood was marked by war and physical hardship but who went on to establish one of the most enduring records in Japanese sporting history.
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