Speakers

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  Hisashi Iwakuma

  Former Major Leaguer

  Hisashi Iwakuma began playing baseball in the first grade of elementary school.
  In the 1999 NPB draft, he was selected in the fifth round by the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and joined the team. He began to stand out midway through his second season.
  In his third year, 2002, he became part of the starting rotation, pitching in 23 games. In 2003, he recorded a team-high 15 wins and became the team's ace. The following year, in 2004, he was selected as the Opening Day starter for the first time. He once again recorded 15 wins and earned a spot on the Japanese national team for the Athens Olympics.
  Due to the NPB's league realignment, he transferred to the newly established Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
  Beginning in 2005, he led the Eagles as their ace pitcher.
  In 2008, he won 21 games and swept major pitching awards, including the prestigious Sawamura Award.
  In 2009, he was selected for Japan's national team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic (WBC) and contributed to the championship as one of the team's top three starting pitchers.
  Following the 2011 season, he declared his intention to play in Major League Baseball by exercising his international free agent rights.
  In 2012, he signed with the Seattle Mariners. Initially used in relief, he joined the starting rotation partway through the season and recorded 8 wins. In 2013, he became a regular starter, achieving double-digit wins and pitching over 200 innings.
  In 2013, he was selected for the MLB All-Star Game for the first time, recorded a career-high 14 wins, and finished third in Cy Young Award voting.
  In 2014, he recorded a personal best of 15 wins.
  In 2015, he became only the second Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB history. In 2016, he achieved a career-high 16 wins in MLB.
  He continued to play for the Mariners through the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2019, he returned to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants. On October 19, 2020, he officially announced his retirement from professional baseball.
  In 2021, he joined the Mariners as a special assignment coach.
  In 2022, while living in Japan, he signed a contract with the Mariners to serve as an advisory coach.
  Since retiring, he has been active as a coach, as well as a commentator for both MLB and NPB. He also coaches young players through Aoyama Tokyo Boys for junior high school students.
  He is the father of four children (three daughters and one son), aged 21, 16, and 14, plus a newborn.