Yukio Nishimura
This shop is the birthplace of one of the defining pitchers
of Japanese baseball before the war —
and of the rivalry between the Tigers and the Giants.
A pitcher born in an eel shop
Honmachi, the town before the gate of the Outer Shrine. Yukio Nishimura was born in this building, back when Kitaya still dealt in fish.
He left for Osaka and took the mound in the earliest years of professional baseball in Japan — from a shrine town in Ise to the centre of the country's game. The starting point was the room where eel is grilled today.
A life
| Born | Honmachi, Ise City, Mie — at Unagi Kitaya |
|---|---|
| 1937 | Joins the Osaka Tigers (now the Hanshin Tigers)Pitches as the club's ace |
| 1937 & 1938 | Back-to-back championshipsBeating the Giants of Eiji Sawamura |
| 1939 | Leaves the active rosterThree seasons in all |
| 3 April 1945 | Killed at Batangas, in the Philippines |
| 1977 | Inducted into the Baseball Hall of FameA statue raised in the same year |
Three seasons only — and yet no account of pre-war Japanese baseball leaves his name out.
Nothing left open
A heavy fastball, and with it a sharp shoot and a curve placed with unusual control — a delivery that left a batter nothing to work with.
His years were few, but he stands among the defining pitchers of the pre-war game, and he was hardest of all on the Giants.
Where the rivalry began
Tigers against Giants is still called the oldest rivalry in Japanese baseball — the longest-running opposition in the professional game here.
It began in 1937 and 1938. The Giants had Eiji Sawamura; the Tigers had Yukio Nishimura. The years those two faced each other are the origin of a rivalry still argued over today.
At Kuratayama Stadium in Ise, statues of both pitchers stand side by side. One of them was born in this shop.
What you can see here
Tigers memorabilia still hangs on the walls — a uniform, photographs from the period, mementoes. Visitors sometimes wonder why an eel restaurant is full of baseball. Because this is where he was born.
We hope you will notice them when you visit. Ask us, if there is a quiet moment.