“First, I Want 300 Stolen Bases” — SoftBank’s Ukyo Shuto Reveals the Goal Driving Japan’s Fastest Star

Pressure and confidence

By the end of last year, he had recorded 230 career stolen bases as a professional and held the world record for stealing a base in 13 consecutive games.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks speed star Ukyo Shuto (30) has been the subject of remarkable stories about his speed since childhood. He reportedly never remembers being caught while playing tag, and as a child, he even caught wild hares in the mountains near his home in Gunma Prefecture. Shuto laughs as he talks about it.

“The story has been exaggerated quite a bit. But it’s not completely untrue.”

There is little need to explain Shuto’s running ability. In the Czech Republic game during the first round of the WBC on March 10 this year, he turned an ordinary ground ball into an infield hit by racing through first base. In the May 10 game against the Lotte Marines, he successfully stole home based on his own judgment. Shuto may appear to have steadily built his career on the strength of his exceptional speed, but he says he has faced various struggles and adversities along the way. Here, he tells the story of his baseball career, from developmental player to star, in his own words.

“My parents were Giants fans, so I started playing baseball when I was in the second grade of elementary school. Even back then, base running and defense were my strengths.”

For high school, he attended Tono University Dai-Ni High School in his hometown of Gunma Prefecture. He had never played at Koshien and wasn’t thinking about becoming a professional, but his mindset changed after entering Tono University Hokkaido Okhotsk.

“There were seniors close to me who were being drafted by professional teams, such as Ren Kazahari (formerly of the Yakult Swallows) and Kazutomo Iguchi (currently with Oisix). That made me start thinking, ‘Maybe I can do it too.’ But I was aware that I wasn’t yet at a sufficient professional level, so I wasn’t particular about the round in which I was selected.”

Shuto’s 5.7-second 50-meter dash earned him a selection by SoftBank in the second round of the developmental draft. He began his professional career in the minors, but says he was shocked by the level.

“There were many highly talented veterans in the minors, such as Tomoaki Egawa among the hitters and Tadashi Settsu among the pitchers. I thought, ‘Even at this level, you still can’t make the first team?’ On the other hand, I gained confidence in my speed. In my first year, I stole 27 bases, leading the Western League.”

After being promoted to the regular roster in March 2019, his second year, he stole a team-leading 25 bases in the first team despite batting .196. In his third year, he recorded 50 stolen bases and became the first developmental-draft player to win the stolen-base title.

“It might look like I steal bases easily, but I felt a lot of pressure every time. The expectation that Shuto is supposed to succeed was a burden. The words of Yuichi Honda, who was my infield defense, base-running and strategy coach at the time, really helped me. He said, ‘Don’t worry. If you just get a normal start, you’ll succeed.’ From then on, I stopped overthinking that I had to get a good start.

“Coach Honda also told me to look at the whole picture. I observed the opposing pitcher’s timing and pickoff tendencies, as well as the direction of my teammates’ batted balls, and committed all of it to memory. The information I gathered gave me confidence, and I almost never hesitate anymore when making base-running decisions.”

Speed alone isn’t enough

Shuto’s speed has amazed the world as well. He was selected to represent Japan in the WBC in March 2023. In the semifinal against Mexico, he came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth inning and, after Munetaka Murakami’s hit, raced all the way home from first without hesitation. His miraculous baserunning helped Japan win the game with a walk-off.

But the experience also gave him a strong sense of urgency.

“I was also selected for the WBSC Premier12 in November 2019, but I wasn’t a full-time starter for the Hawks. I felt strange about being selected for the national team when I wasn’t even a starter for my own team. I realized that if I wanted to become a regular for the Hawks and earn recognition as a true member of the Japan national team, speed alone wouldn’t be enough. I needed to improve my hitting as well, and I became strongly aware of that.”

Shuto’s hitting improved dramatically thanks to two mentors: hitting and skills coach Yuya Hasegawa and Chief Baseball Officer Kenji Johjima.

“Coach Hasegawa taught me a no-stride batting stance. I wasn’t very powerful, so I used to lift my leg and try to generate momentum to drive the ball. But the bigger movement made it harder to make solid contact. After following Coach Hasegawa’s advice and switching to a small, flat-footed stride, my contact rate improved dramatically.

During spring training in 2024, I received two weeks of one-on-one instruction from Johjima. I had thought I needed to adjust my approach depending on the pitch location, pulling some pitches and going the other way with others. But Johjima told me, ‘Basically, just hit the ball back up the middle.’ That simplified my thinking and allowed me to step into the batter’s box with more composure.”

Shuto also worked on gaining weight to build more power. By increasing the number of meals he ate and actively engaging in strength training, he went from weighing in the 60-kilogram range during the 2023 WBC to 74 kilograms at this year’s February training camp. As of July 20 this season, he was batting .285, 10th in the league. However, he says he does not focus too much on his batting average.

“Kensuke Kondo, one of the senior players, told me something. If you focus too much on batting average, you become emotionally affected by whether the number goes up or down. He said that if I wanted to focus on a number, it should be my total number of hits. Each hit adds to the total, so the number never goes down, and even if I fail to get a hit, I can simply shift my focus to the next at-bat. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on stealing bases. First, I’m aiming for 300 career stolen bases. I’ll keep running from here on out.”

With his natural speed now complemented by improved hitting ability, few would dispute that Shuto has become the leadoff sparkplug of Samurai Japan.

From the August 7 & 14, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”