“Health Comes First” Over 200 Wins… Rakuten’s Takayuki Kishi Speaks on His Resolve at 41 and His Respect for “Antonio Inoki and Masumi Kuwata”
“I really like Mr. Inoki.”
Takayuki Kishi (41) has recorded a win every year for 20 consecutive seasons since turning pro and still takes the mound as Rakuten’s ace pitcher. Since childhood, he has looked up to Masumi Kuwata as a role model and has racked up wins by honing the precision of his limited repertoire, which includes a fastball and a curveball.
In this article, we asked him about how he faces off against power hitters, how he bounces back from losses, his admiration for Antonio Inoki, and his goals for the future.
When facing a power hitter, many pitchers try to engage in a battle of strength against strength. However, Kishi no longer seeks to force a showdown with his fastball. Rather than trying to shut the batter down completely, he has come to accept that as long as he can get results by making full use of his mix of speeds and command, that’s good enough.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m always playing it safe. During the 2014 season with Seibu, I won my first title—the Best Winning Percentage (13 wins, 4 losses; .765 winning percentage). I was in a fierce battle for the title with Chihiro Kaneko of the Orix Buffaloes (as they were known then).
I’ll never forget what happened late in the season at Sapporo Dome against the Nippon Ham Fighters. I was the starting pitcher, but I was brought in as a reliever in a game we were losing. It was probably the coaching staff’s way of trying to help me—if the team staged a comeback, I’d get the win and move closer to the best winning percentage title.
In the end, the team didn’t come back, but I felt something was off. It just didn’t sit right—it felt like I was shirking my responsibilities in a way… Because it felt so wrong, I stopped pitching in relief.”
On the mound, he maintains a poker face, continuing to pitch calmly without changing his expression even when he gives up a hit—Kishi seems mentally strong, but he says that’s not really the case.
“When I make a mistake, it really sticks with me. It takes me a while to bounce back. Spending time away from baseball with my family helps me refresh to some extent, but training is what helps the most. I run, I throw, and if I get hit, I practice relentlessly. There’s no real basis for it, but I convince myself, ‘I’ve worked this hard, so I’ll be fine next time,’ and that’s how I regain my confidence.”
Finally, when I asked him to “write down your future goals,” I was expecting something like “200 wins”—the benchmark for induction into the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame—but the autograph card bore an unexpected phrase: “Health First.” When I asked him what he meant by that…
“I’m a big fan of Antonio Inoki. Now that I’m 41, Inoki’s words—‘If you have energy, you can do anything’—resonate with me even more than they did when I was younger. No matter how skilled you are, you can’t take the mound unless you’re energetic and healthy.”
Taking Kuwata as his role model and taking pride in the precision of his limited repertoire, Kishi has racked up victories for 20 years.After the game on August 6 against the Orix Buffaloes—in which he earned his 173rd win, tying Kuwata’s record—he expressed gratitude to his father, who had advised him to “look up to Kuwata,” saying, “I am where I am today because of that.”
“To be honest, I’ve never actually had a proper conversation with Mr. Kuwata. I’ve only exchanged a brief greeting with him once during spring training. Someday, I’d like to meet Mr. Kuwata, whom I’ve always looked up to, get his autograph as a memento, and take a photo with him. Maybe that makes me a bit of a fanboy?”
In terms of wins, Kishi has “surpassed his mentor, Kuwata.” However, he remains humble, stating, “When it comes to pitching technique, I’m still nowhere near Mr. Kuwata’s level.”
From the October 16, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*
PHOTO： Hiroyuki Komatsu