List of top Nippon Professional Baseball strikeout pitchers

The following is a list of Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers who have recorded at least 2,000 strikeouts. In baseball, a strikeout occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. Strikeouts are associated with dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter. 24 pitchers have achieved the distinction of striking out 2,000 batters. Takayuki Kishi and Hideaki Wakui are currently the only active players with 2,000 strikeouts as of 2025. Kazumi Takahashi came the closest to missing out on 2,000 batters, striking out 1,997.

Masaichi Kaneda has the most career strikeouts in Nippon Professional Baseball. During a 19-year career, he struck out 4,490 batters.^[1]

[1]

†	Denotes elected to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bold	Denotes active player.

Rank	Player (R/L)	K	Years pitched	Innings pitched
1	Masaichi Kaneda (L) †	4,490	1950–1969	5,526.2
2	Tetsuya Yoneda (R) †	3,388	1956–1977	5,130
3	Masaaki Koyama (R) †	3,159	1953–1973	4,899
4	Keishi Suzuki (L) †	3,061	1966–1985	4,600.1
5	Yutaka Enatsu (L)	2,987	1967–1984	3,196
6	Takao Kajimoto (L) †	2,945	1954–1973	4,208
7	Kimiyasu Kudoh (L) †	2,859	1981–2010	3,336.2
8	Kazuhisa Inao (R) †	2,574	1956–1969	3,599
9	Daisuke Miura (R)	2,481	1992–2016	3,276
10	Choji Murata (R) †	2,363	1968–1990	3,331.1
11	Masahiro Yamamoto (L)	2,310	1986–2015	3,348.2
12	Minoru Murayama (R) †	2,271	1959–1972	3,050.1
13	Shoichi Ono (L)	2,244	1956–1970	2,909
14	Takayuki Kishi (R)	2,200	2007-present	2,680
15	Toshiya Sugiuchi (L)	2,156	2002–2015	2,091.1
16	Kazuhisa Ishii (L)	2,115	1992-2013	2,153.1
17	Hiromi Makihara (R)	2,111	1983–2001	2,485
18	Kazuhisa Kawaguchi (L)	2,092	1981–1998	2,410
19	Hideaki Wakui (R)	2,085	2005-present	2,857.1
20	Fumiya Nishiguchi (R)	2,082	1995-2015	2,527.2
21	Hisashi Yamada (R) †	2,058	1969–1988	3,865
22	Masaji Hiramatsu (R)	2,045	1967-1984	3,360.2
23	Nobuyuki Hoshino (L)	2,041	1984–2002	2,669.1
24	Hiromu Matsuoka (R)	2,008	1968–1985	3,240

v t e Nippon Professional Baseball
2025 season
Central League	Chunichi Dragons Hanshin Tigers Hiroshima Toyo Carp Tokyo Yakult Swallows Yokohama DeNA BayStars Yomiuri Giants
Pacific League	Chiba Lotte Marines Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Orix Buffaloes Saitama Seibu Lions Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Schedule	All-Star Series Interleague play Seasons World Baseball Classic
Postseason	Climax Series Japan Series
Awards	Eiji Sawamura Award Most Valuable Player Comeback Player of the Year Rookie of the Year Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award Best Nine Award Golden Spirit Award Matsutaro Shoriki Award Hall of Fame
Minor leagues	Western League Eastern League
Statistics	1,000 RBIs club Career hits leaders ERA champions 2,000 strikeout club
Miscellaneous	Commissioner Players Foreign players Americans Rosters Stadiums Comparison with Major League Baseball Japanese Baseball League Black Mist Scandal No-hitters Perfect games
Professional baseball in Japan

List of top Nippon Professional Baseball strikeout pitchers

References

See also

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