Famous People in Japan



Furuta Atsuya

Date of Birth 6 August 1965
Place of Birth Hyogo

Atsuya Furuta is a famous baseball player who plays catcher for the Yakult Swallows. He is 180 centimeters tall and weighs 80 kilograms. One of unusual thing about him as a catcher is that he wears glasses.

After graduating from Kawanishi-Meihou High School in his home town, he entered Ritsumeikan University. And four years later, he got a job with toyota and was picked as 2nd choice draft and joined the Yakult Swallows. He appeared in the game against the Chunichi Dragons 4th on April in 1990 for the first time.

He was the leading hitter in 1991 and the most valuable player (MVP) in 1993. So he is often called the best catcher in Japan. His annual salary is about 180,000,000 yen.

In the off season, he enjoys skiing as his hobby.

Last year, he broke his right forefinger, so couldn't play for a while. This caused his salary to be cut for the first time. But he is in good condition and his team won the championship in the Central league this year. And he is waiting to get married this December.

Reported by: Mariko Matano
Data verified by: Takae Miki
Date of Report: October 30, 1995

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