Hisanobu Watanabe

Born in 1965 in Gunma Prefecture and developed at Maebashi Technical High School, Hisanobu Watanabe — "Nabe-Q" to anyone who followed Japanese baseball in the late eighties — was a hard-throwing right-hander at the heart of the Seibu Lions dynasty. That alone would be a full career. What holds my attention is what came after: a spell with the Yakult Swallows, and then a move to Taiwan to pitch for the Chiayi-Tainan Luka in the Taiwan Major League. Established Japanese pitchers did not routinely do that. Crossing to another league late in your career, with your reputation already made at home, reads to me less like a business decision and more like someone who simply was not finished throwing. He later returned to the game in coaching and management, staying attached to Seibu long after his playing days ended. Careers that circle back to where they started usually mean the relationship was real on both sides.

Name (English)

Hisanobu Watanabe

Name (Japanese)

渡辺久信

Reading

わたなべ ひさのぶ

Born

August 2, 1965 (age 61)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Snake

Origin

Seta district, Gunma Prefecture, Japan

Height

185 cm

Occupation

baseball player

High school

Maebashi Technical High School

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisanobu%20Watanabe
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%A1%E8%BE%BA%E4%B9%85%E4%BF%A1
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q845433

Tags

• Gunma Prefecture
• baseball player

Last updated

2026-08-07

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.