Shōzō Watanabe

Shōzō Watanabe was born in 1933 in Saijo, Ehime — right in the heart of that scenic, clean-water corner of Shikoku — and honestly, just knowing he came up in prewar Japan puts his whole career in a different light for me. Standing 176 centimeters at a time when that was legitimately tall for a Japanese player, he must have cut a real presence on the field. He passed away in August 1998, and the honest truth is the detailed record of his career isn't easy to find — but that's almost the point. Guys like him were the foundation that postwar Japanese baseball got built on, and they did it without highlight reels or viral moments. I find myself wanting to tip my cap to him for that.

Shōzō Watanabe (February 26, 1933 – August 31, 1998) was a Japanese professional baseball player born in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture. Standing 176 cm tall, he was considered above average in height for a Japanese athlete of his era. He passed away in August 1998 at the age of 65.

Name (English)

Shōzō Watanabe

Name (Japanese)

渡辺省三

Reading

わたなべ しょうぞう

Born

February 26, 1933 – August 31, 1998

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Rooster

Origin

Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Height

176 cm

Occupation

Baseball player

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%A1%E8%BE%BA%E7%9C%81%E4%B8%89
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q515427

Tags

• From Ehime Prefecture
• Baseball player

Last updated

2026-06-02

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.