NPB All-Time Home Run Leaders: Sadaharu Oh’s Untouchable 868 — and What Ohtani Hit in Japan
Sadaharu Oh’s 868 career home runs — more than Barry Bonds, more than Hank Aaron — top a list of Japanese baseball legends that most MLB fans have never heard of. Here are NPB’s all-time home run leaders, plus the numbers Shohei Ohtani, Munetaka Murakami and other current major leaguers put up before crossing the Pacific.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Sadaharu Oh’s 868 career home runs, all with the Yomiuri Giants from 1959 to 1980, remain the most in professional baseball history anywhere.
- Katsuya Nomura hit 657 home runs as a catcher — a total no backstop in MLB history has approached.
- Shohei Ohtani hit just 48 NPB home runs in five seasons, largely because he was also pitching; he has since out-homered that total in single MLB seasons.
- Munetaka Murakami left for the Chicago White Sox with 246 NPB home runs, including a 56-homer season in 2022 that broke Oh’s Japanese-born single-season record.
- Active Seibu slugger Takeya Nakamura (481) is the only current NPB player in the all-time top 10.
NPB’s All-Time Top 10 Home Run Leaders
Here is the career home run list through the end of the 2025 season, per NPB’s official records.
| Rank | Player | HR | Career | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sadaharu Oh | 868 | 1959–1980 | 2,831 |
| 2 | Katsuya Nomura | 657 | 1954–1980 | 3,017 |
| 3 | Hiromitsu Kadota | 567 | 1970–1992 | 2,571 |
| 4 | Koji Yamamoto | 536 | 1969–1986 | 2,284 |
| 5 | Kazuhiro Kiyohara | 525 | 1986–2008 | 2,338 |
| 6 | Hiromitsu Ochiai | 510 | 1979–1998 | 2,236 |
| 7 (tie) | Isao Harimoto | 504 | 1959–1981 | 2,752 |
| 7 (tie) | Sachio Kinugasa | 504 | 1965–1987 | 2,677 |
| 9 | Katsuo Osugi | 486 | 1965–1983 | 2,235 |
| 10 | Takeya Nakamura | 481 | 2003–2025 | 2,144 |
Source: NPB official all-time records, through the 2025 season. Nakamura is still active in 2026.
Keep in mind the context: NPB plays a shorter season than MLB — currently 143 games to MLB’s 162 — which makes these career totals even more impressive.
1. Sadaharu Oh — 868 HR
Sadaharu Oh is baseball’s true home run king. His 868 career home runs, hit over 22 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants (Central League, based in Tokyo — NPB’s Yankees) from 1959 to 1980, exceed Barry Bonds’ 762 and Hank Aaron’s 755.
Oh developed his famous one-legged “flamingo” batting stance, lifting his front leg high and balancing on his back foot as the pitch came in. The unorthodox swing produced staggering numbers: 15 home run titles, 13 RBI crowns, 12 times leading the league in times on base, and nine MVP awards.
In 1977, Oh hit career home run No. 756 to pass Aaron’s then-record for professional baseball, and he became the first-ever recipient of Japan’s People’s Honor Award, a national honor bestowed by the prime minister.
After retiring, Oh managed the Giants and later the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (including their Daiei era), winning a Japan Series title — NPB’s World Series — as a skipper. His 868 stands as a record no one expects to see broken.
2. Katsuya Nomura (1935–2020) — 657 HR
Katsuya Nomura hit 657 home runs — as a catcher. For scale, Mike Piazza’s 396 homers as a catcher are the MLB record for the position. Nomura, beloved by the nickname “Nomu-san,” caught and slugged for 26 seasons with the Nankai Hawks (now the SoftBank Hawks), Lotte Orions (now the Chiba Lotte Marines) and Seibu Lions.
Nomura spent his career in the shadow of Oh and fellow Giants icon Shigeo Nagashima, famously lamenting that while they were sunflowers soaking up the spotlight, he was an evening primrose blooming unnoticed in the dark. The numbers, though, were impossible to ignore.
As a manager, he built a reputation as one of the game’s sharpest tacticians — his data-driven, detail-obsessed style became known as “Nomura baseball” — and in his 70s, with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, he developed a young Masahiro Tanaka, who went on to star for the New York Yankees.
3. Hiromitsu Kadota (1948–2023) — 567 HR
Hiromitsu Kadota launched 567 home runs over 23 seasons (1970–1992) with the Nankai Hawks, Orix Braves and Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.
His signature season came absurdly late: in 1988, at age 40, Kadota hit 44 home runs with a 1.062 OPS, winning the home run title, RBI crown, on-base title and league MVP. No older player has ever won an NPB home run title — the kind of age-defying power season MLB fans might associate with late-career David Ortiz, taken a step further.
4. Koji Yamamoto — 536 HR
Koji Yamamoto, “Mr. Red Helmet,” hit all 536 of his home runs for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Central League, based in Hiroshima), playing his entire 18-year career (1969–1986) with one club.
A four-time home run champion and 10-time Best Nine selection (NPB’s annual all-league team), Yamamoto anchored the cleanup spot through the Carp’s golden era. He later managed Hiroshima and now serves as an adviser to the Meikyukai, Japan’s Golden Players Club for the game’s statistical elite.
5. Kazuhiro Kiyohara — 525 HR
Kazuhiro Kiyohara arrived as a first-round pick out of powerhouse PL Gakuen High School and homered 31 times as a rookie for the Seibu Lions — instant stardom he carried through stints with the Giants and Orix on the way to 525 career home runs.
With high school teammate and star pitcher Masumi Kuwata, he formed the “KK duo” that captivated Japan at the national high school tournament at Koshien Stadium — think of two McDonald’s All-Americans arriving in the pros together. His fearless, all-or-nothing swing made him one of the most recognizable figures in Japanese baseball, a status he holds to this day.
6. Hiromitsu Ochiai — 510 HR
Hiromitsu Ochiai hit 510 home runs and owns a distinction no one in NPB — and almost no one anywhere — can match: three Triple Crowns. In MLB history, only Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams have won even two.
Playing 19 seasons for Lotte, Chunichi, the Giants and Nippon-Ham, Ochiai won five batting titles, five home run crowns and five RBI titles. Famous for his my-way philosophy, dubbed “Ore-ryu” (my style), he later managed the Chunichi Dragons to four league pennants and a Japan Series championship.
7 (tie). Isao Harimoto — 504 HR
Isao Harimoto combined 504 home runs with 3,085 career hits — still the NPB record — the benchmark Ichiro Suzuki was chasing before he left for Seattle. He played 23 seasons (1959–1981) for the Toei Flyers (now Nippon-Ham), the Giants and Lotte.
A rare blend of contact and power — a hitter who could win batting titles and clear fences — Harimoto later became one of Japan’s most famous TV commentators, known for his trademark cry of “Katsu!” (roughly, “Wake up!”).
7 (tie). Sachio Kinugasa (1947–2018) — 504 HR
Sachio Kinugasa, Hiroshima’s “Iron Man,” matched Harimoto’s 504 home runs across 23 seasons (1965–1987), all with the Carp.
His defining feat was durability: 2,215 consecutive games played, the world record until Cal Ripken Jr. passed it in 1996 — Ripken himself paid tribute to Kinugasa when he did. The streak, and the steady power that came with it, made Kinugasa a national icon.
9. Katsuo Osugi (1945–1992) — 486 HR
Katsuo Osugi slugged 486 home runs over 19 seasons (1965–1983) for the Toei Flyers and Yakult Swallows, winning two home run titles.
He is remembered for a famous piece of coaching lore — a hitting instructor telling him to swing as if aiming at the moon — that matched his towering, majestic home runs.
10. Takeya Nakamura — 481 HR
Takeya Nakamura, the lone active player on this list, has hit 481 home runs, all for the Saitama Seibu Lions (Pacific League, based near Tokyo), from 2003 through 2025.
A six-time home run champion, Nakamura is beloved as “Okawari-kun” — roughly “Mr. Second Helping,” a nod to his appetite at the plate and the dinner table. Still playing in 2026, he can climb this list with every homer he adds.
What Today’s Japanese MLB Stars Hit in NPB
How do the current wave of Japanese major leaguers stack up against the legends? Here are their NPB career home run totals.
| Player | NPB Team | NPB HR | NPB Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shohei Ohtani | Nippon-Ham Fighters | 48 | 2013–2017 (5 seasons) |
| Seiya Suzuki | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 182 | 2013–2021 (9 seasons) |
| Munetaka Murakami | Yakult Swallows | 246 | 2018–2025 (8 seasons) |
| Kazuma Okamoto | Yomiuri Giants | 248 | 2015–2025 (11 seasons) |
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani hit just 48 home runs in five NPB seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters — nowhere near the all-time list, and for good reason: he was also one of the league’s best pitchers, and the two-way workload capped his plate appearances.
His 2016 season showed the full package: 10 wins on the mound, 22 home runs at the plate, a Pacific League MVP award and a Japan Series title. In MLB, unleashed as a hitter, he became the first Japanese player to win a home run title (44 in 2023) and authored the first 50-homer, 50-steal season in history in 2024. He has out-homered his entire NPB career total in a single MLB season.
Seiya Suzuki
Seiya Suzuki hit 182 home runs in nine seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, earning six straight Best Nine selections and a reputation as NPB’s best all-around hitter before he left.
He won his first batting and on-base titles in 2019, then repeated both in 2021 while setting a career high with 38 home runs — and posted to the Chicago Cubs that winter. His MLB production has climbed steadily since: in 2025 he hit 32 home runs with 103 RBIs, becoming just the third Japanese player with a 30-homer, 100-RBI season in the majors.
Munetaka Murakami
Munetaka Murakami left the Tokyo Yakult Swallows with 246 career home runs in eight seasons — tied for 75th on NPB’s all-time list at just 25 years old.
His 2022 season was historic: 56 home runs, breaking Sadaharu Oh’s record of 55 for the most in a season by a Japanese-born player (Wladimir Balentien’s 60 in 2013 remains the overall NPB record), along with a Triple Crown. He joined the Chicago White Sox for the 2026 season, bringing one of the most feared left-handed bats Japan has produced.
Kazuma Okamoto
Kazuma Okamoto hit 248 home runs in 11 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants — 71st all time, and two more than Murakami.
He broke out with 33 homers in 2018, won his first home run title in 2020, and delivered 20 to 40 home runs season after season as the Giants’ cleanup hitter, adding two RBI titles along the way. He joined the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2026 season.
Active Players Who Could Climb the List
Two current NPB sluggers stand out as future threats to the all-time rankings.
Franmil Reyes, Nippon-Ham Fighters
MLB fans know this name: Franmil Reyes, the hulking Dominican outfielder who slugged for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Guardians, joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2024.
His raw power has translated seamlessly — 25 home runs in 2024, then 32 in 2025. If he stays in Japan long term, he has the bat to put himself on the historical leaderboards.
Teruaki Sato, Hanshin Tigers
Teruaki Sato, the Hanshin Tigers’ 27-year-old cleanup hitter, is the young Japanese slugger with the clearest path up this list.
A first-round pick out of Kindai University, Sato announced himself with 24 home runs as a rookie and has kept stacking them since. His breakout earned him a 300 million yen raise (about $2 million) for 2026 — one of the biggest in league history. Still early in his career, with elite power and durability, Sato has a real chance to join the all-time top 10 someday.
