📍Toyoyama, Aichi, Japan
1973 – 1991“Ichiro Suzuki was born in Kasugai, near Nagoya, in October 1973 and grew up in Toyoyama, a small town in Aichi Prefecture on the edge of Nagoya, close to the airport. His father, Nobuyuki, a former high school pitcher who ran a small business, bought him his first glove and played catch with him when he was three. From then on, baseball filled almost every day of his childhood. His father devised a relentless routine. After school, they went to a nearby field to play catch, field ground balls and run, from third grade through sixth grade. Then, after homework, his father took him to the Kuko Batting Center, near Nagoya airport, where Ichiro hit hundreds of balls a night from the pitching machines, his father feeding in the coins. Ichiro later said the training sometimes bordered on hazing, and that he suffered a lot, but it made him one of the most disciplined players the game has seen. He was small and slight, and he made up for it with speed, technique and hard work. At Aikodai Meiden High School in Nagoya, a famous baseball school, he endured a gruelling freshman year of chores and early mornings, and he pitched and hit his way to the national Koshien tournament twice. In 1992 he joined the Orix BlueWave, and in 2001 he went to the Seattle Mariners, becoming the first Japanese-born position player in the major leagues and recording more than three thousand hits. In 2025 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his hometown of Toyoyama celebrated.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
🛰️ Satellite view · © Google