Osaka Tourism Symbol Characters, Special Supporters, Ambassadors

Osaka Tourism Ambassador

Yutaka Fukumoto

Appointed December 2018.
Born in Osaka City, Fukumoto joined the Hankyu Braves in 1968 and has since become a Japanese baseball legend.
Fukumoto became the first-ever "Base Stealing King" in 1970 with 75 stolen bases, and held the title for the next 13 years. In 1972, he set a new world record by stealing 106 bases in one season. Fukumoto also received the Golden Glove Award a total of 12 times and the All-Start Nine title 10 times. In 1988, Fukumoto retired with 2,543 base hits and updated his record to a total of 1,065 stolen bases. Fukumoto still holds the record for total number of stolen bases in Japan, at the time breaking MLB records, and is known in Japan as "World- Famous Fukumoto" and "World-Famous Base Stealing King." After retiring, Fukumoto became a coach and is now active as a baseball commentator and critic.