He led the Japanese Central League with 17 wins in , (tied with Koji Uehara) but was released at the end of . He played a season with the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization in , and returned to Japan to play for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in .
He led the Japanese Central League with 17 victories in , (tied with Koji Uehara) but was terminated at the end of . He played a season with the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization in , and then came back to Japan to play for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in .