Nippon Professional Baseball players like the Lee brothers, Leron Lee and Leon Lee, Greg "Boomer" Wells, Randy Bass, and Ralph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams. In 1995, star pitcher Hideo Nomo "retired" from the Kintetsu Buffaloes and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters (the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball until Hisashi Iwakuma achieved the feat in
Hideo Ohba Hideo Ohba was a Japanese aikido and judo teacher and the Second Director of Japan Aikido Association after the death of Kenji Tomiki. He was born as Hideo Tozawa in a village called Nakagawa in Akita prefecture. In 1936, he adopted his wife's name upon marriage in deference to her fame as a young teacher of the Japanese harp. The year 1931 was pivotal for Hideo Ohba. He was awarded 2nd dan in judo, met Kenji Tomiki and was called up to serve in the military which he did with distinction. His professional and personal relationship with Kenji Tomiki became