Keizo Kawashima, who was active in professional baseball Softbank and others and played for Rakuten this season, has announced his retirement.
Kawashima, 39 years old and in his 17th year as a professional, joined Nippon-Ham in 2006 and transferred to Softbank after working for Yakult.
He is a right-handed utility player who can handle the infield and outfield, and in SoftBank, where he has been with the team for the longest eight years, he has contributed to six wins in Japan with his strong batting.
He received a notice from Softbank last year off and played for Rakuten this season, but was notified on the 3rd of this month after the season ended.
Kawashima announced a comment through the team on the 14th and announced that he will retire from active duty at the end of this season.
Kawashima said, “I have been playing professional baseball for 17 years and have played in four teams, but I would like to thank everyone who has been involved with me. To all the fans who have always warmly supported me, thank you very much.”