What we know
What we know: Isao Harimoto, A-bomb survivor and Japan baseball great known as 'Hit Machine,' dies at 86
Compiled Sep 10
What we know
- Isao Harimoto, Japanese baseball great and Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor, died at 86
- He holds Japan's career hits record with 3,085 hits, becoming the first player in Japan to reach 3,000 hits in 1980
- The Golden Players Club said Harimoto died on Wednesday
- He started his professional career in 1959 with the Toei Flyers, later the Nippon Ham Fighters
- He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990
- After retirement he became a baseball commentator and an anti-war and nuclear disarmament advocate
What we don’t know yet
- The Golden Players Club did not specify the cause of death
Open questions
- What was the cause of Harimoto's death?
- What specific atomic bomb-related health effects, if any, did he experience later in life?
- How did his advocacy work influence public awareness of the bombings?
- What became of his mother and family after the war?
Drawn from the Associated Press report. “What we don’t know” lists only what the reporting itself flags as unresolved.