Departures of note

Eiji Itado was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who played for the Chunichi Dragons in Nippon Professional Baseball. After retiring from the sport, he leveraged his charismatic speaking ability and bright personality to build a successful second career as a television talent and actor, appearing on various variety shows and dramas. His transition from sports to entertainment made him a familiar face in Japanese popular culture for decades. Itado died on 22 July 2026 from chronic heart failure at the age of 86.