[2] When he was about to enter grade school, his family decided to move from Wakayama and settle down in his father's hometown in Funabashi City.

[5] He played the clean-up role in the 2011 Summer Koshien final where he homered and drove in five runs against Kōsei Gakuin, earning his team the title (11-0).

He secured the permanent post as outfielder and clean-up hitter upon entering Meiji University, where he recorded 20 hits (.417 BA) in his 1st year at the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League.

[11] Due to his consistent performance at the plate, Manager Kanemoto allowed him to debut as a starter on the March 25 opening day match against the Dragons, making him the first Tiger rookie to bat lead-off since Katsuhiko Nakamura in 1972.

He continued to perform well at the plate in his subsequent outings, and this earned him a spot in the mid-season All Star Games, a feat accomplished by only one other Hanshin rookie in history (Teruyoshi Kuji in 1992).