Noboru Aota

Noboru Aota (青田 昇; November 22, 1924 – November 4, 1997) was a Japanese professional baseball outfielder who played from 1942 to 1959 across the Japanese Baseball League and Nippon Professional Baseball. Standing 5'7" and weighing 171 pounds, he was among the first true sluggers of Japanese professional baseball.

Aota made his professional debut at age 17 in 1942 with the Tokyo Kyojin of the Japanese Baseball League. After the 1942 season, he left professional baseball to serve in the Japanese military through 1945. He returned to the league in 1946 with the Hankyu Braves, for whom he played through the 1947 season. Upon joining the Yomiuri Giants—the renamed Tokyo Kyojin—in 1948, he became one of the league's top home run hitters and was named a Best Nine Award winner that year. Over his career he also played for the Taiyo-Shochiku Robins.

Aota was a five-time league home run champion. He was selected as a Best Nine Award winner five times and named an NPB All-Star on six separate occasions. In 2009, he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.