Kurano Shinji

is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, and current first squad pitching coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played in NPB for the Hawks from 1997 to 2007.

Early baseball career Kurano went on to Aoyama Gakuin University, where he won the 1996 Japan National Collegiate Baseball Championship with classmates Tadahito Iguchi, Masaumi Shimizu, and Toshikazu Sawazaki. They also defeated Sumitomo Metal Industries, a corporate baseball club, in the 1996 All-Japan Amateur Baseball Championship in their senior year.

Professional career Active player era On November 21, 1996, Kurano was drafted fourth round pick by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the 1996 Nippon Professional Baseball draft.

Kurano pitched in 164 games in 11 seasons with the Hawks, posting a record of 19 wins, 9 losses, and one save.

On October 31, 2023, Kurano again served as the first squad pitching coach of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.