is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 baseball player from Ukyō-ku

Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The word , as opposed to , refers to the western half of the ancient capital of Heiankyō – the palace faced south, hence west was to the right...

, Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. He plays as an outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 for the Hanshin Tigers

Hanshin Tigers

The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...

 of the Central League

Central League

The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...

.

He made public that he is a Zainichi Korean

Zainichi Korean

Koreans in Japan are the ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans, also often known as Zainichi for short, who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan...

 in 2004 (http://www.chosunonline.com/article/20040120000035/).

Biography

Hiyama graduated from Heian High School and entered Toyo University

Toyo University

Toyo University is a university with several branches in Japan, including .- Overview :...

. He played in the Tohto University Baseball League, and got 83 hits (13 home runs) and in 261 at bats (batting average: .318), and batted in 45 runs.

He was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in 1991, and as of 2010, his statistics are 1223 hits (158 home runs) and in 4692 at bats (average: .261), and 680 RBIs (:ja:桧山進次郎).