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The story
Kōhei Miyadai (31), a University of Tokyo graduate and former professional baseball player, has once again become a hot topic after appearing as a commentator for a Tokyo Big Six University Baseball broadcast. After retiring as a player, Miyadai worked at TMI Associates law firm while attending the University of Tokyo Law School, and announced in November 2025 that he had passed the bar exam. On a 5ch thread, some hailed him as “the ultimate embodiment of a scholar-athlete,” while others debated his limited number of professional pitching appearances and the difficulty of the bar exam, with the discussion expanding into comparisons with lawyers who came from other sports.
From Tokyo University to pro baseball to passing the bar exam on the first try and becoming a lawyer… Kōhei Miyadai’s Big Six baseball commentary appearance sparks reactions: “The ultimate embodiment of a scholar-athlete” / “Hope he becomes a fine lawyer”
▼ “Is this the first time a former pro baseball player has passed the bar exam?”
Reactions are pouring in for Kōhei Miyadai (31), a University of Tokyo graduate and former professional baseball player, who appeared as a commentator during a Tokyo Big Six University Baseball broadcast.
Source: nishispo.nishinippon.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
gotten a lot easier compared to the old days.
And there it is — the guy who has to nitpick everything.
It's seriously easy these days. If you've got the money and time, even you could pass.
Says the guy who never went past high school.
If humanity ever develops some feature to make up for wasted time, sure, memorizing legal statutes for fun could be a nice hobby. AI will handle law perfectly anyway — a justice system that runs on human discretion needs to be abolished.
what's so impressive about that?
Did he even
appear in a first-team game?
Still way more impressive than you 🤭
Just making it as a pro puts you in the top few percent.
or did he go through law school?
After retiring as an active player, he aimed to qualify as a lawyer.[37] From December 2022, he worked at TMI Associates while studying, and also planned to take the law school entrance exam.[38] On January 10, 2024, it was announced that he had been admitted to his alma mater, the University of Tokyo Law School.[39] On November 12, 2025, it was announced that he had passed the bar exam.[40]
Just 3, huh…
There are players who get drafted first overall in a contested pick with huge fanfare and retire without ever pitching for the first team, so 3 games is respectable.
3 games, 0 wins, 0 losses, 7 innings, 8 hits allowed, 7 walks/hit-by-pitches, 7 runs, 7 earned runs, ERA 9.00 — still better than Itaru Kobayashi, who never even pitched for the first team.
Including his signing bonus, he made 50 million yen over 5 years, so that's pretty good.
Why do you get to feel superior by comparing someone else's résumé to yours?
Do you get that it doesn't make YOU any better?
Out of a 3-hour game, like 70% of the time nothing's happening.
Because it's the "martial" as in physical prowess, not literal combat.
I don't find it impressive at all —
being a lawyer is just something you pass by memorizing stuff anyway.
Sounds like you resent your parents.
You should try living more positively.
That's right —
you're the top of the top!
With the "square" type, both the academics and the athletics tend to end up mediocre. Even Miyadai just ended up as someone who managed to become a pro — if he'd poured a little more into baseball, he could've been a far better pitcher.
Yeah, he probably should.
For this guy, it was really all about timing.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
There are two routes to the bar exam: one after completing law school, and another via passing the preliminary bar exam first. Miyadai took the former route. On the thread, opinions clashed between “it’s gotten easier” and “even with money and time, not everyone can pass,” but judging difficulty purely by pass rate is premature — it’s easy to overlook that law schools themselves are selective, admissions-based institutions. There were also voices questioning his achievements based on his limited number of professional pitching appearances, but as the article itself notes, simply getting drafted into professional baseball already puts you in a small minority. As for the “scholar-athlete” yardstick, some pointed out that most people lean heavily toward either academics or sports, with few standing out in both — and how to weigh Miyadai’s case against that analysis is where the thread’s opinions diverged.
*This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Geisokuhou+) thread “[BIG6.TV] From Tokyo University to Pro Baseball to Lawyer After Passing the Bar on the First Try — Kōhei Miyadai’s Big Six Baseball Commentary Sparks Reactions: “The Ultimate Embodiment of a Scholar-Athlete”.”
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