Ryoya Kurihara

 is a Japanese professional baseball catcher and outfielder for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Early Baseball career.
As a catcher at Fukui Prefectural Harue Technical High School, Ryoya Kurihara participated in the 1st grade autumn 43rd Meiji Jingu Baseball Championship and in the 2nd grade spring 85th Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament. In 2014, he was selected to the Japan national baseball team in the 2014 Asian Junior Baseball Championship.
Professional career.
Kurihara was drafted in the second round by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the 2014 draft. He and the Hawks agreed to a ¥7 million annual salary. From 2015 to 2016 he played on SoftBank's minor league teams in NPB's Western League.
He made his Hawks debut in an interleague game against the Yomiuri Giants on June 13, 2017. And he was selected as the Japan Series roster in the 2017 Japan Series, however he did not play. In February 2018, Kurihara dislocated his left shoulder during spring training. He returned from the injury on August 10 and recorded his first hit on September 5. He was again selected to the Japan Series roster in 2018 in which he recorded a sacrifice bunt as a pinch hitter. On July 23, 2019, Kurihara recorded his first home run. Again, he was selected as roster in the 2019 Japan Series.
Kurihara played in 118 of 120 games in the 2020 season. In the Japan Series, he went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in Game 1 and 4-for-5 in Game 2, becoming only the 23rd player to record four hits in a Japan Series game. After the Hawks swept the Giants to win the series, Kurihara was named Japan Series MVP.