is a sports agent who primarily represents Japanese baseball players. Early life Nomura was born Donald Engel at St. Luke's International Hospital in Chūō, Tokyo, to a Japanese mother, Yoshie Itō and a Jewish American father, Alvin George Engel. His mother left the family when Don was six, leaving his father to care for him and his younger brother Kenneth. He attended St. Mary's International School, a private, English-speaking Catholic school in Tokyo, until he was kicked out for fighting at the age of 16. Nomura then attended Chofu High School, then transferred to Zama High School, where he played baseball and graduated in 1975. During this time, he began visiting his mother, who had changed her name to Sachiyo and married NPB catcher and manager Katsuya Nomura. After completing high school, Nomura enrolled at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California where he studied and played baseball from 1975–77. In 1977, at the age of 21, the Japanese Home Ministry would no longer allow Nomura to hold a dual US–Japan citizenship, requiring him to choose one. He chose Japanese citizenship. Nomura's decision was influenced by a NPB restriction that allowed only two foreign players per team at the time. He then assumed the name until his stepfather adopted him that same year, at which time he took the name Don Katsuki Nomura. Commenting on his new Japanese name, Nomura remarked, "It helped me get into places and meet people". He began playing on a minor league team affiliated with the Yakult Swallows the next year as a utility infielder. In 1981, he was released after playing four seasons with the team because of poor performance. That same year, Nomura's 62-year-old father, Alvin Engel, committed suicide in Hawaii via carbon monoxide poisoning. Nomura traveled to Hawaii to pick up his father's ashes and returned them to Japan. In December 1981, Nomura moved to Los Angeles with his new wife. There he worked a series of odd jobs that including non-paying scout for the Milwaukee Brewers, travel agent, janitor, waiter, driver, liquor store clerk, tour coordinator, translator and other odd jobs. For a time, Nomura was forced to send his wife and infant daughter back to Japan while he lived out of his car in Los Angeles because of his poor financial state. By 1985, he had saved enough money to rent an apartment and bring his family back to L.A.