Daichi Taniguchi (born April 15, 1990) is a Japanese professional basketball player for Ibaraki Robots of the B.League in Japan.[3] He stood six feet, three inches tall as a 12-year-old boy.[4] In 2009 Taniguchi won the "Slam Dunk Scholarship" funded by Takehiko Inoue, and played for the American colleges.[5][6][7] He rejected the offers from the Kansai-area clubs and signed with the Akita Happinets in 2015. Due to the B.League's foreign player regulations, he receives significantly more playing time in 2016-17. He has been named the new Akita captain after Toshino's departure in November 2018.[8] He is a Starbucks mug cup collector and a tropical fish addict.[9] Use of the moaiemoji is usually meant to imply strength or determination, and it's also used frequently in Taniguchi's posts.[10][11] He signed with Hiroshima Dragonflies on June 24, 2019.[12][13]