FromJapan

This video (July 26, 2012 at Iwate Prefectural Ball Park) was the final game of Iwate Prefectural Tournament, the winning team could participate in the national tournament of high school baseball. It was when Ohtani-san was in the 3rd (last) year of high school. In the summer of his 2nd year, he had a left hip epiphyseal injury. Almost half a year, he could hardly practice pitching techniques, and at the direction of the baseball manager, he gave priority to eating a lot and getting enough sleep. “As a result, his body became bigger than I expected. Without that injury, I think he could have been a pitcher with a stable pitching form and a win in the game. Instead, it also contributed to the dramatic growth of his body,” said the high school baseball manager at the time.

Japanese fans joke "The Angels starting pitcher criticized Ohtani for not getting a hit with a chance."

His fastest ball speed is 102.5mph in 2016.

"Suwatte Kudasai." means "Please sit down." in Japanese. I don't know what he wanted to convey.

Japanese characters (Kanji) was an import from Chinese characters in ancient age. Names are written with surname-first order in East Asian cultural sphere including Japan. 'Oh' means 'big' or 'great', and 'tani' means 'valley'. 'Ohtani' means 'big valley' in Japanese, ...has nothing to do with Barkley Ranch. Ohtani-san's first name is after the activity of the younger brother of Shogun in the medieval (more than 800 years ago) of Japan and the name of the headquarter (near Ohtani-san's birthplace) of the independent local regime that temporarily protected this younger brother of Shogun.　(Details omitted. From the interview article of Ohtani-san's mother (2013)). Chinese character (Kanji) 'sho' can be divided into two parts. Left part means 'fly high', and is a hieroglyphic 'sheep', which was a symbol of property and an auspicious animal in ancient China. Right part is hieroglyphic 'wings'. 'Sho' means 'spread wings and fly high', this character is popular for naming boys in Japan. Chinese character (Kanji) 'hei' is often used for a boy's first name. --------- 'Ichi' means the number 1, often used to name the first child. In Japanese, pronunciation is shortened from Ichihei to Ippei. Chinese character (Kanji) 'ro' is also used for a boy's first name. In the case of Ichiro, the pronunciation doesn't change. Both of 'Ippei' and 'Ichiro' are usually the name given to the eldest son (*). *, Usually, it is the name that can be worn by the eldest son, but Ichiro is the second. He was named "Ichiro" using the letter "Ichi" from his grandfather "Gin-ichi".

At 45 second timeout, Ohtani-san said, "Tired out, tired out. How many seconds left?" The commentator of Japanese broadcasting, "Too much pre-practice..." After the end, to the Japanese interviewer, Ohtani-san said, "It was fun. The atmosphere was good and it was a good experience."

Ohtani-san will participate in the ASG as DH (batting first), and starter.

Among Japanese fans, it has become a hot topic that who will be on ASG red carpet with Ohtani-san.

'Suzuki' is one of the most common surname in Japan.　 'Suzuki' means bell tree, their ancestors are said to be Shinto (an ancient Japanese religion) priests.

Currently being broadcast on NHK (Japan's public broadcaster) channel.

Ohtani-san changed his batting form from level swing to uppercut, too. 2018 level swing 2021 uppercut swing

From this season, Ohtani-san has been using new bats made of 'Birch'. Until last season, he used bats made of 'Aodamo ' (Fraxinus lanuginosa), which is distributed in the mountain area of Japan. 'Aodamo' is a closely related species of 'Birch'. 'Birch' is harder and more repulsive than 'Aodamo', but less elastic slightly. The shape of bat was also changed. Until last year, it was top-balanced, its gravity center was close to the tip. To improve the batting average, the thick part of bat (so-called sweet spot) has elongated. Therefore, flight distance will be slightly shorter, but Ohtani-san keeps in mind to hit the ball squarely, in addition to strengthening physical.

(July 5, Japan time) Happy birthday, Ohtani-san

"Ii atari" "Haitta" "Douten manrui home run" "Perfect connection" "It's gone" "Game-tying grand slam"

Interviewer's final greeting to Ohtani "Thank you very much, Arigato matane!" "Matane" is an expression used in a close relationship, means "See you again" in Japanese.

To Japanese media, Ohtani-san said, "I was in good physical condition and my arm was moving well. But on the contrary, my upper body was slightly leaning forward, and I caught the ball too much with my fingers, so I think that was the cause."

In other words, over-the-air television (OTA). In Japan, almost all of the terrestrial TV, including commercial broadcasters, are HDTV. NHK's terrestrial broadcasting has two channels, one for all fields and the other for education.

NHK (Japan's public broadcaster, similar to the BBC in UK) announced: On July 7 Japan Time, the regular season Red Sox vs Angels game will be broadcast live on terrestrial channel. (For the first time this year. NHK usually broadcasts some of the MLB Games on satellite channel.) It will broadcast Home Run Derby live on terrestrial channel. (It is unusual. MLB All-Star Game 2021 will be broadcast on satellite channel.) # NHK Satellite channel requires an extra reception fee in addition to the terrestrial channel fee.

Regarding selection of the first place as MLB All-Star designated hitter, Ohtani-san announced to the Japanese media that he would like to do his best to entertain everyone. "My profile photo" is a picture I took when Ohtani-san participated as a starting pitcher in the NPB All-Star Game (Koshien Stadium, a ball park located between Osaka and Kobe) on July 19, 2014. Second NPB All-Star selection (2014)

Ohtani-san's birthday is July 5, so he will soon be 27 years old. (Photo taken in June 2015) Nippon-Ham Fighters Official Shop in Sapporo, Hokkaido Shohei Ohtani Yellow T-shirt The person at the top of the upper left panel is Mr. Kuriyama (Manager, Nippon-Ham Fighters). Mr. Kuriyama believed in Ohtani-san's potential and expanded his possibilities of 2-way (pitching and batting). # At the bottom of the panel, "Ezolution" is a compound word of Ezo (old name of Hokkaido island) and Evolution. Ohtani-san's uniform number in the Nippon-Ham Fighters was 11. Before him, it was of Yu Darvish (Padres). The number 11 has been a missing number for Nippon-Ham Fighters since 2018. The uniform number 17 was when Ohtani-san was a student at Hanamaki Higashi High School. Before him, this number was of his senior, Yusei Kikuchi (Mariners) in the first grade of the school. The number 17 symbolizes Otani-san's feelings of "going back to a beginner's spirit" and "doing his best with new stage".

Ohtani-san set a baseball life plan (in a sense, dreams) when he was 17. He had a dream of becoming a fastball pitcher. Age18 Join major team (To US) Age19 3A, Master English Age20 Major, 14 million dollars Age21 Starting rotation, 16 wins Age22 Cy Young Award Age23 WBC Japan National Team Age24 No-hitter, 25 wins Age25 The fastest in the world, 175km/h (108.74mph) Age26 World Series Champion, Marriage (This year!)

Ohtani-san's performance in Japan He belonged to Nippon-Ham Fighters (2013-2017, Pacific League, NPB(Nippon Professional Baseball Organization)) Data from Wikipedia Japanese page Sorry for the small table. GLOSSARY referred to: https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/39832/shohei-ohtani

In Japan, "Ohtani-san (in Japanese katakana)" has entered the Twitter trend due to the influence of broadcasting (Big Fly Ohtani-san!). "San" means a Japanese suffix, a frank and non-sexual honorific title. For Japanese fans, it becomes a morning routine to see if Ohtani-san hits a home run. The header of MLB Twitter has become a hot topic among Nippon-Ham Fighters fans. https://twitter.com/mlb

Thank you for pointing out my mistake. Tokyo Dome special rule Q What if the hit ball is caught in a hole or gap in the ceiling? A dead ball. If it is within the fair area, both the batter and the runner will be given ground rule double. So, it was a double instead of a home run.

Japanese media interview on June 17 to Ohtani. "The spectators is now unlimited, what do you feel?" "I felt nice. The players will be more motivated if the fans enter. I think I can concentrate more on hitting and pitching, so I'm very happy that the fans come to the ballpark."