FromJapan

(Link) SNY.TV on 11/26/2023 New details on how Yankees, Mets target Yoshinobu Yamamoto will choose an MLB team Below is a quote from the above page. "In reality, Yamamoto’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said on a call with Japanese reporters that his client -- unlike some Japanese stars -- would have no problem playing with a fellow NPB export. According to one person on the call, a translation issue caused the miscommunication. Wolfe was not saying that Yamamoto preferred or required a team with a Japanese player." ------ (Reference in Japanese) Sponichi Annex on November 27, 2023 Yamamoto was asked whether location, such as the east or west coast, and whether there are Japanese players or not are factors in choosing a team. He answered for the first time, "I don't take that into consideration at all. I haven't narrowed down what is important, so I want to think about it carefully."

Yamamoto returned to Japan and participated in the Orix Buffaloes FanFest held on November 26th. His Thank You Speech was as follows: ”Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me over the past seven years. I am almost at the point where I can stand on the starting line of the next stage that I was aiming for. I will continue to do my best to receive your support!” It appears that he plans to meet in-person with team officials of the final candidates after the Winter Meetings.

(Link) Yariel Rodriguez Hosts Workout For Red Sox, Padres - MLBTR on November 25, 2023

(MLB.com on Nov. 22, 2023) The ageless Ichiro hits 86 mph in 116-pitch shutout vs. All-Star women's team Ichiro asked the high school girl pitcher who struck out him, "I had a bad feeling. When I played in MLB, I didn't strike out that much. It was harder to hit your ball than Roger Clemens. Do you know him?"

When he was in his final years as an active player in NPB, I remember watching a game broadcast and the announcer calling him "dai-leaguer Murakami", means "Major Leaguer Murakami" in Japanese. I was a fan of his team when I was a kid. (Below) KYODO NEWS on Nov 23, 2023 (Link) EAST MEETS WEST - National Baseball Hall of Fame

On November 22, Yamamoto watched the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks game at Crypto.com Arena. Did he come to see Rui Hachimura or something else?

The Japanese Prime Minister was in the United States when Ohtani won the AL MVP, so the Chief Cabinet Secretary expressed his congratulations on his behalf. "He achieved the great feat of naming the MVP for the second time. I'm very happy about the really uplifting news. I would like to express my heartfelt respect for his exceptional performance in both pitching and batting."

The Yahoo Japan article from which this post is quoted is a reprint of the Japanese sports newspaper "Daily Sports." The English translation of the relevant sentence is as follows: "It's not a problem for me to play with other Japanese players on the team I transferred to," he said. I don't think he considers having Japanese players on the team an absolute requirement when choosing a team. Although he is positive about the team having Japanese players, he probably won't use the presence or absence of Japanese players as a deciding factor when choosing a team. (Link, NHK World Japan on Nov.23) Japanese pitcher Yamamoto enters free agency Partial quotation from the above article: ”Nootbaar is willing to tell Yamamoto anything he wants to know about signing with his team, the St. Louis Cardinals.”

Sorry for the rough summary of Japanese news coverage. On November 22nd (JST), Joel Wolfe (Agent, Wasserman) spoke online to Japanese reporters about Yamamoto's current situation as follows. The number of teams that have received inquiries about him is between 10 and 15. He has no geographical preference and is open to considering offers from all teams. He is positive about playing for a team with a Japanese player. Yamamoto does not have any plans to meet with any specific team now, but plans to return to Japan soon and then return to the United States after the winter meetings to decide which team he will transfer to. (Reference in Japanese Sports Media on Nov.22) Sports Hochi Nikkan Sports

The post above is from "Fa-So-La Tax Free Akihabara+", a duty-free shop located in the post-immigration area of New Tokyo International Airport (Narita Airport, located in Chiba Prefecture, adjacent to Tokyo). Ohtani's merchandise displayed at the store entrance was part of a limited-time offer. The post below is from the permanent sporting goods store "SELECTION" in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

During the WBC game, Ohtani lectured Yamamoto and Yoshida on breaking balls

Yamamoto is already in the US.

Sorry, this post may not be appropriate to this topic... Erica's recent visit to Tokyo was featured in Japanese sports media. She was visiting "Asakusa Sensoji Temple" and "teamLab Planets TOKYO", which are popular with foreign tourists. (Her Instagram) Asakusa Sensoji Temple teamLab Planets TOKYO (Link in English) Asakusa Sensoji Temple teamLab Planets TOKYO When she was leaving Japan, she was delighted to find a hanging advertisement for Ohtani's SEKKISEI (UV sunscreen) at Haneda Airport (Tokyo). ---------- (Top Left) a 2080ft tall, broadcasting and observation tower "Tokyo Skytree" (Top Right) Street Go-Kart Tour through the city of Tokyo (Bottom Left) Black chopsticks with names written in English and Japanese (Bottom Right) The billboard of 3D optical illusion cat

Orix Buffaloes announced.

In Japan, the breed of the dog has become a hot topic, and it is believed to be the ”Kooikerhondje”. (Wikipedia) Kooikerhondje

The two posts below have the same content in Japanese as the English text.

This article was featured in Japanese sports media.

Matsui's video on October 7, 2023.

Yuki Matsui (Closer, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Age 28) held a press conference on the November 8th (JST) and officially announced that he had exercised his overseas free agency rights. (Stats in NPB) https://npb.jp/bis/eng/players/81285139.html (YUKI MATSUI - MLBTR) https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/players/yuki-matsui

Sorry for going off topic... (Wikipedia) Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger Japanese children's TV program from about 30 years ago

On November 11 (Japan Standard Time), the Yokohama DeNA BayStars (NPB) announced that they have approved Imanaga's transfer to MLB through the posting system. (NPB official page) His stats

NPB's official Yamamoto page states that he is 178cm tall, approximately 5' 10". In the photo below, Yamamoto looks nearly 2 inches taller, compared side by side with Masataka Yoshida (Red Sox, 5' 8"). As Lars Nootbarr (Left, Cardinals, 6' 3") is tilted slightly to the side, Yamamoto looks only a few inches shorter, even though the official height difference is 5 inches. Yamamoto looks quite shorter than Shohei Ohtani (Right, FA, 6' 4"). If some of the players don't register their exact height (if they tend to register a little higher), then the comparison will be inaccurate.

The full text quoted from Ohtani's Instagram. I’m happy to announce that I will be donating approximately 60,000 youth gloves to every elementary school in Japan. That comes out to around 20,000 elementary schools. I’m hoping the kids can spend their days happily with a lot of energy through baseball. I’ll be looking forward to sharing the field one day with someone that grew up using this glove! Lastly, I would like to send my appreciation to everyone that was involved and helped this project come true.