Los Angeles Dodgers star player Shohei Ohtani is a notoriously private person.
Throughout his years with the Angels, he’d speak sparingly to media members — only doing so in days when he pitched. He’s the type of guy who wants to stay out of the spotlight. Ohtani would much prefer to stay at home relaxing rather than be caught on TMZ partying at some overpriced Los Angeles restaurant where ‘the scene’ is happening.
The hysteria around Ohtani both stateside and in his Japan is immense. Most recently, he revealed on an Instagram post that he was indeed married to a woman from Japan. Speculation ran rampant as to who that woman was. Well, we finally learned about the mystery partner Thursday morning courtesy of a picture that’s been spreading like wildfire on social media. In the image, Ohtani is shown with his translator Ippei Mizuhara, teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Yamamoto’s translator, and his wife, basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.
Yes — of all the people the arguable greatest athlete on Earth married — he linked up with a fellow professional athlete. The group stood on the tarmac before boarding the Dodgers’ plane to Seoul. The team is set to leave for South Korea today ahead of next week’s season-opening series versus the San Diego Padres. The reveal of Tanaka might not be as huge in the news within the United States as it would featuring A-list celebrity actors. However, in Japan, the update is splattered across millions of newspapers.
Tanaka, a 5’11” power forward/center, had most recently played for the Japanese team Fujitsu RW. The team plays in the top division of women’s basketball in Japan. From 2019-23, Tanaka played for the team. During her last year in 2022-23, she averaged 7.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 1.0 SPG in 28 games.
It’s fascinating to see this news break right before the Dodgers land in Asia. The series is slated to have an immense amount of excitement for those abroad in Korea. Additionally, with the short flight from Japan, you can expect plenty of people to come over to see Yamamoto and Ohtani play in person.
