It¡¯s the time of year when warm spring winds blow through Tokyo, heralding the coming of cherry blossoms that will briefly drape the city in pink. But this year, there¡¯s a fleeting arrival that¡¯s even more exciting.
Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers phenom and Japan¡¯s most famous sporting export, is back in town kicking off the Major League Baseball season with his team taking on the Chicago Cubs. The city is abuzz for the event: Nearly 100,000 seats over two nights at Tokyo Dome sold out in moments. Resale tickets are changing hands for amounts approaching $13,500. Think of the hype when Taylor Swift visited your city. Then double or triple it.
It¡¯s a triumphant return home for a man who moved to the U.S. in late 2017 and who this time last year was under a cloud of suspicion. It was at the season opener in Seoul in 2024 that allegations first surfaced of illicit gambling involving his then-interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, who was subsequently convicted and sentenced to jail for stealing $17 million from Ohtani.
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