Shohei Ohtani Drops Bombshell Announcement: Meet His Stunning Japanese Wife!

TOKYO — Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has surprisingly revealed that he is married.

Ohtani wrote on Instagram in Japanese on Thursday: “The season is approaching but I would like to announce to everyone that I have gotten married.”

He said his new wife was a “Japanese woman” without identifying her. He said she would reveal more in an interview; presumably at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training site.

Ohtani, 29, is Japan's biggest celebrity and there has always been curiosity about his personal life, which he has always kept secret. Her approach and her image have always been 100% baseball-centric, free of scandals or sensational news.

Ohtani moved from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers in December on a record contract worth $700 million over 10 years.

“I started a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also started a new life with someone from my home country, Japan, who is very special to me,” he wrote.

He asked the media to refrain from “conducting unauthorized interviews.”

The Instagram post included a photo of her dog “Dekopin,” also called “Decoy.”

He wrote: “We hope that the two of us, and one animal, will work together.”

The news broke in the middle of the night in North America and in the late afternoon in Japan, where it was immediately the top story on local television.

Local television reports on his training in the United States daily, and due to his unprecedented success in North America, he has become the pride of Japan, and the Dodgers have become Japan's de facto team.

Ohtani is training in Arizona for the Major League Baseball season, preparing for the Dodgers' opener in Seoul, South Korea, on March 20-21 in a two-game series against the San Diego Padres.

Ohtani just had surgery on his right elbow and will not pitch this season. He will be used as a designated hitter and there is a chance he could play in the field.

In his spring training debut this week, he hit a two-run homer against the Chicago White Sox.

Ohtani has hit 171 home runs (44 last season) and has a career batting average of .274. His pitching record is 38-19 in five seasons. He missed the 2019 season due to elbow surgery and has a career ERA of 3.01.

He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the American League Most Valuable Player in 2021 and 2023, and has often been compared to Babe Ruth for his ability as a two-way player.