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This offseason, the Dodgers committed over $1 billion to Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Although the two are celebrities in America, their respective statuses in their homeland of Japan are at another level.
Recently, Ohtani and Yamamoto welcomed Japanese musician Yoshiki Hayashi, known as Yoshiki, to Dodgers Stadium in LA. And the Dodgers stars ensured that the celebrated singer did not leave empty-handed.
Before the Dodgers' Tuesday night game against the Washington Nationals, Yoshiki posed with Ohtani and Yamamoto to show off his new gifts. He then took to the field to perform a piano rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Wearing a Dodgers-themed white blazer and blue undershirt, the 58-year-old musician showcased signed jerseys from both men on Instagram. Images of the exchange made it to Ohtani's personal Instagram story.
Born into a musical family in Chiba, Japan, in 1965, Yoshiki has been synonymous with the Japanese popular music scene for decades. Known as the leader of celebrated bands X Japan and the Last Rockstars, Yoshiki has collaborated with Bono, Ellie Goulding, Brian May and the Chainsmokers.
Ohtani, Yoshiki and Yamamoto are among the most recognizable around for the Japanese audience. Over 55 million people in the island nation watched Ohtani strike out former Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout in the March 2023 World Baseball Classic. As a result, he won the tournament alongside Yamamoto. Yoshiki has over a million followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify.
Shohei Ohtani aims to tune out distractions from his performance
Following the photo-op with Yoshiki, Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-5 in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Nats. With a pending investigation into his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara now underway, the 29-year-old wants to help his team achieve results.
"For me personally, this marks a break from this, and I’d like to focus on baseball," Ohtani said to the LA Times recently.
As one of the most popular names in Japan, Ohtani believes that his vast support network will help him through the most challenging times.
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