'Otani's Girlfriend' Was Real... Otani Shares a Sweet Photo Ahead of His Trip to Korea

Announced Marriage News via SNS Last Month
Presumed to Be Japanese Basketball Player Tanaka Mamiko

Global baseball star Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers) has attracted attention by revealing a photo of a woman presumed to be his wife ahead of his visit to Korea.

On the 15th (Korean time), Ohtani posted on his personal Instagram account with the caption "Can't wait" along with a Taegeukgi emoji. The photo he shared shows him standing side by side with a woman. Next to them are Ohtani's teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

Shohei Ohtani and a person presumed to be his wife [Image source=LA Dodgers Facebook]

The woman smiling alongside Ohtani appears to be his wife. Japanese local sports media and baseball fans believe this woman to be former Japanese professional basketball player Mamiko Tanaka. Born in 1996, Mamiko Tanaka is a graduate of the prestigious Waseda University in Japan and played as a center for the Japanese women's professional basketball team Fujitsu Red Wave in 2019. She was also selected as a candidate for the Japanese national team in 2021 and continued her career until the 22-23 season before retiring.

Earlier, Ohtani announced his marriage on social media on the 29th of last month. However, he did not disclose specific details about his wife. He only mentioned, "She is an ordinary Japanese woman whom I met 3 to 4 years ago and got engaged to last year. She is someone who will trust and follow me wherever I am." Since then, some have speculated that Mamiko Tanaka is his wife, but this has not been officially confirmed.

Image posted by Ohtani on his personal Instagram account [Image source=Instagram]

In an interview with the Japanese sports media outlet Sports Graphic Number on the 2nd, Ohtani described his wife as "someone with whom I can enjoy many things," adding, "I feel comfortable and have fun when I am with her. Because she is there, I don't have to change the way I speak or eat, or worry about such things. (Perhaps this is why I decided to get married.)"

Meanwhile, the Dodgers team, to which Ohtani belongs, will play a two-game opening series of Major League Baseball (MLB) at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome on the 20th and 21st. He will arrive in Korea through Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 15th.

This will be Ohtani's second time personally setting foot on Korean soil since his high school player days in 2012. At that time, he participated as a member of the Japanese national team for the World Youth Baseball Championship, but this time he is visiting Korea as a member of the LA Dodgers and a global baseball star.