Claims That Mizuhara Disappeared in Picture Book
Book Covering Ohtani's Challenge in the US... Popular in Japan
There are claims that former interpreter Mizuhara Ippei was "deleted" from a picture book about Asian baseball star Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers), who is active in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.
On the 18th (local time), images of a picture book covering Ohtani's achievements were shared on Japan's largest online community "5 Channel" and others. This picture book is a recently released children's biography titled "Let's Play Baseball! The Story of Shohei Ohtani," which has enjoyed tremendous popularity, achieving 90,000 orders within just a few days of its release.
There has been a claim that former interpreter Mizuhara Ippei has disappeared from the latest edition of Shohei Ohtani's picture book. [Image source=Capture from X (Twitter)]
The picture book introduces stories about Ohtani and people around him. Accordingly, it is reported that the first edition included an illustration of Mizuhara, Ohtani's former interpreter. Mizuhara was a close companion from the time Ohtani decided to move to the United States and was a trusted confidant until the illegal gambling scandal was revealed.
However, after it was revealed that Mizuhara engaged in illegal sports gambling and even used Ohtani's funds, the new edition of the picture book no longer features Mizuhara's image.
Japanese netizens who saw the photos reacted with comments such as, "Was he purged for the crime of illegal gambling?", "(Mizuhara) has become a person who never existed," and "Do children really not notice?"
One netizen sarcastically compared this to the information censorship of the former Soviet Union. In the USSR, it was common to delete documents and photos of purged political prisoners, effectively erasing them as "people who never existed," and this case is no different. He pointed out, "(The revision of the picture book) reminds me of that incident."
Meanwhile, Mizuhara reportedly confessed to his gambling addiction for the first time on the 20th of last month, when the LA Dodgers team came to Seoul to participate in the MLB opening game. He was immediately dismissed following a team meeting.
The day after the meeting, on the 21st of last month, he returned to LA on a separate flight. Mizuhara was taken into custody by local authorities at the airport and is said to have been investigated for three weeks.
The U.S. federal prosecutors announced on the 11th that Mizuhara is accused of embezzling $16 million (approximately 22 billion KRW) from Ohtani's bank account to pay for sports gambling expenses and lying to gain access to Ohtani's bank account. He is also charged with impersonating Ohtani by calling the bank and authorizing large transfers.
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