Last year I visited Korea and travelled around with a baseball cap with the word ‘Dodgers’ in Hangul and a ‘Seoul Series’ patch on the side. Funny enough this NEVER EVER sparked any conversation anywhere with Korean people. This, of course, is fine, but I, at least, expected some recognition.
After this experience I was in doubt if buying a cap in katakana would be worth the trouble. On the other hand, I thought, f*ck it! I bought a great cap with ‘Dodgers’ in katakana on the front and an Ohtani patch on the side. Well, how different the Japanese experience was…
From the first day in Japan I had point at my hat, smiling and/or saying Dochas! No matter where I was, people smiled and sometimes made a fist and said ‘Ohtani the best’. Even in the underground, where, normally people only look at their phones and don’t talk. So this trip I had a completely different experience, which was unexpected and nice.
Ohtani News
Now, as mentioned before, they love Ohtani in Japan. He is everywhere! But the exposure in the newspapers surprised me. Regularly the first pages were slathered with Ohtani news. When he hits another home run, when he resumed pitching and threw a very fast pitch. Japanese journalists are on him like flies, desperate to bring more news about their favorite son. See the photo’s to get an idea.
Ohtani Adverts
Not only have news outlets discovered Ohtani since he came to the US. Companies want him to advertise their products. Not one but many of them. Which leads to a lot of Ohtanies around the country, with green tea (Oi Ocha), skincare (Kosé), sports drink (Syncron Kowa) or super markets (Family Mart), you name it, Shohei is probably there to sell it.
