Hundreds of fans at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, who lined up 10 deep and hoped to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani as he arrived on Thursday, saw nothing of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.
What they saw was a 40-meter-long temporary white wall to shield the players in case they came through the arrival area. The Chicago Cubs exited this way when they arrived late Wednesday night.
The Dodgers were seen on the tarmac disembarking from their charter from Phoenix, and Ohtani was one of the first off. But the players didn’t make it to the arrival area, apparently taking an escape route.
The next chance to see Ohtani and the Dodgers will be Friday when the teams open practice at the Tokyo Dome.
The two-game series to open the MLB season is Tuesday and Wednesday, early evening starts in Tokyo. Games will go live in the early morning the same day in North America. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the American east coast.
Fans waited for hours inside the terminal, hoping Ohtani would might show up. Many carried signs of welcome. One was a bright yellow board that read: “I love LA.” Others wore Dodgers caps and shirts and other garb.
Several times excited fans reached high with smart phones, thinking Ohtani had arrived. It was always a false alarm with mere passengers from other flights coming into view.
Patient and polite, fans eventually departed the reception area when it was clear that Japan's most famous citizen would not appear.
Most fans were hopeful, but realistic.
"I just came hoping for any chance I might see him. But I knew, probably not.” said Satoshi Yoshii, a local accountant.
Misaki Ueta came with her husband Reishi and a friend, Ryusei Takahashi. The two men wore Ohtani's No. 17 Dodgers jersey.
“We just came to be able to breathe the same air,” Misaki said. “The Ohtani air.”
Others came for the event — like a rock concert.
“I don’t care if I can’t see him because I’m not really a fan of Ohtani,” said Kotomi Miyakoda. Standing alongside was her friend, also Kotomi — Kotomi Nakatsu.
“I'm not a fan but I want to see him, the person,” Nakatsu said.
This is billed as the “Japan Series” by MLB. It could be billed as the marketing-Ohtani-in Japan series. Ohtani is probably the country's most famous citizen and MLB's most marketable asset.
This is the second straight season that MLB has opened its season in Asia. Last year it was South Korea with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres where the gambling scandal broke around Ohtani's interpreter.
The two teams come to Tokyo with five Japanese players. The Dodgers have Ohtani and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The Cubs come with DH Seiya Suzuki and pitcher Shota Imanaga.
Imanaga and Yamamoto are expected to oppose each other on Tuesday in the first game.
The American clubs will face the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers in two exhibition games on Saturday and Sunday.
Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations officer, talked with The Associated Press in an interview about advantages of having a player like Ohtani.
“It helps to have a generational talent like Ohtani — essentially the best player in the game — to be from a different market,” Marinak said. “It changes how you can communicate about the game in different markets.”
It's not difficult. Japan has adopted the Dodgers as its national team. There has always been a strong connection, but now it's rock solid since Ohtani won the World Series with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have set up an exhibition in central Tokyo called “Dodgers Experience at MLB Tokyo Series.” Fans can see the World Series trophy and a few World Series championship rings.
There's also a chance to view the Dodgers' rich history, dating to Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles to start the 1958 season. There are also interactive experiences where fans can try to hit an Ohtani pitch.
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has also designed artwork around the series. His work will also be on display during the series.
Tickets on resale sites have been listed at as much a $20,000 for a single game. Many tickets for resale are more in the $2,000 to $8,000 range.
Reselling tickets for above the face value it technically illegal in Japan. The government approved the rule before the 2020 Olympics, which were delayed by the pandemic until 2021.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
27 Comments
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I'veSeenFootage
There's a lot of people I'm a fan of, but never in my life would I go to an airport in order to maybe catch a glimpse of them. Don't all these people have jobs?!
factchecker
How exciting
stickman1760
This is typical Japanese overreaction by security. A lot of these people couldn’t get tickets for the games so only hope to see there heroes up close was this but taken away by the killjoy Japanese security.
Laguna
Los Angeles has a rich Japanese history. This combination could not be better.
didou
I never understood why people just gather only hoping to see a glimpse of a star.
But it would have been nice to let the players go through a gate where they could be seen without any temporary wall
Chabbawanga
There is something very unhealthy about this kind of behaviour.
Wait in line for a ball game, sure.
Wait around for hours to glimpse a ball player for a second (or not at all), why?
The reverse is also weird though, why is this person being hidden from their fans? He isnt some world leader.
rainyday
This is such a gratuitously mean thing to do to the fans. Like even allowing them to get a fleeting glimpse of their favorite player at a distance from behind the rope is too good for them now? Are these hundred million dollar players so divorced from reality that merely being in the presence of regular people waving at them is too much for their fragile constitutions?
VoiceOfReason
Look, I know that seeing someone in the flesh is better than on TV, but the dude is literally plastered on everything in Japan. From banks, furniture...ECC! When I got back from America after winter break Ohtani's image was there to great me at the airport.
And now Family Mary has him advertising Onigiri and the message is essentially you can be a 2-way player like Ohtani by eating 2 onigiri at the same time.
SDCA
................ummm...................yikes
There are 160+ games a year to be able to watch him play, same when he was playing in Japan, so there are plenty of opportunities to "breath the same air" as Ohtani. Funny how suddenly people want to do something like this ever since he became famous. I bet a lot of these people don't even watch nor care about baseball and only watch when there is hype. And those comments below prove my point:
I loved watching Ohtani when he was on NichiHamu and Angels but ever since he became a Dodger, the overexposure has become exhausting. Still a huge fan of him, but I don't want to have to see him everywhere!
Negative Nancy
This is weird behavior. He's a baseball player with the personality of a wet paper bag. He doesn't want to be friends with you, he wants to get on with his work. The national obsession with this guy because he has reached a level of success overseas is becoming creepy.
GuruMick
I'd like to see him get off the plane, blind drunk and start abusing people.
You know, like a real star would.
Geeter Mckluskie
No different from say Taylor Swift fans lining up to get a glimps of her. People on here comment as though this is their first glimps of fandom.
THAT...I'd like to see...just for kicks
Speed
Geez, give the fans their 20 seconds of "Ohtani air" and a view of his "Ohtani skin."
Unless there's some kind of security risk, let the people have their 20 seconds of happiness. I'm sure Shohei wouldn't mind a brief wave to his fans.
Negative Nancy
For the record, I think there is an element of Emperor's New Clothes to Taylor Swift too. She's a nice looking girl and she has some musical talent for sure.... but that much? Nah.
Pinning your hopes and dreams on a celebrity to this extent is not healthy. Its fine to enjoy what they do, whether it be baseball, singing, acting or whatever, but this kind of hero worship sets a dangerous predicent for stalkers and nutcases.
Dan Walsh
Bot front page news. Gawd why is baseball treated like worship. It adds nothing to society.
Geeter Mckluskie
It's just as or less dangerous than religious worship. At least Ohtani is real and not a bronze age myth that people to this day strap explosives to their children to hasten their fantasy paradise entry.
Geeter Mckluskie
Leisure is not nothing. Do you think it better for "society" to do nothing but work? Do you not have a hobby?
I get that you don't like baseball...and that you want the world to know. But to say it adds "nothing to society" is to be a tad naive about what a having a healthy society entails...and FYI...all meaning is fabricated...reglious...sports worship...movies...art...literature...social mores...relationships...all grounded in the fabrications we concoct to give life meaning...figure it out
bass4funk
Because it's a damn great sport, that pretty much says it all.
Japantime
This is why baseball is the most popular sport in the world and the LA Dodgers are the biggest club in the world. They have amazing support all over the world. Thousands of people come just to see them at the airport on arrival.
Negative Nancy
Baseball is not in the slightest bit of interest to people in most of the world, with the exception of the United States, Japan, Cuba, Korea, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela.
I'veSeenFootage
Truly one of the most mind-bogglingly erroneous statement ever written on these comments, and that's saying a lot.
WA4TKG
Unfortunately, this is as much of a life as some people have
kohakuebisu
Legend has it that the record for most beers on a flight between the UK and Australia is held by Aussie cricketer David Boon. He downed 54!
I know baseball players are now on eleventy billion dollars, but a free bar is a free bar. It's MOTTAINAI to not indulge.
Claire
"Mere passengers", maybe use a different phrase. These passengers were also important to somebody.
Jonathan Prin
Lol, even though he may a fantastic baseball player, what has that guy done anything special ?
Nothing impressive at all in my opinion. No aura, no outstanding speech to raise you up, no t impactful. Sorry to see such crowds moved for no reason while there are people changing way more the world (singers or other sportmen). Can’t anyone see in Japan this is commercial hype only ?.
Because you know, no one knows him in Europe !
stickman1760
Who cares if nobody knows him in Europe?
he’s hugely popular in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, North America.
If it was Dudu or Messi all you Euro types would be losing your mind and going on about how fantastic he was.
give it a rest. It’s not all about footy.
Jule
good. this is weird fan behaviour not only for this but also for Idols. Leave the people alone after the flight (especially after such a long one).