Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani says he’s married, and his bride is Japanese

In a shock to fans, baseball star Shohei Ohtani has revealed he is now married.

The Los Angeles Dodgers player wrote on Thursday on Instagram in Japanese: “The season is approaching but I would like to announce to everyone that I have gotten married.”

He said his new wife was a “Japanese woman” without identifying her. He said he would reveal more in an interview, presumably at the Dodgers’ spring training venue.

The 29-year-old Ohtani is Japan’s biggest celebrity, and there has always been curiosity around his personal life, which he has always kept very private. His focus, and his image, has always been 100 per cent-baseball focused – free of scandals or tabloid news.

Ohtani moved from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers in December on a record-breaking contract worth US$700 million over 10 years.

“I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also have started a new life with someone from my native country of Japan who is very special to me,” he wrote.

He asked the media refrain from “conducting unauthorised interviews”.

The post on Instagram included a photo of his dog “Dekopin”, which is also called “Decoy”.

He wrote: “We hope the two of us – and one animal – will work together.”

The news broke in the middle of the night in North America, and late afternoon in Japan, where it was immediately the top news item on local television.

In the US, local TV stations report daily on Ohtani and, because of his unprecedented success in North America, he has become the pride of Japan, and the Dodgers Japan’s de facto team.

Ohtani is training in Arizona for the Major League Baseball season, preparing for the Dodgers to open in Seoul, South Korea, on March 20-21 in a two-game series against the San Diego Padres.

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