It’s hard to be ubiquitous in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world, but Shohei Ohtani has found a way. The Los Angeles Dodgers star seems to be everywhere: on billboards, on products, in television ads and news and entertainment shows and, of course, on the field when his games are broadcast live in Japan.
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As many as 90 percent of Japanese visitors to Los Angeles last year were there to attend a Dodgers game, according to the city’s tourism board.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Japanese fans watching the Dodgers play an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants this month.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
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Ohtani’s face on an ad on a Japan Airlines plane.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York TimesImage
The Ito En Japanese tea company is one of Ohtani’s many sponsors.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Tickets to Ohtani’s games in Japan are going for as much as $10,000Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York TimesImage
Still, there is an undercurrent of fatigue with the wall-to-wall Ohtani coverage.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
