Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / How big is Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani in Japan
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Otani, Sasaki, Yamamoto. If you follow the LA Dodgers, you're
- 0:05Speaker 1: familiar with those names. Three star Japanese players and viewers
- 0:09Speaker 1: in Japan are tuning into the playoffs to watch them.
- 0:12Speaker 1: K Chew Joe is a reporter with NHK, Japan's public broadcaster,
- 0:15Speaker 1: and she is inside Rogers Center right now and give
- 0:19Speaker 1: us a sense of how big this World Series is
- 0:23Speaker 1: in Japan.
- 0:25Speaker 2: Well, thanks for having me. Oh, it's actually everybody's watching
- 0:29Speaker 2: the Japan and a game is going to be start
- 0:31Speaker 2: at seven am and the Japan time. So I think
- 0:34Speaker 2: most of the nation, especially the you want to prefecture
- 0:37Speaker 2: where's Sasaki and a shohe Otani sprump, everyone is going
- 0:42Speaker 2: to be a watch in the morning in Japan.
- 0:45Speaker 1: Yeah, so let's talk about show hey Otani for a moment.
- 0:49Speaker 1: He's been a superstar for a while. But after that
- 0:52Speaker 1: game last Friday with the ten strikeouts, I think it
- 0:56Speaker 1: was no runs against as a pitcher, three fantastic home runs.
- 1:01Speaker 1: Here in North America, I've heard major league players marvel
- 1:05Speaker 1: calling that what may be the best single game performance
- 1:08Speaker 1: in the history of Major League Baseball. I know you're
- 1:11Speaker 1: based in the United States right now, but he must
- 1:13Speaker 1: have a sense. How did that all play back in Japan?
- 1:18Speaker 2: Well, he's been a very famous as a baseball player
- 1:22Speaker 2: since he was high school, and that play was absolutely
- 1:28Speaker 2: phenomenal that everyone just talks about it. I mean he's
- 1:31Speaker 2: been doing this for a long time, but two way
- 1:34Speaker 2: players back in the postseason, which is the first time ever.
- 1:39Speaker 2: So it's a big story for Japan. Just in Japan,
- 1:44Speaker 2: I'm sure it's all over the United States and Canada.
- 1:48Speaker 1: If I were to turn on television in Japan and
- 1:51Speaker 1: flip around the channels, would I see Otani everywhere as
- 1:56Speaker 1: he endorsing lots of products?
- 1:59Speaker 2: Oh my goodnes Yes, every morning, and what the people
- 2:02Speaker 2: start watching is about show Hey what he has done
- 2:05Speaker 2: at the game. So every day, every channel, and when
- 2:09Speaker 2: you once you actually go to Japan walking to the airport,
- 2:13Speaker 2: his advertisements all over on the wall, to the televisions,
- 2:18Speaker 2: to the store, to the grocery store. So I mean
- 2:21Speaker 2: everywhere I was there last January and I walked in,
- 2:26Speaker 2: every product has a show Hey pictures on it. Yes,
- 2:30Speaker 2: everybody loves him.
- 2:33Speaker 1: You know, when I was a kid, so we're talking
- 2:35Speaker 1: about a long long time ago, we knew there was
- 2:38Speaker 1: baseball in Japan, but we were always told that the
- 2:41Speaker 1: baseball was a significant level below what was happening in
- 2:46Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. Then yeah, there might be some guys
- 2:49Speaker 1: that have lots of home runs, but that's in Japanese ball,
- 2:52Speaker 1: I would assume. But you tell me that these days,
- 2:56Speaker 1: Japanese players and the Japanese League feels like it is
- 3:01Speaker 1: you know, maybe not on part with Major League Baseball
- 3:03Speaker 1: as a league, but certainly not too far behind. But
- 3:06Speaker 1: what's what's the feeling in Japan?
- 3:09Speaker 2: Well, yes, there are so many great Japanese baseball players
- 3:13Speaker 2: that plays in Japan, but I think it's this mountain
- 3:16Speaker 2: in the league is the world best baseball players all
- 3:21Speaker 2: of the world. So all the Japans player wants to
- 3:24Speaker 2: play here and there, and I'm sure tested to see
- 3:26Speaker 2: how well they are really able to play and compete
- 3:30Speaker 2: with this world class baseball players. So you know, it's
- 3:36Speaker 2: great that I'm sorry, it's sad that maybe you know,
- 3:39Speaker 2: the Joe, Japanese baseball should be more bigger than a man. Well,
- 3:43Speaker 2: b but the show hey actually swept all this attentions
- 3:46Speaker 2: right now that Major League is just everybody's eye on it.
- 3:51Speaker 1: One last thing, our reporter who's there at Rogers tried
- 3:54Speaker 1: to get into to that scrum around show hey and
- 3:59Speaker 1: and get a shot of him, get a picture. Wasn't
- 4:01Speaker 1: able to because there's so much media there. Given that
- 4:04Speaker 1: you're with NHK and you speak Japanese, was it very
- 4:07Speaker 1: easy for you to go right up to him? And
- 4:10Speaker 1: does his eye Do his eyes light up when he
- 4:12Speaker 1: deals with a Japanese speaking reporter?
- 4:15Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness. You have to be ahead with everybody
- 4:18Speaker 2: else's You have to be on the top of the line,
- 4:20Speaker 2: head of the line, and it once every ready to go,
- 4:23Speaker 2: you just have to focus on just in front of
- 4:26Speaker 2: and show his desk. Otherwise, yes, you're going to be
- 4:28Speaker 2: behind and you can't see nothing. So yes, this has
- 4:33Speaker 2: been that many people scrumb at this show Haze every
- 4:39Speaker 2: single whatever he speaks and after the game he pitches,
- 4:44Speaker 2: he speaks about how the game was. I mean, you
- 4:47Speaker 2: have no it every single time we have to battle
- 4:50Speaker 2: ourself to push it in front of this line. So
- 4:54Speaker 2: but he is that important for all of us because
- 4:57Speaker 2: everybody wants to know. Everybody wants to see what he's doing,
- 5:01Speaker 2: what he's saying. So were job to make sure that
- 5:04Speaker 2: reporting properly through the Japanese nation.
- 5:08Speaker 1: Well, we are all in the presence of greatness right now.
- 5:11Speaker 1: You are a little closer to it than I am.
- 5:14Speaker 1: Chew Joe, a reporter with NHK, thank you very much
- 5:16Speaker 1: for speaking with us.
- 5:18Speaker 2: Thank you very much.