Shohei Ohtani’s Wife Revealed: Japanese Basketball Player Pictured With Dodgers Star

Shohei Ohtani’s cryptic, unexpected Instagram announcement of his marriage last month came as such a surprise, even his longest-tenured teammate — Angels star Mike Trout — said he wasn’t even aware Ohtani had a girlfriend.

Since then, the public has learned little about Ohtani’s spouse. A press conference by Ohtani and his subsequent interview with a Japanese media outlet revealed little more than his wife’s age and her status as a non-public figure.

While Japanese television stations reportedly offering huge sums of money for information about Ohtani’s wife, the internet went to work uncovering her identity. Thursday, the world learned what some had long suspected: Ohtani wed the Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.

The big reveal? An Instagram story posted to Ohtani’s account with no name, just this photo:

The Dodgers effectively confirmed the identity of the woman beside Ohtani by posting this photo of the Ohtanis side-by-side with Mookie Betts and his wife, Brianna:

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Ohtani’s wife is a professional athlete. Ohtani’s father, Toru, played baseball for a semipro team sponsored by the local Mitsubishi plant in Oshu, Japan. His mother, Kayako, was a competitive badminton player. Ohtani previously revealed that he met his wife while training in Japan.

Expect Ohtani’s private life to remain private. With Thursday’s reveal, at least the days of discerning low-resolution photos of normal Japanese women at Camelback Ranch are over.

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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