World-famous baseball player gets a big accolade in Japan… with his beloved dog.
Every year in Japan, various rice fields around the country are transformed into massive “Rice Paddy Art” (or “tambo art,” as it’s known in Japanese), where different varieties of rice are planted in precise positions to create vast, colourful murals. This summer, one particularly eye-catching design has cropped up in Iwate Prefecture — a larger-than-life image of Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani.
The art appears in Oshu City’s Esashi Ward, which began hosting rice paddy installations in 2009 as a way to promote agriculture and tourism. With the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar being born and bred in Mizusawa, a city that is now a part of Oshu, the massive rice paddy art is a fitting tribute to the hometown hero, and that’s not the only honour he’s getting, as there’s also a commemorative manhole cover dedicated to him.
With so much love on display for the baseball star, there’s never been a better time for Ohtani fans to visit Oshu, and the adventure begins as soon as you arrive at Mizusawa-Esashi Station.
Inside the station, everything is blue, in honour of Ohtani’s Dodgers team colour. You’ll also see Ohtani’s name, “大谷翔平”, on a number of tanzaku, paper strips attached to furin windchimes that blow gently in the breeze to make them ring. These particular windchimes are made with Nanbu ironware, a specialty product of Oshu that experienced a boost in sales due to the so-called “Ohtani effect”, with demand for iron kettles becoming so popular that there’s now a year-long wait for them.
▼ These summertime windchimes ring with the sound of Ohtani’s influence on the economy.
Before stepping out of the station you’ll want to pick up a “Shohei Ohtani Hometown Map”. Distributed at tourist centres and local stores in the area, this map has been created by local supporters to help visitors explore key spots related to the baseball star, including his elementary and junior high schools, the grounds where he practiced, stores selling Ohtani-themed goods, and the manhole cover site and rice paddy art vantage point.
▼ The map invites you to “experience the story behind the legend”.
Some public sites may ask visitors to refrain from entering the premises, and if that’s the case there’s a note on the map reflecting this, but you can visit the junior high school if you contact the school office beforehand, and they’ll even give you a commemorative gift. The manhole cover is probably the easiest site to visit first, though, as it’s located at the west entrance of the station, and it’s one of 12 that feature Japanese MLB players, all set up in each of their hometowns.
Image: PR Times
Although you can see what Ohtani’s manhole cover looks like in the image below, we decided to keep its appearance in-situ under wraps, so as not to spoil the mystery for manhole cover hunters.
Image: PR Times
After viewing the manhole cover outside the station, the next site you’ll want to head to is “Aterui no Sato”, where the rice paddy is located.
▼ You’ll be able to spot the site by the watchtower vantage point that stands above the rice field.
“Aterui” was the chieftan and great hero of the Emishi people, an indigenous group who lived in the Tohoku region of Japan where Iwate is located, and this is said to be the site of an ancient battle with the imperial court forces.
▼ Today, it’s home to rice fields and a wooden viewing tower.
The tower has been giving visitors a bird’s eye view of the rice paddy artworks that have been grown here for over a decade. While local characters and historical figures featured in previous years, Ohtani has been the star here in 2019, 2023 and 2024, and there’s a photo spot at the base of the tower featuring Ohtani, with the message, “Let’s play baseball!” to help commemorate this year’s appearance.
The photo panel is a clever way to keep visitors entertained as the viewing tower isn’t large so people have to wait to climb the stairs. Climbing to the top, we began to sweat as we felt the heat of the day intensify, but there were butterflies of excitement too as we couldn’t wait to see what the Ohtani rice field art looked like.
▼ One more step, and then…
▼ … we were met by the powerful depiction of Ohtani, swinging his bat in his number 17 uniform.
Ohtani’s batter’s stance was incredibly dynamic, with the gentle sway of the rice plants making it seem like he might actually take a swing at an incoming ball. It was awesome to see in person, and heartwarming to see other details included, with the 50-50 referring to Ohtani being the first-ever player in Major League Baseball to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, and the pup by his side being his beloved dog Dekopin, who goes by the English name Decoy.
▼ The fluffy texture of the rice plants look just like the pup’s fur, adding to his cuteness.
The strong bond between pup and owner is emphasised by their dual look to their left, and zooming in on the details reveals the awesome skills involved in creating the artwork.
Rice paddy art is made by placing stakes in the rice field to determine the outlines before planting differently coloured seedlings within them, all individually done by hand. As it’s uncertain whether the art will succeed or fail until the rice grows, the process involves months of waiting to see the end result, and it requires great technique as the artists/growers have to consider the issue of diagonal perspective from the viewing spot.
▼ Taking a look at last year’s design (pictured below), we reckon the technique is improving every year.
The art stretches 100 metres (328 feet) across and changes over time as the rice matures, revealing even deeper contrast between the colours. Peak viewing season is from now until around mid-August, and by September, the whole field turns brown, with the rice harvest taking place at the end of October.
After leaving the rice field, there are other Ohtani-related spots to visit in the area. Since it was a school holiday when we visited, we skipped the schools and instead made our way to the Hotel Plaza Inn Mizusawa, where the press conference for Ohtani’s debut with the Nippon-Ham Fighters was held.
One other important site is the Maesawa Batting Center, where Ohtani used to practice with his Little League mates during his elementary and junior high school days.
The batting centre is still operating, and the facility also has karaoke, rental rooms, and a go-kart track, making it a popular place for local children to hang out.
Although Ohtani was born into a sports family, he wasn’t reared as a sports prodigy so it’s amazing to think that the talented, world-famous sportsman honed his techniques at this humble public facility.
▼ Ohtani represents hope for children in rural communities that dreams really can come true when you make the most of what you’re given.
If you pick up a map at the station you can receive a sticker from the “Hometown Supporters Group” who says it “supports the star in good times and bad.”
With Ohtani being an active star player who sets records almost daily, people around the world are now showing an increasing interest in the town that helped to shape him. It’s a quiet rural area that seems a world away from where the star is now, but the place is filled with heart and a lot of passion for supporting one of their own, and the rice paddy art is just one wow point that makes the area definitely worth seeing.
Photos © SoraNews24 unless otherwise stated
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