Sports
Column: Shohei Ohtani's marriage announcement felt strange, but not if you know Japanese culture
Before Shohei Ohtani became Japan’s most popular athlete, that designation belonged to figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu.
Like Ohtani, Hanyu is 29.
Like Ohtani, Hanyu was born and raised in the Tohoku region, the northern part of Japan’s mainland.
Last year, the retired Hanyu announced on social media that he was married. Three months later, he returned to the same platform with another announcement.
He was divorced.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist said his family was harassed and became the unwanted subjects of media inquiries and reports. The identity of his wife, which Hanyu had kept secret, was divulged by a weekly tabloid magazine.
“When I thought about my future,” Hanyu wrote in Japanese, “I wanted my spouse to be happy, to have limitless happiness, so I made the decision to divorce.”
Hanyu’s story helps make sense of the bizarre manner in which Ohtani revealed his own nuptials this week.
Announcing a marriage on Instagram and holding a news conference on the subject but refusing to share the spouse’s name might strike Americans as peculiar. However, by the standards of Japanese culture — especially Japanese celebrity culture — nothing about this was abnormal.
To begin with, a person’s work and personal lives are more clearly delineated in Japan than in the United States. Romantic partners are rarely invited to work-related social functions, for example. Plus-ones aren’t a standard feature of wedding invitations.
Athletes typically keep their relationships private until they are married, which is why news of their unions often feel as if they come out of nowhere. Ohtani’s marriage was described by the Japanese media as a “shock wedding,” even though Ohtani said he got engaged last year.
Some Japanese baseball players married well-known sportscasters, including Ichiro Suzuki, Yusei Kikuchi and Kenta Maeda. Yu Darvish married a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler. Their wives already had public profiles before they were married; they continued to maintain them after. But in cases in which a player married an ippanjin — or civilian — the spouses remained anonymous. Hideki Matsui was one of the most popular Japanese players of all-time, and not much is known about his ippanjin wife to this day.
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu poses with his gold medal during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
Ohtani said he wed a “normal” Japanese woman, so the expectation is that she will attempt to stay in the shadows.
The marriage was announced in a message Ohtani posted in Japanese on his Instagram account. In the post’s comments section, another message was posted, this one in English. The contents of the two messages were similar but not the same.
In the Japanese one, Ohtani said he would speak to reporters the next day and asked journalists to refrain from contacting his or his wife’s families. Ultimately, this was what Ohtani wanted to communicate. In exchange for sharing some details about his relationship, he was asking for privacy.
Ohtani indirectly repeated his request when he addressed the media at the Dodgers spring training complex. Asked why he made the announcement, he said jokingly in Japanese, “If I didn’t (and you found out), you’d make a fuss.” The implication was that because he was addressing the situation, the Japanese media shouldn’t make a fuss.
If Ohtani was any other player, the media would likely oblige him. But Ohtani isn’t any other player. There is no American equivalent to him. He has become to Japan what Diego Maradona was to Argentina or what Julio César Chávez was to Mexico, an athlete who projects the virtues of his culture to the world. Japanese parents want their boys to grow up to be like him. Women dreamed of marrying him. (There were reports of women skipping work because they were devastated to learn he was taken.)
Ohtani isn’t just famous. He’s famous in a country in which the spotlight on celebrities is particularly intense. Japan has fewer television stations and fewer entertainment options than the United States. When an athlete or entertainer becomes well known, they become unavoidable. Virtually everyone knows who they are.
The dynamic has resulted in Ohtani’s marriage being treated as if it’s a royal wedding, with Japanese television stations interrupting on-air programs to relay the news. There will be an appetite for information about Ohtani’s relationship, particularly about the identity of his wife, and the country’s notoriously aggressive tabloid magazines are certain to do everything in their power to satisfy that hunger.
Last year, Ohtani conducted an interview as part of an advertising campaign in which he described his vision for his home life.
“Including marriage in children — how do I say this? — I’d like to live in peace,” Ohtani said. “I think having a peaceful soul is better than anything. I’d like my private life to be like that.”
Hanyu was deprived of such an experience.
Hanyu’s cautionary tale should make the Japanese public sympathetic to Ohtani’s request for privacy, but that alone won’t ensure it. Ohtani had to know this, which is why additional measures were taken. The way he announced his marriage might not have made sense to American audiences, but they did to anyone familiar with his culture.
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Russell Wilson has had his share of ups and downs in his NFL career.
He helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2013 and was named to the Pro Bowl four times. But the last few years of his career arguably did some damage to his legacy as he’s spent the last three seasons with three different teams.
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New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 9, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Wilson is still on the free-agent market as he looks to latch on to a new team for 2026. However, former NFL star Aqib Talib implored Wilson to hang up the cleats.
“Do your TV thing, Russ. It’s over with, man. Once you’ve got to decide, do I even want to play?” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “I think you don’t really want to play. I hate when guys get to the later part of their career and then they start doing the bounce-around thing and they’re not going to win. There was no chip in New York. That’s just going to be another stop on your resume.”
Wilson reportedly garnered some interest from NFL teams.
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson stands on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 26, 2025. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
He told the New York Post that the New York Jets were one of them.
Wilson also was reportedly a candidate to take Matt Ryan’s spot on CBS’ “The NFL Today” after Ryan left to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons.
Wilson has 46,966 passing yards and 353 passing touchdowns in 205 career games, but the 2025 season with the New York Giants was one to forget.
Wilson started three games and made some bizarre decisions in a loss against the Chiefs. Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback. As he came in to take a few snaps while Dart was being checked for a concussion, Wilson was booed.
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
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Should he end up signing with another team, Wilson will be entering his age-38 season.
A lot has changed since Jacori Perry attended Morningside High School.
Perry is now a renowned artist who goes by the names Mr. Ace and AiseBorn.
The school is now known as Inglewood High School United.
And the lecture hall on that campus now features a large, ornate mural of a soccer ball being grasped by the hands of two people — freshly painted by the 2004 Morningside graduate as the city of Inglewood prepares to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month.
Local artist Mr. Ace works on his mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11. The artists, whose real name is Jacori Perry, attended the school when it was known as Morningside High more than two decades ago.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
“If you told me that I would be back here painting one of the walls on this campus when I was in high school, I don’t think that I necessarily would have foreseen it,” Mr. Ace said as he was putting the finishing touches on his mural last week. “So I’m a little in amazement about just the way life works in that sense.”
He was one of several Los Angeles-based artists to participate in a Road to World Cup Community Day last month at Inglewood High United. Many of the artists — including Juan Pablo Reyes (“JP murals”), Michelle Ruby Guerrero (“Mr. B Baby”) and Angel Acordagoitia — sketched designs on portable panels (12-feet by 8-feet) and picnic tables for community members to paint.
The picnic tables will remain at the high school in front of Mr. Ace’s mural. The mobile murals will be placed throughout LAX to welcome visitors arriving for the World Cup.
Kathryn Schloessman, CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, said in a news release that the event was “just one example of how the energy of the World Cup can be felt in neighborhoods across our region.”
“Students, artists, and volunteers came together to create a work of art that will live on well beyond the end of the tournament,” Schloessman said. “It’s a reflection of the creativity, diversity, and community pride that makes our region so special as we prepare to host the world for FIFA World Cup 2026.”
Community members were encouraged to take part in the painting process, no matter their skill level.
“We made it easy enough for people that have zero experience to a proficient level of experience, for them to all be involved,” said Reyes, who designed and helped paint two mural panels and three tables. “We did the sketch, and then I tried to dab a little bit of color — whatever color is supposed to be there, I dabbed a little bit of color right there, so they would have a guide. …
Students and community members help paint a mural panel during a Road to World Cup Community Day event May 2 at Inglewood High School.
(Dawn M. Burkes / Los Angeles Times)
“I was right there, kind of supervising, making sure that everything went as planned. And if anybody has questions, they’re more than welcome to let me know about them. But, yeah, it’s pretty easy for them to kind of be involved and feel that sense of ownership and have a sense of pride that, ‘Yeah, I was part of that mural-creation process.’ It’s a rich experience for them.”
Acordagoitia sketched several table-top designs for the public to paint at the event.
“They did great,” he said of the community members. “They helped a lot. They were asking questions. They got all the other colors correct. So, yeah, they were excited. A lot of kids were excited to see the live painting, because now kids are used to being on their phones. So that was a great experience for them.”
Acordagoitia also opted to paint a mural panel on his own because “it was a little more technical,” involving portraits of his 8-year-old son, a nephew and a friend.
“I wanted to focus more on the youth because that’s really our future,” he said. “So that’s, that’s the main thing about the mural, just about the kids, soccer, culture, community. It’s exciting for me, because I grew up playing soccer and to include soccer with art, it’s just a dream come true.”
Guerrero said “the community was a big help in filling in all the background colors that I need in order to build the detail and layers” on the two mural panels she designed.
“My whole style is based on culture. And I think that there’s a connection there with the World Cup and how I feel like it brings together all the culture and just, like, celebration,” Guerrero said. “It kind of goes hand in hand with the type of work I do, because my stuff is really festive, celebrating culture. And just as an L.A.-based artist, I think the collaboration made sense.”
The four artists also took part in another Road to World Cup Community Day in downtown L.A. at Gloria Molina Grand Park on March 14. At that event, the artists sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table, also for community members to paint.
While Mr. Ace opted to paint his permanent mural at Inglewood High School United on his own, he was sure to include the community theme into his work.
“The idea was really centered around just creating something that was community-based — something that represented the World Cup but also represented some sense of community,” he said. “And so what I did was try to create something that was symbolic, very direct in terms of its relationship to soccer and figuring out through that how to create something simple that [brings] into that a sense of community. And that’s how I landed on the two hands holding the soccer ball.”
Local artist Mr. Ace works on his World Cup-themed mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Back when he was a student on that campus, Mr. Ace said he was always involved in art and knew he wanted a career as an artist. He struggled to come up with the right words to describe how it felt being back there creating a work of art to be shared with the students, all of the community and everyone who happens to see it on the way to a World Cup match.
“I guess there’s no words to really describe it,” he said. “I think if any artist gets the opportunity to paint at their own high school — especially if they’ve been doing large-scale works around the city, the country or the world — I think that is a little touching. When it’s attached to something like the World Cup … you know, a large part of my childhood was spent in Inglewood, so coming from my circumstances and life, I think it’s even more intriguing.”
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
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