Ohtani's Tokyo airport arrival hidden from fans hoping to catch glimpse of Dodgers star

There's a lot of people I'm a fan of, but never in my life would I go to an airport in order to maybe catch a glimpse of them. Don't all these people have jobs?!

How exciting

This is typical Japanese overreaction by security. A lot of these people couldn’t get tickets for the games so only hope to see there heroes up close was this but taken away by the killjoy Japanese security.

Los Angeles has a rich Japanese history. This combination could not be better.

I never understood why people just gather only hoping to see a glimpse of a star.

But it would have been nice to let the players go through a gate where they could be seen without any temporary wall

There is something very unhealthy about this kind of behaviour.

Wait in line for a ball game, sure.

Wait around for hours to glimpse a ball player for a second (or not at all), why?

The reverse is also weird though, why is this person being hidden from their fans? He isnt some world leader.

This is such a gratuitously mean thing to do to the fans. Like even allowing them to get a fleeting glimpse of their favorite player at a distance from behind the rope is too good for them now? Are these hundred million dollar players so divorced from reality that merely being in the presence of regular people waving at them is too much for their fragile constitutions?

Look, I know that seeing someone in the flesh is better than on TV, but the dude is literally plastered on everything in Japan. From banks, furniture...ECC! When I got back from America after winter break Ohtani's image was there to great me at the airport.

And now Family Mary has him advertising Onigiri and the message is essentially you can be a 2-way player like Ohtani by eating 2 onigiri at the same time.

“We just came to be able to breathe the same air,” Misaki said. “The Ohtani air.”

................ummm...................yikes

There are 160+ games a year to be able to watch him play, same when he was playing in Japan, so there are plenty of opportunities to "breath the same air" as Ohtani. Funny how suddenly people want to do something like this ever since he became famous. I bet a lot of these people don't even watch nor care about baseball and only watch when there is hype. And those comments below prove my point:

“I don’t care if I can’t see him because I’m not really a fan of Othani,” said Kotomi Miyakoda. Standing alongside was her friend, also Kotomi — Kotomi Nakatsu.

“I'm not a fan but I want to see him, the person,” Nakatsu said.

I loved watching Ohtani when he was on NichiHamu and Angels but ever since he became a Dodger, the overexposure has become exhausting. Still a huge fan of him, but I don't want to have to see him everywhere!

This is weird behavior. He's a baseball player with the personality of a wet paper bag. He doesn't want to be friends with you, he wants to get on with his work. The national obsession with this guy because he has reached a level of success overseas is becoming creepy.

I'd like to see him get off the plane, blind drunk and start abusing people.

You know, like a real star would.

This is weird behavior. He's a baseball player with the personality of a wet paper bag. He doesn't want to be friends with you, he wants to get on with his work. The national obsession with this guy because he has reached a level of success overseas is becoming creepy.

No different from say Taylor Swift fans lining up to get a glimps of her. People on here comment as though this is their first glimps of fandom.

I'd like to see him get off the plane, blind drunk and start abusing people.

THAT...I'd like to see...just for kicks

Geez, give the fans their 20 seconds of "Ohtani air" and a view of his "Ohtani skin."

Unless there's some kind of security risk, let the people have their 20 seconds of happiness. I'm sure Shohei wouldn't mind a brief wave to his fans.

For the record, I think there is an element of Emperor's New Clothes to Taylor Swift too. She's a nice looking girl and she has some musical talent for sure.... but that much? Nah.

Pinning your hopes and dreams on a celebrity to this extent is not healthy. Its fine to enjoy what they do, whether it be baseball, singing, acting or whatever, but this kind of hero worship sets a dangerous predicent for stalkers and nutcases.

Bot front page news. Gawd why is baseball treated like worship. It adds nothing to society.

Pinning your hopes and dreams on a celebrity to this extent is not healthy. Its fine to enjoy what they do, whether it be baseball, singing, acting or whatever, but this kind of hero worship sets a dangerous predicent for stalkers and nutcases.

It's just as or less dangerous than religious worship. At least Ohtani is real and not a bronze age myth that people to this day strap explosives to their children to hasten their fantasy paradise entry.

Bot front page news. Gawd why is baseball treated like worship. It adds nothing to society.

Leisure is not nothing. Do you think it better for "society" to do nothing but work? Do you not have a hobby?

I get that you don't like baseball...and that you want the world to know. But to say it adds "nothing to society" is to be a tad naive about what a having a healthy society entails...and FYI...all meaning is fabricated...reglious...sports worship...movies...art...literature...social mores...relationships...all grounded in the fabrications we concoct to give life meaning...figure it out

Bot front page news. Gawd why is baseball treated like worship. It adds nothing to society.

Because it's a damn great sport, that pretty much says it all.

This is why baseball is the most popular sport in the world and the LA Dodgers are the biggest club in the world. They have amazing support all over the world. Thousands of people come just to see them at the airport on arrival.

This is why baseball is the most popular sport in the world and the LA Dodgers are the biggest club in the world.

Baseball is not in the slightest bit of interest to people in most of the world, with the exception of the United States, Japan, Cuba, Korea, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela.

This is why baseball is the most popular sport in the world 

Truly one of the most mind-bogglingly erroneous statement ever written on these comments, and that's saying a lot.

Unfortunately, this is as much of a life as some people have

I'd like to see him get off the plane, blind drunk and start abusing people.

You know, like a real star would.

Legend has it that the record for most beers on a flight between the UK and Australia is held by Aussie cricketer David Boon. He downed 54!

I know baseball players are now on eleventy billion dollars, but a free bar is a free bar. It's MOTTAINAI to not indulge.

"Mere passengers", maybe use a different phrase. These passengers were also important to somebody.

Lol, even though he may a fantastic baseball player, what has that guy done anything special ?

Nothing impressive at all in my opinion. No aura, no outstanding speech to raise you up, no t impactful. Sorry to see such crowds moved for no reason while there are people changing way more the world (singers or other sportmen). Can’t anyone see in Japan this is commercial hype only ?.

Because you know, no one knows him in Europe !

Who cares if nobody knows him in Europe?

he’s hugely popular in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, North America.

If it was Dudu or Messi all you Euro types would be losing your mind and going on about how fantastic he was.

give it a rest. It’s not all about footy.

good. this is weird fan behaviour not only for this but also for Idols. Leave the people alone after the flight (especially after such a long one).

on a flight between the UK and Australia is held by Aussie cricketer David Boon. He downed 54!

That's just getting started for baseball player Wade Boggs who once drank 107 beers on a flight from New York to LA

That's just getting started for baseball player Wade Boggs who once drank 107 beers on a flight from New York to LA

Alcoholism is not something to aspire towards. One of the reasons for Ohtani's omnipresence is probably because of his squaky-clean image. He's admitedly perfect for the sponsors because he's so non-controversial.