<figure id="attachment_300459" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5462px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300459"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d7f0a12c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/72e5f112790433fd9e9e6d4951bb60eb.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300459" class="wp-caption-text">Seiko Darvish gave birth to her fifth child last summer. Will she watch the semifinals and finals with her children? (Image: AP/Afro)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Samurai Japan won the first round league four times in a row. They will face Italy in the quarterfinals (Tokyo Dome) on March 16. Three tournaments ago, Yu Darvish, 36, was the relief pitcher in the final game in which &#8220;Samurai Japan,&#8221; led by manager Tatsunori Hara, won the 2009 tournament.</p>
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<p><strong> The previous summer, Darvish was selected to represent Japan in the Beijing Olympics, but went 0-1 in three games. He failed to produce any results, with a 5.14 earned-run average. In the pennant race, he won 16 games and finished second in all three categories and failed to win the Sawamura Award, despite reaching the Sawamura Award selection criteria in all categories of defensive efficiency, wins, and strikeouts. Darvish&#8217;s determination was tremendous in the WBC the year after such a disappointing season,&#8221; said a reporter from a sports newspaper.</strong></p>
<p>In the semifinals and final, Darvish pitched as a relief pitcher, and in the final, he recorded a maximum speed of 161 km/h. He was also a pitcher on the mound. In the final, he recorded a maximum speed of 161 km/h. He was also the pitcher to lift the ball. The 20 strikeouts Darvish recorded in this tournament still stands as the record for the most strikeouts in a single tournament. At the time, Darvish was supported by Saeko (36).</p>
<p><strong> On August 8, &#8217;07, their marriage was reported in a sports paper, and the next day Darvish announced his marriage to Saeko and her pregnancy in a hero interview at the Sapporo Dome. Saeko said in a subsequent TV interview that they met at an acquaintance&#8217;s birthday party in May, and that they hit it off right away and started dating&#8221; (sports newspaper reporter).</strong></p>
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<h3>&#8220;I am happy for her in the sense that she is going to become a young father.&#8221; (September 7, 2007 issue)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_300465" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 758px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300465"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="888fb73e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/58bd591c4c7267e64073afa64527b818.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300465" class="wp-caption-text">The two men smiled shyly when directly interviewed by this magazine.</figcaption></figure>
<p>On August 19, Darvish (21, at the time) was in Sapporo for a home game. Saeko (20, her stage name at the time) was also in Hokkaido on location for the movie &#8220;Gachiboy. At 8:00 p.m., they met at the hotel where Saeko was staying and went to a Japanese-style dining restaurant in Susukino. After finishing dinner, we directly interviewed the couple as they came out of the restaurant.</p>
<p>-How do you feel about becoming a father?</p>
<p><strong> Saeko: &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m happy&#8230;happy in the sense that I&#8217;m going to be a young father.&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>-There will be more things to protect, won&#8217;t there?</p>
<p><strong> &#8216; Yes, I will do my best. Please continue to support me.&#8217;</strong></p>
<p>More than 15 years have passed since that day. After that, Dar and Saeko had two children together, but divorced in &#8217;12. The WBC semifinals and finals will be held in the United States. His wife and children are sure to come to the stadium to watch Dar&#8217;s performance. I am sure he will produce results.</p>
<figure id="attachment_300466" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2515px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300466"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="23698d11"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/47e582f26bee626ecd94512d280c31ef.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300466" class="wp-caption-text">We had dinner alone with him in Susukino, and when he came out of the restaurant, we interviewed him directly.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_300467" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2377px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300467"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6d56ecfb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/img0016.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300467" class="wp-caption-text">During the divorce settlement with his wife Saeko, Darvish was training in Miyazaki with Miho Koga (then 28), a professional golfer at the time. Darvish had refuted an article in &#8220;Shukan Josei&#8221; (Weekly Women) that reported rumors of the two just prior to this, but this magazine captured the two spending the night together in Miyazaki (February 4, 2011 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_300468" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2430px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300468"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="04bac372"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/img0017.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300468" class="wp-caption-text">Darvish and Koga&#8217;s playful expression as Darvish puts his bat in Koga&#8217;s bag (February 4, &#8217;11 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_300469" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1845px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300469"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="341bfa0e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/69b3eba92955f5c8a6e7bb8295ced7b6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-300469" class="wp-caption-text">Darvish visited the U.S. Embassy with Hisashi Iwakuma (then 31) of the Mariners and Iwakuma&#8217;s wife to apply for a visa. At the time, their annual salaries totaled 1.5 billion yen (January 18, &#8217;13 issue).</figcaption></figure>


 AP/Afro, Sota Shima (2nd and 3rd), Soichiro Koriyama, Kojiro Yamada, Mirei Takahashi

 Samurai Japan won the first round league four times in a row. They will face Italy in the quarterfinals at Tokyo Dome on April 16. The team has already won the first of these three tournaments, the 2009

The true face of a WBC warrior] Yu Darvish, the oldest member of the Samurai Japan team, and his &#8220;private life with many lovers&#8221; as observed by this magazine

The true face of a WBC warrior] Yu Darvish, the oldest member of the Samurai Japan team, and his “private life with many lovers” as observed by this magazine

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