Seibu Lions’ Hotaka Yamakawa’s “WBC Glory” and “Character Collapse” Tarnished by Allegations of “Indecent Manslaughter

Today was Mao’s 3rd birthday. ！！！！ Daddy’s going to do his best!

This is an Instagram post by Hotaka Yamakawa of the professional baseball team “Seibu Lions” posted about a year ago.

A video was posted along with the comment, and a birthday cake was placed in front of his daughter Mao. Yamakawa.

Mao, congratulations, how old are you?

When Yamakawa asked her, her daughter happily replied

She is 3 years old!”

She answered happily, “Three years old! Yamakawa’s daughter’s face and name are still visible on her Instagram (as of May 12).

Yamakawa was a member of the Japanese national team for the WBC, which won in March. On his own Instagram, he has posted a group photo of the winning team and a two-shot photo with Shohei Otani, who won the MVP award. However, the other side of Yamakawa, who can neither be described as a mood maker nor a childish child, has been reported.

According to the “Bunshun Online” updated on January 11, Yamakawa sexually assaulted a female acquaintance at a hotel in Tokyo last year, causing her to bleed from the lower half of her body. A damage report was filed, and the police were called in for questioning shortly after the WBC win.

Yamakawa, when contacted by Bunshun Online, admitted to having a relationship with the woman, but strongly denied that he “forcibly” indecently assaulted her. Yamakawa has been in the process of contacting a lawyer and talking to the other party.

On the day of their return to Japan after winning the WBC, the Japanese national team paid a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister’s official residence. Naturally, Yamakawa was also there, and some on social networking sites were hoping that he would be awarded the National Medal of Honor, but this report about Yamakawa has put a damper on the glory of his victory.

Although he emphasized that he did not force the affair, he admitted to cheating on his wife and apologized to her. But even if it does not become a case, his image will be damaged, and if he is prosecuted and convicted, his baseball career will be cut short.

(TV station insider) Incidentally, Trevor Bauer of Yokohama DeNA used to be a member of the MLB Dodgers, but in May 2009 he was accused of assaulting a woman he met through social networking and was suspended by the MLB for a long period of time. Although the charges were dropped, he was eventually dismissed by the Dodgers in January 2011.

The WBC is organized by the MLB, so if Yamakawa’s behavior is called into question, he could be stripped of the championship, regardless of whether he is arrested or charged with a crime.

On the other hand, Japan has a very low degree of freedom of the press, and female scandals involving professional baseball players are often not reported on TV or in the sports pages for the sake of future relationships. As was the case with the Giants’ Hayato Sakamoto, the Yamakawa case was only touched on a little as he commented on it, but not pursued vigorously. Although the crime of indecent assault is not a crime against the accused, I suspect that they are trying to calm the situation down by having him withdraw the damage report after paying a large settlement. ……” (sportswriter)

It has been only two months since the excitement of the WBC victory. Many people in Japan may feel disappointed that such reports are appearing in the media.