<figure id="attachment_310684" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310684" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="40b865de"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/1939dd68ceaaf619c6fe4a4ce2355534.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310684" class="wp-caption-text">Is Yamakawa in over his head in the obscenity scandal? Photo taken in March 2006.</figcaption></figure>
 An outrageous scandal has surfaced involving Seibu&#8217;s main gun, Hotaka Yamakawa (31).
 On May 11, Bunshun Online (Bunshun) reported allegations of indecent assault against a woman in her 20s. According to &#8220;Bunshun,&#8221; last year, Yamakawa and Ms. A had dinner at a high-class yakiniku restaurant in Minato Ward, Tokyo, and then moved to a bar with a private room that looked like a hotel. Ms. A suffered an injury on the lower half of her body and was bleeding. A few days later, he reportedly consulted with the police, and a damage report was accepted.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 In response to a direct interview by &#8220;Bunshun,&#8221; Yamakawa denied any indecent assault, saying, &#8220;I never forced myself on her. Yamakawa denied any indecent assault, saying, &#8220;I was pushed down forcibly despite my repeated refusals.
 Yamakawa married a former softball player whom he met in college in 2005, and they have a young daughter. There is no doubt that he committed adultery and betrayed his family. Yamakawa was selected as a member of the WBC &#8220;Samurai Japan&#8221; team that Japan won the WBC, and was famous as a beloved character who would enliven fans with his &#8220;dosukoi pose&#8221; when he hit a home run. However, this scandal must have tarnished his image considerably.
<h2> Why he turned down a multi-year contract</h2>
<figure id="attachment_310685" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310685" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="00d2d164"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/d49221214bd2c373ce2b43e16bd7695f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310685" class="wp-caption-text"> Whenever he feels backward, he pulls himself together by practicing calligraphy, in which he is an 8th dan calligrapher.</figcaption></figure>
 Yamakawa is one of the leading sluggers in baseball, having hit 218 home runs by the end of last season. Last offseason, he was offered a multi-year contract by Seibu, but he opted for a single year. Yamakawa is an upwardly mobile player.
 Yamakawa is an upwardly mobile player. He may be hoping to use his FA rights to move to a team that can always aim for the championship.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 The team he is interested in is Softbank, which has won Japan&#8217;s top division seven times since 2010.
 Yamakawa and Hiroki Minei, who is also a member of the same team, have been together since 2010, and both have won the Japan championship seven times since 2010. Yamakawa and Minei are from the same prefecture of Okinawa and were classmates. They played together in Japan-U.S. Collegiate Baseball and are well known for their close friendship. Yamakawa calls Minei &#8220;the best guy in the world,&#8221; and they even go out to eat together frequently. They are close friends.
 Many SoftBank players, such as Richard Sunagawa, with whom Yamakawa trains on his own, and Gyo Higashihama, who is also from Okinawa Prefecture, have been in contact with Yamakawa. There is no doubt that this is a team where Yamakawa feels at home. Considering that Softbank acquired Kensuke Kondo of Nippon Ham for an estimated 7-year, 5 billion yen contract last offseason, it was expected that he would move to a very large contract. However, &#8230;&#8230;.
 &#8216;The scandal seems to have doomed his chances of moving to Softbank on a blockbuster deal. If a player who has caused problems is acquired for a large sum of money, a furious outcry from fans is inevitable. Even if it were to happen, it would probably be a free trade, like Sho Nakata, who joined the Giants after a violent incident with NIHAM.
 Yamakawa said in an interview in &#8220;FRAIDAY&#8221; (April 13, 2006 issue).
 Yamakawa said in an interview with &#8220;FRAIDAY&#8221; (April 13, 2006), &#8220;My greatest skill is calligraphy, which I have been learning since I was 5 years old on the advice of my mother. I am an 8th dan calligrapher. If asked, I write the motto of my high school baseball team, which is my motto (&#8220;It&#8217;s a dream you can only see now, so it&#8217;s worth working hard for&#8221;). Even now, when I feel backward, I think back on it and pull myself together.
 Yamakawa was struck from the roster on May 12. Now that he is feeling backward, is he using calligraphy to pull himself together and continue pursuing his &#8220;dream&#8221;? However, even if Yamakawa&#8217;s insistence that he was not forced to do so comes to pass, he faces a bleak future.
<figure id="attachment_310686" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310686" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4c25c21c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/315258bf2eb2c24f234fe6f1942ef968.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310686" class="wp-caption-text"> Yamakawa&#8217;s motto for his high school baseball team</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_310687" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310687" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3be35cce"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/25477a6d27d952b8f46bcedc744ba32c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310687" class="wp-caption-text"> Clean palms for a slugger.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_310688" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310688" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d63da997"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/1a0545a51984532a6708da886bb9d458.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310688" class="wp-caption-text"> Stitched into his spikes is &#8220;Agu,&#8221; the name of an Okinawan brand of pig. It is also Yamakawa&#8217;s nickname.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_310689" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310689" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2085985e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/627759e285bba1c92b0bc7fed362ee66.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310689" class="wp-caption-text"> Although he is the mainstay of the team, he is teased by his teammates.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_310690" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-310690" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="60684828"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/05/3895f76a11faba6ae3d93e3c005ecfd5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-310690" class="wp-caption-text"> He has won the home run and batting titles three times and once, respectively.</figcaption></figure>

 Hiroyuki Komatsu

 A scandal has surfaced involving Hotaka Yamakawa, the mainstay of the Seibu baseball team. The "Bunshun Online" reported an allegation of indecent assault against a female acquaintance. Yamakawa denied the allegations, saying he did not do it forcibly. However, it seems hopeless that he will be transferred to his favorite team with a blockbuster contract.

Seibu&#8217;s Yamakawa is suspected of forcible indecent assault and transferred to a team of his &#8220;desperate desire&#8221; for a &#8220;blockbuster contract&#8221;.

Seibu’s Yamakawa is suspected of forcible indecent assault and transferred to a team of his “desperate desire” for a “blockbuster contract”.

Access Ranking