<figure id="attachment_327698" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 8640px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-327698"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6477a866"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/ed7a9c582f694b7b74e46cb6703d648a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327698" class="wp-caption-text">Shohei Otani is undeniably a &#8220;national star&#8221; in Japan, but in the U.S., he is not as well known as he is in the U.S. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
Comedian Naoko Nozawa has been talking about Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s &#8220;national recognition&#8221; in the United States.
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On August 16, Nozawa appeared as a guest on Nippon Broadcasting System&#8217;s radio program &#8220;Nights the Radio Show. Nozawa currently resides in San Francisco, California, and comes to Japan every year around this time as a &#8220;migrant worker.
The radio program &#8220;Knights&#8221; Hanawa Nobuyuki asked Nozawa, &#8220;What do you think of Shohei Ohtani?
 Shohei Otani is not popular in the U.S., but he is very popular, isn&#8217;t he?
Nozawa then asked, &#8220;Is Shohei Otani popular in the U.S.? Nozawa replied.
 I don&#8217;t want to get a little flamed, but&#8230;
Nozawa replied, &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to get flamed a little bit.&#8221;
 Baseball is popular, people who like baseball watch baseball, but America is all about basketball and football. Compared to them, I have the impression that (baseball) is a little bit of a low-profile sport.
I think (baseball) is a little bit of a low-profile sport compared to those two sports.
In Japan, Ohtani&#8217;s success is reported daily, and even TV wide shows take time to cover him. &#8220;How about in the U.S.? Nozawa said.
 Everyone knows about Shohei, but I wonder if there is a difference in temperature.
was his subtle response. He continued.
 He continued, &#8220;During the Super Bowl (of football), nobody is walking down the street. Everyone is watching TV. People who like baseball watch it, but I think there&#8217;s a bit of a difference in temperature.&#8221;
He also revealed, &#8220;I think there is a part of people who like baseball watch it, but they don&#8217;t like it.&#8221;
At first listen, it may sound like a comment that would put a damper on the &#8220;Ohtani fever,&#8221; but the reaction on the Internet was positive.
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 I was in the U.S., too, and that&#8217;s exactly how I feel. Baseball is by far a minor sport compared to football.
 Local teams are popular in their area, but when it comes to the U.S., you have to choose your opponents.
 When I asked my American friend who came to Japan the other day, &#8220;Do you know Otani? I asked my American friend who came to visit me in Japan the other day, and he immediately replied, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know.
 I feel that football is yokozuna, college football is ozeki and kobozuna is basketball, and baseball is sekiwake. Mr. Nozawa is not out of line.
Nozawa&#8217;s words are not out of line.
This spring, controversy arose when Otani was not included in the top 25 most popular MLB players. The survey was conducted by Morning Consult, a U.S. research firm, which polled 2,207 people from March 16 to 19 this year.
The top three players with favorable opinions of Ohtani were outfielder Aaron Judge (Yankees) at 49%, infielder Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) at 48%, and pitcher Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) at 47%.
Ohtani was unranked at 38%. The same research firm said of Ohtani
 Despite his rising profile, he remains less popular among MLB fans than other star players.
The company added that, depending on his future success, he may have time to overtake U.S.-born players.
 &#8220;It is only a matter of time before he overtakes the U.S.-born players.&#8221;
He urged the players to get excited about the future of the MLB. An MLB reporter for a sports newspaper said, &#8220;There is a racial issue behind this.
 There is also a racial issue behind this. I think there is a tendency for Asian players to be looked down upon because they are Asian,&#8221; he added.
He added, &#8220;I think there is also a racial issue behind it.
On the April 19 broadcast of &#8220;Wednesday&#8217;s Downtown&#8221; (TBS), an even more shocking result was introduced: Shohei Otani was unexpectedly ranked 32nd in the &#8220;Top 100 Japanese Celebrity Familiarity Ranking,&#8221; which was answered by 2000 people in their 10s to 70s. In baseball, Kazushige Nagashima and Yu Darvish came in at No. 22 and No. 19, respectively, while Ichiro topped the list at No. 6. At this time.
 Some controversy arose when the reporter said, &#8220;It&#8217;s impossible for Otani to be lower than Kazushige!&#8221;
and controversy arose in some quarters. Incidentally, Tamori came in first overall, followed by Akashiya Sanma in second and Akiko Wada in third.
 But Otani is still an indispensable figure in the world of baseball. The success of the WBC was due in large part to the &#8220;Otani effect.
 The majors, having had their fill of the WBC, are likely to invest more money and players than ever before in the next tournament. In that sense, Otani is a key person in improving the popularity of baseball in Japan and the U.S.&#8221; (MLB reporter for a sports newspaper)
Only Japan is excited about baseball. But Ohtani&#8217;s true value is yet to be seen.

 AP/Afro

 Major leaguer Shohei Otani is by far the most popular star in Japan. This season, he is in position to not only win the home run crown, but also the Triple Crown, but what is the reaction in the U.S.? ......

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