<figure id="attachment_460185" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460185" style="width: 3988px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="64b0bccc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/d2adefa29f3ec607341dc8dce11e7d52.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460185" class="wp-caption-text">Shohei Otani is cheered and flashed by over 500 fans at Tokyo Station</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span class="strongInContent"> Ohtani is super-concentrated even when surrounded by fans.</span></h2>
<p> Have you ever seen such a large crowd in Tokyo Station?</p>
<p> On March 4, the Japanese national baseball team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Samurai Japan, descended on Tokyo Station. More than 500 fans rushed to the station to catch a glimpse of the team, which had station staff and police stationed every few meters on high alert.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> On March 1, when the Samurai Japan team traveled from Nagoya Station to Shin-Osaka Station, about 300 fans flooded into the station, creating a panic.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On the morning of that day, 50 station staff and police officers were stationed at Shin-Osaka Station, the departure point, to provide security. Although most of the fans&#8217; objective was Shohei Ohtani, 31, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, security SPs were stationed around him, so there was not enough panic to cause panic. However, even before they arrived at Tokyo Station, there was a tremendous sense of tension among the security guards,&#8221; said a reporter from a sports newspaper.</span></p>
<p> The bullet train arrived at the Tokyo Station platform a little after 1:00 pm. The players who got off the train moved through the restricted line, so there was not much panic, but there was still a lot of &#8220;Don&#8217;t push me! I can&#8217;t see anything! and &#8220;I can&#8217;t see in front of me! Otani was surrounded by strong men in suits wearing blue armbands with the word &#8220;SECURITY&#8221; on them, and security was set up as if he were a government official. Even so, Otani, who is a head taller at 193 cm, could be seen from a distance.</p>
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<p> Otani moved through the large crowd, receiving loud cheers. He seemed to be concentrating on his nerves for the game with a downcast look on his face throughout. Seiya Suzuki, 31, of the Chicago Cubs, wore dark-colored sunglasses and earphones in both ears. He had a portable pillow in his left hand and looked relaxed.</p>
<p> They quickly boarded the bus and moved on, but even after the players left, the excitement in Tokyo Station did not seem to die down as MLB players such as Yusei Kikuchi (34) of the Los Angeles Angels, Munetaka Murakami (26) of the Chicago White Sox, and Kazuma Okamoto (29) of the Toronto Blue Jays showed up one after another. The excitement in Tokyo Station did not seem to die down even after the players left.</p>
<p> The Samurai Japan team will play their first game against Chinese Taipei today, March 6, and we hope they get off to a good start on their quest for a second consecutive championship.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Members of the MLB Samurai Japan team"></div>
<figure id="attachment_460186" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460186" style="width: 3988px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a4b85676"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/39614bee17b1eeb4928804535bdc2240.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460186" class="wp-caption-text">Shohei Ohtani, perhaps concentrating on his first game, remained downcast throughout with a wrinkled brow.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_460187" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460187" style="width: 3988px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dce8270c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/9b49816b050714dacd82464af3598487.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460187" class="wp-caption-text"> Seiya Suzuki looks relaxed with a portable pillow and earphones in his hand.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_460188" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460188" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="df768ffc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/cb961c978fc9a2748b7da82334f57af4-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460188" class="wp-caption-text"> Yusei Kikuchi, unexpectedly participating in Samurai Japan for the first time.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The heroes of the Samurai Japan team"></div>
<figure id="attachment_460189" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460189" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f2c1fdc0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/81039ed1a3eecd76832a4f9c031c6cce-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460189" class="wp-caption-text">Munetaka Murakami, tanned completely black</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_460190" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460190" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c082a7c3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/15db718e63a96a4f056da9a4691a2f6d-rotated.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460190" class="wp-caption-text"> Kazuma Okamoto was in great form at the NLB open game.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_460191" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460191" style="width: 3951px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5287834f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/d679dff0e5c0dec377fb0f4a416b857e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460191" class="wp-caption-text"> Shohei Ohtani was surrounded by SPs until just before he boarded the bus.</figcaption></figure>


 Kumataro Arai

 On March 4, "Samurai Japan" traveled from Osaka to Tokyo by bullet train for the first game of the WBC. More than 500 fans gathered to catch a glimpse of them, and Tokyo Station was abuzz with excitement. But Otani's expression was still .......

Shohei Otani, Seiya Suzuki, Munetaka Murakami, and Tokyo Station in a panic!

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