[Exclusive] “Scene Photos” Show Hanshin’s Star Left-Hander Ryoto Ihara “Assaulting a Woman in Her 20s While She Was Drunk,” Hurl Insults, and Pinning Her Down

<On August 19, the paid edition of “FRIDAY GOLD” reported on an “assault incident while heavily intoxicated” involving Ryoto Ihara, the Hanshin Tigers’ first-round draft pick and left-handed pitcher. On the 20th , Satoshi Shimamura, the team’s general manager, acknowledged the facts of the case, stating that they “largely match,” and announced that Ihara had been demoted to the farm team. To shed light on the true nature of the incident, , we are making the magazine’s initial report—which first broke the story—available here as a special feature.〉

The brutal acts captured on video and in photos

“It hurts! It hurts!”

“It doesn’t even hurt!”

“It hurts!”

“Huh? What the heck are you doing?”

“I told you it hurts!”

“Shut up, you!”

Ignoring the woman’s protests, a man yells in a Kansai dialect—the raw exchange captured in this video features left-handed pitcher Ryoto Ihara (26), who joined the Hanshin Tigers as the No. 1 overall pick in the ’24 draft.This magazine has obtained photos showing this future ace prospect assaulting a woman while heavily intoxicated.

“Ihara made the opening-day roster in his first pro season and earned his first win in a game against Hiroshima in April ’25. He continued to pitch consistently afterward, making his presence felt right from his rookie year.This season, his second in the pros, he was named to the starting rotation from the opening day but was subsequently removed from the roster twice. Although his performance slumped temporarily, when he was entrusted with another start against the Hiroshima Carp on August 16, he secured his first win in about a month,” said a sports newspaper reporter.

Let’s return to the shocking scene described at the beginning. A video obtained by this magazine captured the unbelievable physical assault and verbal abuse that an intoxicated Ihara inflicted on the victim, Ms. A. What exactly happened between the two of them?

“This past January, during the off-season, Pitcher Ihara attended a drinking party at a restaurant in a downtown Osaka entertainment district, accompanied by his teammates, pitcher Keito Monbetsu (22) and player Haruki Itsubo (21). It was a so-called ‘mixer’ attended by seven or eight people, both men and women. Ms. A was also present.

I’ve heard that Ms. A, a woman in her 20s, had gone out drinking with Pitcher Ihara several times before. However, it seems there was someone among the group that day he didn’t like, so he became sullen partway through the evening and started hurling insults like ‘Die!’—not just at that person, but at the others around him as well.

“Although players like Itsubo and pitcher Monbetsu turned pro before him, they’re significantly younger. It might be understandable that he couldn’t bring himself to reprimand them…” (An acquaintance of one of the party attendees)

Given that he had been showing signs of a comeback in his main career, this “drunken assault” is likely to cast a long shadow over his career.

The September 4 issue of *FRIDAY*, on sale August 20, and the paid version *FRIDAY GOLD* provide detailed coverage of the inside story behind the “drunken assault” and the team’s official response.

Click here to view the full details and multiple photos ↓

From the September 4, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*