Shohei's popularity on display everywhere you look in Japan

TOKYO -- Just about everywhere you look in these bustling streets, there he is: cooking up spaghetti with a flourish, adeptly juggling a soccer ball, angling his wrist to display a high-end watch, staring contemplatively off into the distance in a tea field -- and of course, swinging a bat.

He is Shohei Ohtani.

He watches over the city, ostensibly all-seeing like the real-life incarnate of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. He can be found on the flashing billboards overlooking the frenzied Shibuya crossing, in life-size cardboard cutout form inside the windows of convenience stores, emblazoned on the sides of vending machines ¡­ and on the bottles of tea within.

Ahead of the Tokyo Series, several Dodgers did their best to reckon with just how popular Ohtani is in his native Japan. Clayton Kershaw drew a parallel to the Beatles. Tyler Glasnow described the craze as "Justin Bieber times 10." Anthony Banda landed on perhaps the most apt comparison.

"I've been told there's Shohei everywhere you look," he said. "Think about how Michael Jordan was [in the U.S.], and it's the same."

Now that they've seen it with their own eyes, the Dodgers can finally grasp the magnitude of how large Ohtani looms in Japan. His is a popularity that transcends baseball; he's more of a pop-culture figure in his home country.

Early this past offseason, manager Dave Roberts was gearing up for a personal trip to Japan. The Dodgers' skipper recalled getting a message from Ohtani that read, "Get ready," because there were going to be photos of Ohtani all over the place.

"We got a really good taste of it last year -- whether it be at Dodger Stadium or on the road -- how popular he was," Roberts said. "This certainly takes it to another level because this is where he's from. This is home."

The Dodgers understood the extent of the stateside Ohtani craze prior to their Japan trip. Since they signed the two-way superstar ahead of the 2024 season for a then-record 10-year, $700 million contract, there's been a common refrain around the team: "We've never seen anything like this."

More often than not, that sentiment has referred to what Ohtani does on the field. His success as a two-way player -- especially one who is elite as both a hitter and a pitcher -- is unprecedented. He became the founding member of the 50-50 club with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases last season. And he has an uncanny ability to meet the moment at hand, like when he electrified a packed Tokyo Dome with a two-run blast on Saturday night.

As time has gone on, the sentiment has extended off the field as well. Dodgers fans have always traveled well, but their support on the road has been on another level in the Ohtani era. Los Angeles saw crowds come to the team's early Spring Training workouts at Camelback Ranch, eager to catch a glimpse of Ohtani. Last Friday's workout day at Tokyo Dome drew more than 10,000 in the stands.

Even though the Dodgers came to Japan with the expectation that Ohtani would be everywhere, it was nevertheless surreal to see -- so much so that Blake Snell found some amusement in how often his superstar teammate's face would pop up around the city.

"There's a lot of love for Shohei here. It's pretty apparent," Snell said. "I was making a joke out of it, and I was like, 'Oh, I know him.'"

Given the sheer number of eyes -- and cameras -- fixed on Ohtani at all times, his teammates are duly impressed by how he handles the rampant attention. How does he do it?

"I¡¯m not sure," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- who is featured in a handful of advertisements of his own throughout Tokyo -- through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. "But I¡¯d like to learn as much as I can from him."

Over the past year, the Dodgers have watched as Ohtani has grown into more of a leadership role. His influence isn't overt; Yamamoto noted that he's the type who prefers his actions to convey more than his words.

That Ohtani can maintain a down-to-earth demeanor in the light of his larger-than-life persona speaks volumes to his team. For Roberts, there's a cultural aspect at play.

"I think that with Shohei, with Yoshinobu, with Roki [Sasaki], Japanese players I've played with," Roberts said, "there's just humility and gratitude. Respect. That's just who these men are. They just have a great way of balancing that while being fierce competitors."