Shohei Ohtani swings for fences in hometown rice paddy art

OSHU, Iwate Prefecture—A roughly 3,000-square-meter rice paddy here has been transformed into a growing portrait of Shohei Ohtani, superstar of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oshu’s homegrown hero.

The “rice field art” was created by planting rice varieties with different colors to depict Ohtani alongside his dog, Dekopin, also known as Decoy.

The artwork also features the numbers 50-50 to celebrate Ohtani becoming the first Major League Baseball player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases last season.

Kazuhide Konno, 66, of the organizing committee, said many people joined forces to create the artwork and that he hopes it will inspire others to root for the two-way standout player.

Ohtani is from an area that is now part of Oshu, a city in Iwate Prefecture.

“I never thought that he would become this famous,” said Mai Terada, 33, a Sendai resident who attended the same elementary and junior high schools as Ohtani.

“I am very proud of him. I will continue to cheer him on,” she said.

The artwork can be seen at its best until late July.