
Ohtani and his dog star in epic rice field artwork
The image of Ohtani and his canine companion, better known as "Decoy," is attracting visitors to the site in the northeastern Japan City of Oshu in Iwate Prefecture.
Every year, residents plant rice seedlings of different varieties to make an artwork in a 3,000-square-meter field in the city's Mizusawa-Sakurakawa district.
This year, around 150 locals got together a month ago to plant seven varieties with white, red and green leaves. The best time to view the image of the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his dog will be through late July.
Visitors can enjoy the view from a raised platform nearby.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Concert by popular Japanese band prompts many complaints about noise levels
A live outdoor concert last weekend by a popular Japanese band in the city of Yokohama near Tokyo prompted many residents living nearby to complain about the noise level. The two-day concert on Saturday and Sunday by the group, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, took place at a pier in Yokohama Port. The event attracted about 100,000 concertgoers. The band is signed with Universal Music Japan. The company says it has received many complaints about the noise level from the concert. It says the event's sound volumes were set in accordance with legal and other standards, and that the seating was set up near the shoreline. It says a loud speaker system was placed in a way for any sounds to travel out into the bay. The company says it conducted a simulation beforehand on how the sounds would spread, but it turned out they traveled further than expected due to the wind. Universal Music Japan says it sincerely apologizes for causing significant trouble to local residents. It says it takes the situation seriously and will conduct a review and work to prevent a recurrence. The company says it will also make every effort to ensure future live events are held in a way that can gain the understanding and cooperation of people living close to venues.


Japan Times
a day ago
- Japan Times
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
The 'Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game' exhibit, now open at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, tells a sweeping, richly visual story about the deep and evolving connection between Japan and America's shared national pastime. From the moment visitors enter, they are confronted with a suit of samurai armor presenting Japanese players as fiercely disciplined warriors across 1,800 square feet in the museum's third‑floor Guggenheim Gallery. The first exhibit in Cooperstown to focus on trans-Pacific baseball history, it spans more than 150 years, beginning in Japan's Meiji era and continuing to the present day. The exhibition is organized around four main narratives. Japanese teams touring America, with highlights including Waseda University's 1905 tour and later college and club teams' barnstorming trips across the United States. American teams touring Japan, with vivid emphasis on the legendary 1934 tour featuring Babe Ruth, and other All-Stars, which helped catapult the rise of Japanese professional baseball. American-born players in Japan, including stories of pioneers like Larry Doby, Warren Cromartie, Randy Bass and most notably the Lee brothers and Matt Murton, all of whom embraced Nippon Professional Baseball and left lasting legacies. Japanese-born players in Major League Baseball, starting with the pioneering Masanori Murakami — the first Japanese-born MLB player, who made his debut in 1964 for the San Francisco Giants and actually greeted fans at the exhibit during Hall of Fame weekend. The exhibition tracks the path of Japanese major leaguers from Murakami and evolves through Hideo Nomo, with artifacts from his no-hitter; Hideki Matsui, including a game-worn jersey from 'Godzilla,' and a central focus on Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani. A single mannequin of Ichiro, featured in celebration of his 2025 induction as the first Japanese‑born player enshrined in Cooperstown, wears several pieces of memorabilia from his glittering career. | Joshua Mellin A single mannequin of Ichiro, featured in celebration of his 2025 induction as the first Japanese‑born player enshrined in Cooperstown, wears his 2006 World Baseball Classic Helmet, 2000 NPB season bat, 262nd hit batting gloves, elbow guard and wristbands, 2009 record-breaking jersey, 3,000th MLB hit pants and belt, and 500th MLB stolen base cleats, highlighting the variety of skills that made his game so imposing. For Ohtani, the exhibit focuses on the two-way icon's unique abilities, with an image-changing lenticular poster showing him batting and hitting during his tenure with both the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers. The Shohei Ohtani display case is flanked by a cutout of his dog, Dekopin. | Joshua Mellin A display case features the cap he wore during his first pitching experience with the Angels on April 1, 2019, and the helmet he wore two dates later when he crushed his first major league home run, along with the Dodgers jersey he wore with his debut with the team during 2024's Korea Series. Ohtani is, of course, accompanied by a life-size cutout of his loyal dog, Dekopin. There are also lots of artifacts from other players who have recently made the jump from NPB to MLB, including a ball from Roki Sasaki's perfect game when he was with the Chiba Lotte Marines, former Yokohama BayStar and current Chicago Cub Shota Imanaga's 2024 MLB All-Star hat and a glove donated by former Orix Buffalo and current Los Angeles Dodger Yoshinobu Yamamoto. A ball from Roki Sasaki's perfect game when he was with the Chiba Lotte Marines. | Joshua Mellin The two-way influence between America and Japan's shared pastime is covered extensively, tracing back to when Americans introduced the sport to Japan in the 1870s — highlighting the significant impact not only through athletes and ambassadors, but the passionate fan cultures in both countries. A pop culture section includes a deep dive into trading cards and baseball manga, and even the Hanshin Tigers' 'Curse of the Colonel' and subsequent 2023 Japan Series run are covered extensively alongside an infamous Winnie the Pooh baseball video game that visitors of all ages have been having difficulty resisting. There's even a passport stamp-style circuit in the exhibit that reveals an image after three different presses. And what would baseball be without the food? From hot dogs to takoyaki, a playful concession stand display lets visitors imagine concocting their own stadium snacks as if in Mad Libs, like Japanese 'Crunchy Wizard Ramen' or American 'Flaming Bambino Nachos.' Another highlight of the exhibit is a 7th-inning stretch simulator room inviting fans to join in on traditions from around the world, including the Hanshin Tigers' 'Lucky 7' song and the Rakuten Eagles' jet balloon release to the Chicago Cubs' sing-a-long at Wrigley Field and Red Sox fans' Fenway Park rendition of Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline." The exhibit even goes as far as to explain the Hanshin Tigers' "Curse of the Colonel" that recently ended with their 2023 Japan Series run. | Joshua Mellin The interactive elements offer a deeper experience new to the traditional Hall, marking a new era in its own evolution. Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch described 'Yakyu / Baseball' as 'unlike anything we've ever done in Cooperstown,' highlighting the role of design firm Solid Light in making the experience interactive and immersive. For fans wishing to visit to make the journey to Cooperstown to experience the exhibit themselves, 'Yakyu / Baseball' is set to remain on display for at least five to ten years and possibly indefinitely, especially given its enduring cultural and educational relevance. In a town built on American legends, this exhibit reminds us that some of the game's greatest stories have always been international.


Japan Times
a day ago
- Japan Times
Almost 80 years on, 'Hiroshima Panels' pass on memories of atomic bombing
"The Hiroshima Panels," which depict the hell victims experienced in the aftermath of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, continue to draw viewers ahead of next month's 80th anniversary of the bombing. "These are paintings that allow everybody living on Earth in this nuclear age to imagine (the bombing) as a future that could happen to them," said Yukinori Okamura, 51, curator at the gallery that exhibits the work. "I want visitors to feel memories of history that speak to us on a life-size scale." The work, consisting of 15 folding panels, was painted by the late artist couple Iri and Toshi Maruki. Fourteen of the panels are exhibited at the Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, with the remaining one at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki, the other city that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on in August 1945. The couple engaged in relief activities in Hiroshima soon after the atomic bombing and continued to paint pictures of the devastation for over 30 years based on their experiences and stories from witnesses. The panels depict not only Japanese atomic bomb victims, but also U.S. prisoners of war and Koreans who met the same fate, as well as the Fukuryu Maru No. 5 fishing vessel exposed to radioactive fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test in 1954. In early July this year, Okamura was seen talking to visitors to the gallery about the first panel, titled "Ghosts." Soon after the bombing, details of the damage from the blast were largely unknown outside the affected areas due to restrictions on news reporting. "The Marukis were worried that the damage would be forgotten, so they began to think about painting the atomic bombing to convey it to people," Okamura said. The work shows victims dragging their burned skin as they walked, with their kimonos burned away due to the heat and blast. Also depicted are piles of bodies of victims who ended up collapsing. Each panel is accompanied by an explanatory note by the couple. Visitors studied the paintings and read the explanations in turn. "I can't find any words quickly," said a 30-year-old woman visiting the gallery for the first time. "I want to recall the impressions of the paintings many times after I go home." "I think it's significant that this place continues to exist, allowing us to appreciate the Hiroshima Panels in person," said the woman, who is from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Okamura, who has faced the work for more than 20 years as gallery curator, said, "The story of the Hiroshima Panels continues even after the artists are gone. "Living in an age of wars and disasters, we must continue to reinterpret the meanings of the paintings," he said. The gallery will be closed from Sept. 29 for work to improve temperature and humidity controls in the exhibition rooms and enhance earthquake resistance. It will reopen around May 2027 to mark the 60th anniversary of its founding. The gallery has collected some ¥350 million in donations since 2017 but will seek an additional ¥100 million to ¥200 million for the upcoming work.