Latest news with #non-Japanese-speaking
Otago Daily Times
04-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Forecasts for ash included
Guidebook writer Craig McLachlan revisits Japan, where tourism is booming, in search of less well-known places to visit. Japan seems to be on the radar of Kiwis when it comes to taking an overseas holiday of late. Deep powder snow in winter, an enticing, unique culture, some of the tastiest food on the planet, plus the low value of the yen, has led to just about everyone I know in Queenstown heading over to the Land of the Rising Sun for a skiing holiday in the past few months ... or talking about doing so. Over-tourism Thought that we are getting swamped with international tourists here in Aotearoa? Think again — 3.3 million visitors turned up to our shores in 2024, but Japan, which is only a bit bigger than us (1.4 times larger in area), welcomed a stunning 37m visitors last year. And the Japanese government is hoping to hit 60m international arrivals per year by the end of the decade! Years of economic stagnation in Japan are being countered by the great tourism boom. When the Japanese language needed a new word to describe issues associated with these boom times, overtourism became the new "word of the year" in Japanese for 2024. While the Japanese government is ecstatic about the economic benefits for the country, regional Japan seems not so sure — a raft of tourist-induced issues, such as overcrowding and cases of "tourists behaving badly", not following Japanese cultural norms — have curbed the enthusiasm of some locals. Two-thirds of international visitor nights are spent along the golden lineup of Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, however, so there's still plenty of opportunity to get off the beaten path, away from the tourist hordes, and search out that "real Japan" — the parts of the country the vast majority of visitors have little idea is actually out there. Guidebooks I've been writing Lonely Planet guidebooks on Japan since 1998. Everything from Japan to Hiking in Japan, Best Day Walks Japan, to two new activity guidebooks inspired by the tourism boom that will be published later this year. Japan is on the up and visitors are buying and taking along guidebooks with them, which is good news if you write or publish guidebooks — not everyone is doing everything online on their smartphones. Sometimes I feel a tad guilty, writing up a little-known gem of a place in a guidebook, half-hoping that it will somehow escape the attention of most tourists and maintain its charm and tranquility ... but knowing that it may well not. But I guess that's what the Japanese government is hoping for — boosts for small, local areas as well as the national economy. So, I'll try and spread the love too. Things are changing quickly out there. A few years ago, a foreigner visiting Japan for the first time would never have dreamed of renting a car and going on a road trip. These days, however, it's easy, thanks to GPS and multi-language car navigation systems. Japanese car rental companies are geared up to rent to non-Japanese-speaking visitors and rental car bookings can easily be made in English online before you go. A bed or a futon? My Japanese wife Yuriko and I are in Kagoshima at present, in the south of Japan's third-largest island, Kyushu. At the southern end of the country's shinkansen (bullet train) lines, Kagoshima is hardly off the beaten track, but it hosts significantly fewer visitors than the bigger and better-known cities up the line. From here, we're going to be island-hopping southwest by ferry to Okinawa, but there's plenty to see here before we go. We dropped in to visit Yuriko's former workmate, Michiyo, who now owns and runs a beautifully restored onsen ryokan (hot springs inn) at Kirishima Onsen, north of the city in the mountains. Seiryuso is a spectacular spot with a riverside rotenburo (outdoor bath), tastefully refurbished rooms and exquisite meals. It's the sort of place you dream about before visiting Japan. Michiyo wanted to attract more international visitors to her place, so she thought it would be a good idea to put beds in the rooms, rather than having foreign guests sleep in futon on the tatami mat floors. She did some homework first though, which was a good thing. Turns out that her foreign guests love the cultural adventure of sleeping Japanese-style on the floor, while to her surprise, she found that it was ageing Japanese guests who wanted springy beds — much kinder on elderly arthritic joints. The rooms are stunning — she went for a mix of beds and futon, by the way — and for a truly Japanese experience, Seiryuso is a highly recommended place to stay. Ash in the forecast? We were woken a few mornings ago by an earthquake about 3am. The old hotel in which we were staying on the southern coast of Sakurajima, Japan's most active volcano, swayed and rattled for around 20 seconds. Nothing to worry about, I thought; this building has survived worse. Back to sleep. Out at our rental car a few hours later, we found it covered in volcanic ash, a dirty greyish black colour, rather than its previously sparkling white. Turned out that Sakurajima had its 44th eruption of 2025 that morning at 3am. That's 44 eruptions before the end of the third month of the year! Sakurajima is an incredible sight, sitting out in Kagoshima Bay, only a few kilometres east of what feels like the very precarious city of Kagoshima, population 600,000. Not many cities in the world have an "ash forecast" in their daily weather reports. The local forecast is based on the amount of ash billowing up from Sakurajima, wind directions — easterlies are bad news for the city — and lets people know if it's safe for everyone to hang their washing outside to dry. In Kagoshima, locals take their umbrellas to work when easterlies and their accompanying ash are in the forecast. Trying to put this in perspective, imagine how our friends in Auckland would handle life if Rangitoto erupted on a near daily basis and regularly dropped ash on the city. The characters for Sakurajima mean "Cherry Island" and an island it was, until 1914, when a massive eruption spewed enough lava to connect the island to the mainland on the eastern side of the bay, the far side from the city. These days Sakurajima is a big drawcard for visitors and has kept the name meaning "cherry island", even if it isn't actually an island anymore. Buried in hot sand Continuing with our own volcanic activities, Yuriko and I headed about 45km down the coast from Kagoshima city to Ibusuki, a hot springs town known for its suna-mushi onsen (hot-sand bath). While getting into hot water is standard stuff when visiting Japan, being buried in hot sand is likely to be a new experience. Unlike most onsen, where you head into the bathing area to wash before entering the bath, here you strip off, don a yukata (cotton robe), then follow signs down to the black-sand beach. Here, you lie down in a waiting coffin-sized trench and bathhouse workers, replete with bandanas and wielding shovels with expert skill, bury you up to your neck in hot, heavy sand. It's suggested that 10 minutes in the suna-mushi onsen is long enough; any longer and you'll pop out dehydrated and redder than a lobster. Clean off the sand, head back inside, then soak away to your heart's content in the hot water onsen. The local spirit While Japan is known worldwide for its sake (known by the Japanese as nihonshu), which is brewed from rice, down here in southern Kyushu, the most popular drink is shochu, a distilled liquor made from potatoes, barley or buckwheat. We made the trek 40km west from Ibusuki to the small town of Makurazaki, home of Satsuma Shuzo, the company with the wildly successful shochu brand, Shiranami (meaning 'white wave'). These guys make shōchū from fresh, never frozen, sweet potatoes, and a visit to the factory and museum is free, with tasting. The only stipulation when it comes to tasting is that if you've come by car, the designated driver doesn't taste a drop. — Craig McLachlan is a Queenstown-based 'freelance anything' who has been writing Lonely Planet guidebooks for over 25 years.
Otago Daily Times
09-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
About both journey, destination
While Japan welcomed an incredible 37 million international visitors last year and is targeting 60 million per year by the end of the decade, there are still parts of the country that host few foreign tourists and don't seem to have changed much in the past few decades, Queenstown travel writer Craig McLachlan finds. Two-thirds of international visitor nights are spent in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima and few stray far from the beaten path. I've been writing Japan guidebooks for Lonely Planet since 1998 and it's part of my job to tell visitors how to get off that beaten path and inform them about parts of Japan that they've never heard of — and I can't think of a more enjoyable job. Island-hopping My wife Yuriko and I are in Japan at present, island-hopping from Kagoshima, at the southern end of Kyushu, Japan's third-largest island, to Naha, the main city in Okinawa. Didn't know you could go island-hopping in Japan? Well, this is one of the world's great boat journeys. Nothing luxurious at all; these are inter-island ferries that have delivering freight, the lifeblood of the islands, as their primary purpose. In return, they cart agricultural products from the islands to market. Moving islanders to and from the various islands to Kagoshima and Naha comes next, with carting tourists, especially non-Japanese-speaking ones, as an afterthought. If you want to take this on, be aware that island-hopping through the Amami Islands is like an old-style backpacking adventure. It's about both the journey and the destination, an extremely satisfying trip with experiences to be had along the way that you'll never forget. But it's a trip that's going to require a bit of effort — not many English-speakers, English-language menus or much in the way of Western-style food out this way — but the locals are friendly, you'll face a lot of smiles and most will try to help you make your visit work out for everyone. The journey It's a 25-hour journey from Kagoshima to Naha, with stops at four islands along the way — Amami Ōshima, Tokunoshima, Okinoerabujima and Yoron-tō. Each day, there's one ferry heading south — Kagoshima to Naha — and one ferry heading north — Naha to Kagoshima. Outside of the Japanese holiday seasons — Golden Week (late April to early May) and summer holidays (July 20 to the end of August) — you can pretty much turn up an hour before a sailing and get the cheapest ticket to ride to the next island. You'll want to pre-book a spot in Japanese holiday periods. If you want to go the whole hog, a 14-day norihōdai (ride as much as you like!) pass costs ¥30,000 yen (about $NZ344) and you could ride the ferry from Kagoshima to Naha and back (or vice versa) over two weeks. One thing to keep in the back of your mind — June to October is typhoon season in Japan and typhoons tend to play havoc with ferry schedules. Think of it as part of the adventure! On this trip, Yuriko and I opted to take the ferry from Kagoshima and spend two nights each on Tokunoshima, Okinoerabujima and Yoron-tō, then a few nights in Naha, before flying back to Osaka. It's just as easy to fly to Naha from any number of mainland cities, then ride the ferry north to Kagoshima. Leaving Kagoshima We were surprised at the number of schoolkids in uniform milling around at Kagoshima port. It was spring holidays in Japan. The new school year starts in early April each year and school was out. If all those kids were getting on the ferry it would be a very crowded ship, indeed. Once we boarded the ferry and looked back, however, all became clear. The crowd of students had come to farewell a beloved teacher who was being transferred to one of the Amami Islands for a year or two. About 200 waving students lined the railings at the port, with unfurled banners wishing the teacher good luck. Equally, when we arrived on Tokunoshima, a group of students and parents was there to greet and welcome their new teacher with much excitement to the island. Both the Kagoshima departure and Tokunoshima arrival were moving sights, testament to the value of a good teacher. Tokunoshima The first island we hopped off the ferry at, Tokunoshima, proudly claims a couple of remarkable records. This tiny dot on the ocean, with a population of around 22,000, has had not one, but two Guinness World Record-holders for the world's oldest person. Shigechiyo Izumi got the big prize in 1979, then lived another seven years before dying aged 120 years and 237 days. Kamata Hongo became the world's oldest person in 1999 and lived to 116 years and 45 days. Dubbed "the island of longevity", Tokunoshima also hit amazing highs at the other end of the scale, recording Japan's highest total fertility rate of 2.25 (the number of children a woman has in her lifetime), in figures released last year. That's an interesting number, considering that Aotearoa's total fertility rate is 1.66 births per woman and Japan, as a whole, is at 1.26 (both 2022). Unfortunately, despite this encouraging figure, the island's population is still declining, with young people leaving Tokunoshima for work and opportunities on the mainland. We loved our time on Tokunoshima, staying in Kametsu, the largest town on the island, by the port of Kametoku. The only way to really see what the island has to offer is with a set of wheels and rental cars are available in the port. There is a great passion on the island for tōgyū, a kind of bovine sumō, that has a 400-year history on Tokunoshima. The best English translation of tōgyū is bullfighting, but this is nothing like the Spanish version that pits man against bull. In tōgyū, it's bull against bull, the two locking horns and trying to force each other backwards. The bout is decided when one bull tires, retreats and runs away. The bulls are ranked, much like in sumō, given inspiring "fighting names" and are much loved and cared for by their owners. There are three big tournaments on Tokunoshima each year, and while there is prize money, we were told that it is minimal when compared with the costs of keeping and training a bull. It's all about pride on the island. Owners tend and train their bulls like pets and after 5pm each day, once owners have finished work, huge 800kg-1000kg bulls can be seen being led down roads and along beaches as part of their training. We were taken to meet Kokuhō, whose proud owner spends from 5pm-8pm daily with him — feeding, exercising and even massaging his giant pet. When I asked more about tōgyū at the Tourist Information Office, the manager swiftly brought out his smartphone to show us photos of his two bulls. Okinoerabujima Next island down the line, Okinoerabujima is a raised coral atoll, about 20km long, with a population of 14,000 people. Its main industry is agriculture, and it was potato and sugar cane harvesting season when we turned up. There aren't enough hands available during harvesting season and a number of young Japanese show up from around the country to help. A young guy running a bar in Wadomari, the main port, told us he originally came from Osaka five years ago to help with the potato harvest and never left. You'll also want to rent some wheels on Okinoerabujima to see the sights. Some 200 limestone caves are dotted around the island, the easiest to visit being Shōryūdō, with 600m of the 3.5km-long cave system open to visitors. It takes about 30 minutes to walk through these truly remarkable caverns. The island is also renowned for the Erabu lily. The large, white trumpet-shaped lilies bloom in April and May and were just coming into bloom when we were there. Bulbs are cultivated and sent to the Japanese mainland as a major earner for the island. They have also been exported overseas, due to being introduced to Europe through World Expos from 1870 onwards, to become known as "Easter lilies", their white petals being a symbol of purity for Christian events around the globe. Yoron-tō My favourite island, though, was the speck that is Yoron-tō, home to 6000 people. This raised coral island, surrounded by reef, is home to some 60 magnificent beaches, with Yurigahama, a sandy islet that appears at low tide, being Yoron-tō's renowned highlight. Only 23km in circumference, this is an island to ride around on a bike. Rentals are readily available. Kiwis will be surprised to find the island's museum and information building is called the Southern Cross Centre. Did you know that the Southern Cross could be seen in the northern hemisphere? At 27° 22' north of the equator, Yoron-tō is the most northerly point in Japan from which you can view the Southern Cross, though the guy in the museum admitted it was hard to spot, more or less right on the horizon. I was overjoyed to hear something that has largely disappeared from most parts of regional Japan. At noon, loudspeakers around the island cranked up with tropical Yoron island music, then announced to everyone working in their fields that it was lunchtime. At 5pm, the music was followed by an announcement thanking everyone for their hard work, saying that it was time to go home, and telling workers to be careful of children playing — and not to drink and drive! Our island-hopping adventure through the Amami Islands happened all too fast and suddenly it was time to hop on the ferry to the final stop and one of my favourite cities, vibrant Naha, the capital of Okinawa. I've flown there many times, but this time, it was about the journey, not the destination. — Craig McLachlan is a Queenstown-based "freelance anything" who has been writing Lonely Planet guidebooks for over 25 years.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Interpreter who stole millions from Shohei Ohtani faces prison at sentencing
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday afternoon in Orange County to be sentenced for stealing nearly $17 million from the Japanese baseball player to cover debts. Mizuhara previously pleaded guilty in June to bank and tax fraud. Prosecutors have asked for a nearly five-year sentence; Mizuhara requested a year and a half. The sentencing will bring to a close a scandal that rocked the sports world last March, when the Dodgers fired Mizuhara amid an investigation into claims he had secretly gambled away Ohtani's money. Mizuhara admitted to spending the money on bets with an illegal bookmaker, accruing large debts while also buying $325,000 worth of baseball cards and undergoing costly dental work. Prosecutors want Mizuhara to pay close to $17 million in restitution to Ohtani and a little more than $1 million to the IRS. Read more: The mysterious life — and questionable claims — of Shohei Ohtani's interpreter As part of his job as translator and de facto manager of Ohtani, Mizuhara served as a go-between between the player and his non-Japanese-speaking agents and financial advisors, according to Mizuhara's plea agreement. Prosecutors in their sentencing memo said Mizuhara's conduct harmed Ohtani's reputation and goodwill. Prosecutors wrote that even though there was "overwhelming evidence that showed that Mr. Ohtani had no knowledge" of Mizuhara's activities, "several public figures continued to question how Mr. Ohtani did not notice that this one particular account was being mismanaged." "Let there be no doubt, Mr. Ohtani is truly a victim and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, harm," the sentencing memo said. In a letter to the judge ahead of sentencing, Mizuhara said he'd put his "heart and soul" into his work, taking on the role of driver, trainer, chef, off the field interpreter and support member for Ohtani over the years. But he also seemed to drag his former boss, writing that Ohtani paid him roughly $11,000 per year, which left him living "paycheck to paycheck." Mizuhara was an employee of the Los Angeles Angels MLB team, for whom Ohtani played from 2018-23, and, later, the Dodgers, for whom Ohtani has played since 2024. Ohtani paid him separately for the additional work, according to the Department of Justice. Mizuhara claimed to have had numerous offers to write books, do TV and radio interviews and appear in commercials, but said those were "shut down from Shohei and his company in Japan." Desperate for money, Mizuhara wrote, he began sports betting in an attempt to help himself financially. "And before I knew it, the results were the complete opposite," his letter stated. "My gambling debt had grown so much that I could not find any way to pay it but to use Shohei's money." Mizuhara's lawyer, Michael G. Freedman, said in his sentencing memo that his client's "longstanding gambling addiction… was uniquely exacerbated by his grueling work and exposure to high-stakes bookmakers in the world of professional athletes." Read more: Why feds say Shohei Ohtani is a 'victim': Interpreter allegedly paid gambling debts pretending to be Dodger Because Mizuhara is not a U.S. citizen, "it is virtually certain he will be deported to Japan following his incarceration," Freedman wrote. Mizuhara admitted he obtained the login details for Ohtani's bank account in 2018, when he translated for the baseball phenom as he set up an account at a bank branch in Phoenix. Mizuhara started making illegal bets with an Orange County bookie in September 2021, before later falling deeply into debt, according to the agreement. According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara used Ohtani's password to sign into the bank account and then changed the registered email address and telephone number so bank employees would call Mizuhara, not Ohtani, to verify wire transfers from the account. Mizuhara called the bank and impersonated Ohtani about two dozen times, according to the plea agreement. The interpreter made a number of sizable wire transfers, prosecutors said, including one for $500,000 to an associate of the bookmaker. Prosecutors said that Mizuhara used Ohtani's money to purchase baseball cards between January and March 2024, hoping to later sell them for profit. In a response to Mizuhara's sentencing memo, prosecutors told the judge there was no evidence of gambling addiction, "other than [Mizuhara's] self-serving and uncorroborated statements to the psychologist he hired for purposes of sentencing." Read more: Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty to fraud in betting case Prosecutors said the government looked at more than 30 casinos around the U.S. and only found evidence of Mizuhara spending $200 at the Mirage casino during a weekend in 2008. They found that Mizuhara had registered for FanDual in 2018 but never placed a bet. He only began betting online with DraftKings in 2023, prosecutors said, after already having stolen millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani. They also pushed back on his claims of living "paycheck to paycheck," pointing out the $250,000 salary Mizuhara earned in 2023 while stealing millions of dollars and also the $85,000 he made in 2022. Prosecutors said Mizuhara had no loans, car payments or rent expenses. He'd used Ohtani's debit card to pay his rent and Ohtani gave him a Porsche to drive, they said. Mizuhara's checking account in March 2023 had a balance of $30,236 and $195,113 in March 2024, according to prosecutors. "Here, there is no doubt defendant feels ashamed from the international attention he received from his fraud scheme and web of lies, but instead of showing true remorse defendant appears to try to justify stealing millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani," prosecutors wrote. "Instead of using this opportunity to apologize and show true remorse, he has used it, in a public filing, to complain about his work and Mr. Ohtani." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Interpreter who stole millions from Shohei Ohtani faces prison at sentencing
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday afternoon in Orange County to be sentenced for stealing nearly $17 million from the Japanese baseball player to cover debts. Mizuhara previously pleaded guilty in June to bank and tax fraud. Prosecutors have asked for a nearly five-year sentence; Mizuhara requested a year and a half. The sentencing will bring to a close a scandal that rocked the sports world last March, when the Dodgers fired Mizuhara amid an investigation into claims he had secretly gambled away Ohtani's money. Mizuhara admitted to spending the money on bets with an illegal bookmaker, accruing large debts while also buying $325,000 worth of baseball cards and undergoing costly dental work. Prosecutors want Mizuhara to pay close to $17 million in restitution to Ohtani and a little more than $1 million to the IRS. As part of his job as translator and de facto manager of Ohtani, Mizuhara served as a go-between between the player and his non-Japanese-speaking agents and financial advisors, according to Mizuhara's plea agreement. Prosecutors in their sentencing memo said Mizuhara's conduct harmed Ohtani's reputation and goodwill. Prosecutors wrote that even though there was 'overwhelming evidence that showed that Mr. Ohtani had no knowledge' of Mizuhara's activities, 'several public figures continued to question how Mr. Ohtani did not notice that this one particular account was being mismanaged.' 'Let there be no doubt, Mr. Ohtani is truly a victim and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, harm,' the sentencing memo said. In a letter to the judge ahead of sentencing, Mizuhara said he'd put his 'heart and soul' into his work, taking on the role of driver, trainer, chef, off the field interpreter and support member for Ohtani over the years. But he also seemed to drag his former boss, writing that Ohtani paid him roughly $11,000 per year, which left him living 'paycheck to paycheck.' Mizuhara was an employee of the Los Angeles Angels MLB team, for whom Ohtani played from 2018-23, and, later, the Dodgers, for whom Ohtani has played since 2024. Ohtani paid him separately for the additional work, according to the Department of Justice. Mizuhara claimed to have had numerous offers to write books, do TV and radio interviews and appear in commercials, but said those were 'shut down from Shohei and his company in Japan.' Desperate for money, Mizuhara wrote, he began sports betting in an attempt to help himself financially. 'And before I knew it, the results were the complete opposite,' his letter stated. 'My gambling debt had grown so much that I could not find any way to pay it but to use Shohei's money.' Mizuhara's lawyer, Michael G. Freedman, said in his sentencing memo that his client's 'longstanding gambling addiction… was uniquely exacerbated by his grueling work and exposure to high-stakes bookmakers in the world of professional athletes.' Because Mizuhara is not a U.S. citizen, 'it is virtually certain he will be deported to Japan following his incarceration,' Freedman wrote. Mizuhara admitted he obtained the login details for Ohtani's bank account in 2018, when he translated for the baseball phenom as he set up an account at a bank branch in Phoenix. Mizuhara started making illegal bets with an Orange County bookie in September 2021, before later falling deeply into debt, according to the agreement. According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara used Ohtani's password to sign into the bank account and then changed the registered email address and telephone number so bank employees would call Mizuhara, not Ohtani, to verify wire transfers from the account. Mizuhara called the bank and impersonated Ohtani about two dozen times, according to the plea agreement. The interpreter made a number of sizable wire transfers, prosecutors said, including one for $500,000 to an associate of the bookmaker. Prosecutors said that Mizuhara used Ohtani's money to purchase baseball cards between January and March 2024, hoping to later sell them for profit. In a response to Mizuhara's sentencing memo, prosecutors told the judge there was no evidence of gambling addiction, 'other than [Mizuhara's] self-serving and uncorroborated statements to the psychologist he hired for purposes of sentencing.' Prosecutors said the government looked at more than 30 casinos around the U.S. and only found evidence of Mizuhara spending $200 at the Mirage casino during a weekend in 2008. They found that Mizuhara had registered for FanDual in 2018 but never placed a bet. He only began betting online with DraftKings in 2023, prosecutors said, after already having stolen millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani. They also pushed back on his claims of living 'paycheck to paycheck,' pointing out the $250,000 salary Mizuhara earned in 2023 while stealing millions of dollars and also the $85,000 he made in 2022. Prosecutors said Mizuhara had no loans, car payments or rent expenses. He'd used Ohtani's debit card to pay his rent and Ohtani gave him a Porsche to drive, they said. Mizuhara's checking account in March 2023 had a balance of $30,236 and $195,113 in March 2024, according to prosecutors. 'Here, there is no doubt defendant feels ashamed from the international attention he received from his fraud scheme and web of lies, but instead of showing true remorse defendant appears to try to justify stealing millions of dollars from Mr. Ohtani,' prosecutors wrote. 'Instead of using this opportunity to apologize and show true remorse, he has used it, in a public filing, to complain about his work and Mr. Ohtani.'
