How did baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani meet his star athlete wife Mamiko Tanaka? An inside look at the epic love story of MLB's power couple

On Feb. 29, Shohei Ohtani sent shockwaves around the world with a single Instagram post. Employing his trademark humility, the Los Angeles Dodgers star took to social media to announce his marriage.

The Dodgers were just wrapping up their pre-season when Ohtani made the post. In the disclosure, Ohtani said he had recently gotten married and described his then-mystery bride as "someone who is very special to me."

"It took 38 minutes for Shohei Ohtani to pass one million likes on his Instagram post announcing he is now married." - Jim Barrero

Days later, Shohei Ohtani arrived in South Korea with his Dodgers teammates to play the San Diego Padres in the inaugural MLB Seoul Series. By his side was a woman who was soon identified as Mamiko Tanaka, a former Japanese basketball star.

Before retiring in 2023, Mamiko played basketball for the Fujitsu Red Wave of the Women's Japan Basketball League. Like her husband, Mamiko is known to be a private person and has yet to address the media.

"Shohei Ohtani's wife, Mamiko Tanaka, trying to will it out of there." - Chad Moriyama

Despite efforts from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to keep his marriage private, he has disclosed some details about his relationship with Mamiko to the media. During spring training in Glendale, Ohtani said, per The Japan Times:

"We first met about three or four years ago and we have fun together, I was able to imagine us being together forever."

While Ohtani did not provide any further details about their wedding or courtship, he may have met Mamiko while she was a basketball star at Waseda University, from where she graduated in 2019.

Mamiko is Shohei Ohtani's perfect companion for his new life

With the marriage coming mere months after Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels to ink a record-shattering deal with the Dodgers, Mamiko is yet another sign of change. As the 30-year-old claimed in his original post:

"Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also began a new life with someone from my native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married."

Now, putting up another stellar season, Shohei Ohtani finally has someone to share his tremendous success with.