Shohei Ohtani emotionally reacts to Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s priceless gift steeped in Japanese culture

Japanese stars and Dodgers teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto returned to America after succesfully sweeping the Cubs in the two-game Tokyo Series in Japan. The superstars produced some amazing highlight reels in their homeland as the fans cheered them on inside Tokyo Dome.

On Saturday, Ohtani shared an array of images on social media, thanking his countrymate Yamamoto as he gifted him some priceless items steeped in Japanese culture. Shohei captioned the images in Japanese, which translate to:

"Blockwork by Yoshinobu Yamamoto."

"Thank you teacher."

Screenshot from the story on Instagram

Some more screenshots from the Instagram story

The gifts were handcrafted ceramic bowls made from traditional Japanese artwork. All the bowls were ingrained with a message in Japanese. One of the bowls had Shohei Ohtani's name and his jersey number engraved on it while another one had his pet dog Decoy's name chiseled on it.

Shotime also shared some adorable images of Decoy enjoying his meal from the new bowl. The Dutch kooikerhondje had also accompanied Shohei to Japan for the Tokyo Series on Mar. 18 and 19.

Ohtani had a blistering start to his 2025 MLB campaign as he crushed a home run and drove in a run during the Tokyo Series while both his country mates, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and youngster Roki Sasaki made amazing starts from the mound in game 1 and game 2, respectively.

Yamamoto registered a win in game 1 but Sasaki couldn't do the same as he was taken out of the game after pitching three solid innings and giving up just one run. The Japanese trio are expected to dominate the proceedings in their respective departments for the Dodgers in 2025.

Dodgers superstar, Shohei Ohtani shared memorable highlights from Tokyo Series involving Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Shohei Ohtani shared an array of images in a social media post on Mar. 20, which showcased some highlights from the Tokyo Series.

The images involved Shotime sharing the frame with teammates Yamamoto, Sasaki and others alongside the other two Japanese players from the Cubs roster, Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki.

"Thank you for the wonderful memories."

The Dodgers will now play three preseason games against Ohtani's previous recruiters, the Angels, and will open their account for the 2025 season on American soil against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium on Mar. 27.