Shohei Ohtani reintroduced himself to the Japanese crowd after hitting a towering home run in the Dodgers' opening exhibition match of the 2025 Tokyo Series against the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday. With Los Angeles leading 2-0 in the top of the third inning, Ohtani smacked a two-run no-doubter off Giants ace Shosei Togo.
Ohtani's 391-foot shot to right field over his compatriot Togo pushed the Dodgers' lead to five as they smothered the ace with three home runs in the same inning. The blast sent the Tokyo crowd into pandemonium as their countryman—baseball's biggest star, flashed his brilliance once again.
"SHOHEI OHTANI HOMERS AT THE TOKYO DOME! #TOKYOSERIES," MLB tweeted.

It's interesting to note that in the exhibition match, the MLB team is using the MLB-standard balls while the NPB team is utilizing the NPB-standard balls. The latter league is currently in its "deadball era" which means that the balls are harder to hit out of the yard.
Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernandez also hit home runs in the same inning as the team dominated early. Meanwhile, Naoki Yoshikawa's RBI single was the only offense that Yomiuri could muster up as the Dodgers eventually won the match 5-1 with all the former's scoring being tallied in the third-inning flurry against Togo.
The reigning World Series champions are now set to face the Hanshin Tigers in another exhibition contest on March 16, 12 p.m. Japan time.
Shohei Ohtani's towering shot pierces through Tokyo Dome roof
For long-time followers of Shohei Ohtani, a moonshot in the Tokyo Dome is not a rare occurrence. After all, the NL MVP once hit a ball through the roof of the structure.
"Shohei Ohtani’s power dates back to his international playing days when he hit a homer THROUGH the ROOF of the Tokyo Dome! The dugout’s reaction is us all …" - @ Farm To Fame
During an exhibition match of the Japanese national baseball team against the Netherlands in 2018, Ohtani smashed a ball through the ceiling of the Tokyo Dome.
The priceless look from the team's dugout, including Team Japan's skipper and Ohtani's teammates, would go down in baseball history as they were all confused as to where the ball went.
Unfortunately for Ohtani, his powerful shot was ruled as a ground-rule double as it interfered with the structure and didn't go out of the park in a conventional manner.