WATCH: Shohei Ohtani honored with rice field art in Japan, Dodgers star celebrated alongside his best friend

To say that Shohei Ohtani is a superstar in Japan would be an understatement. When Ohtani and his Japan teammates took to the field in the World Baseball Classic final in March 2023, over 55 million people in Japan tuned in.

Although the 30-year-old has long left his homeland for the baseball fields of MLB, he is far from forgotten. A farmer in Ohtani's home prefecture of Iwate gave one of the grandest nods to the superstar yet:

"Photographed on June 20th. Please come. @AtoroiO on the weekend." — @oshu_city

According to a post on X from the city of Oshu, where Shohei Ohtani was born, a local rice farmer has carved out the superstar's likeness in a rice paddy. Using seven different types of rice crop, the farmer was able to recreate an image of Ohtani in a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey, with his dog, Dekopin, at his side.

Although he was born in Oshu, Ohtani attended high school in nearby Iwate City. In 2021, Iwate Prefecture produced some 268,000 metric tonnes of rice, and it is considered to be one of the more agricultural regions of the Japanese island of Honshu.

For the farmer who conceived of this notion, it is not new. The same paddy depicted Ohtani in Team Japan gear during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Moreover, a depiction of Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles Angels uniform was created after he made his MLB debut for the AL West club back in 2018.

"Pitcher perfect: Local school children create an image of Los Angeles Angels' Japanese star #ShoheiOhtani. in a rice field in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture." — Kyodo News Sports

Set to be available for viewing until the end of July, the display was likely created to celebrate Ohtani's 30th birthday on July 5. Additionally, the Japanese letter depicted beside the two-way phenom is "katakana ho." When combined with letters on five other rice fields across the country, it reads "home run king" in Japanese.

Shohei Ohtani enters All-Star break after historical first half

Next week, Ohtani will head to Texas for the fourth All-Star game of his career. He will be the first NL player to enter the midsummer classic with 50 extra-base hits and 20 stolen bases since Bobby Bonds did so with the San Francisco Giants in 1973.

Still barely halfway through his career, here's hoping that there is plenty of space left in the rice field to honor his future accomplishments.