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The 29-year-old won his second Most Valuable
Player award last year after leading the American League with 44
home runs and notching 10 wins as a pitcher.
In December he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the
Los Angeles Dodgers after six years with the Angels.
"To all my friends and fans throughout, I have an announcement
to make: Not only have I begun a new chapter in my career with
the Dodgers, but I also have begun 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," the post read.
"I am excited for what is (to) come and thank you for your
support," the post in English said.
Fans in Japan extended their congratulations to the home-grown
hero.
"I think anybody would be good (for him)! I think it's a good
thing because he's probably happy," Tomomi Sakai, a nurse in her
50s, told Reuters.
Taro Nakao, a 19-year-old university student said; "I think if
he's happy in his personal life then he might play better in
matches as well."
Despite being one of the most famous people in Japan, Ohtani is
famously reserved. He high-fived a small dog in a November video
announcement of his MVP win, but it was not until a press
conference in Dodger Stadium the following month that the world
learned the dog's name.
A picture of the dog, known as "Dekopin," appeared at the bottom
of Ohtani's marriage notice on Instagram.
(Reporting by Tom Bateman, Kantaro Komiya, Rocky Swift and
Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Muralikumar
Anantharaman and Ken Ferris)
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