Who are Shohei Otani’s parents? Everything about Kayoko and Tooru Otani

No one is a bigger fan of Shohei Otani than his parents, Kayoko and Toru Otani.

Since welcoming their son on July 5, 1994, the couple has supported the talented pitcher throughout his baseball career. When he was young, Shohei’s father, Toru, also coached him in sports.

Although his parents still live thousands of miles away in Oshu, Japan, the proud parents have come to cheer on some of their son’s games, including his MLB debut in 2018.

From Toru’s baseball career to how they raised their star son, here’s everything you need to know about Shohei Ohtani’s parents, Kayoko and Toru Otani.

Toru played baseball at the amateur level.

Shohei may have inherited the baseball genes from his father, who played at the corporate level. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Toru did not go pro, but was an outfielder on a corporate baseball team.

However, after injuring his shoulder at the age of 25, Toru began working full-time at a Mitsubishi factory, according to Sports Illustrated.

Kayoko was a badminton player.

Both of Shohei’s parents were athletes. Kayoko was an amateur badminton player and played baseball at the same level as Toru. However, Shohei joked, “She might have been stronger.”

In an interview with MLB in December 2017, he said, “I still can’t beat her at badminton.” “She is tall and has been playing badminton for a long time.”

When Shohei was young, Kayoko would take him to the badminton court and let him play with the equipment during practice. And Shohei showed promise early on.

“I’m going to let Shohei play with the equipment,” she told Japanese publication Nippon in March 2022. “Maybe it’s because badminton moves are similar to baseball, but he could swing the racket like a champion without me having to show him.”

they have three children

Before welcoming Shohei in 1994, Kayoko and Toru had two children, son Ryuta and daughter Yuka.

Toru told Mainichi that when Ryuta was young, he was busy working as a car assembly worker, working day and night shifts while raising two young children, and was unable to give as much attention to his eldest son as he would have liked.

Ryuta currently works as a baseball player and coach for an adult baseball team, but during his high school days, he felt frustrated because his team wasn’t progressing as well as he had hoped.

Toru said that after seeing how upset his son was, he decided he wanted to spend more time playing baseball and help his youngest son, Shohei, improve.

“If only we had worked together more… I have to give Shohei what I couldn’t give to my brother,” Toru said of his thoughts at the time.

Tooru coached Shohei

Toru coached Shohei from the time his son was in elementary school to middle school, but that didn’t mean he was playing as a championship favorite.

“Up until high school, we probably spent more time together on the field than anywhere else,” Shohei told NIPPON. “There was no special treatment. At practice or at games, I didn’t think of him as a father. He was first and foremost my coach.”

Shohei added that having his father as his coach has only humbled him and taught him that he needs to keep working hard. If he doesn’t, his teammates will criticize him.

“Even though I was young, I knew that my relationship with my dad wouldn’t guarantee me playing time,” he said. “I had to earn my spot like everyone else or my teammates would call me foul. It taught me not to expect anything and to just work for it.”

Toru was writing advice for Shohei in his notebook.

One of the ways Tooru kept Shohei grounded and focused on sports was the diary they shared, where Tooru wrote down advice for his son. The father-son duo exchanged notes with each other, jotting down notes and exchanging ideas about his matches and performances.

“It covered both the good and bad points,” Toru told Nippon. “Typical entries were things like, “I had good control up to the third inning,” or “I chased too many high pitches.” We did this for several years until Shohei was in fifth grade.In the end, we ended up writing in two or three notebooks in total.”

Tooru said his goal is to make Shohei more “aware” of his play and better understand his on-field choices. The father of three also wrote down three key lessons he wanted Shohei to learn. These included being loud and energetic, doing your best in practice, and always giving your all.

“I wanted Shohei to continue to have these three basic concepts at every level of the game,” Toru said.

This advice resonated with the star hitter, who told the publication that he still keeps these three principles in mind when he plays.

“His advice was basic, but it stuck with me,” Shohei said. “It’s a phrase you’ve heard at every stage. It’s like hustling. It’s important to do it, but it’s also important to have the attitude towards it.”

They have been rooting for Shohei’s games.

Even though they live continents and oceans apart, Shohei’s parents never let the distance stop them from visiting and cheering on their son during his biggest games.

The proud parents rushed to Shohei’s opening game against the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics in March 2018.

Tooru shared an open letter about how proud he is of Shohei

In an open letter published in Japan’s Sponichi newspaper in September 2024 (and later translated into English), Toru wrote about how proud he was of being able to watch his son play at Dodger Stadium for the first time a month earlier.

“I was surprised at how packed Dodger Stadium was. I’ve never heard such loud cheers. There are Dodger fans everywhere in Los Angeles,” he wrote. “Seeing how many fans have accepted you here makes me so grateful.”

Toru also mentioned the possibility of his son playing in the World Series at the end of his letter.

“I look forward to watching you play in your first postseason this October,” he wrote. “And finally, I hope we get to the World Series and win it all.”