Samurai Yujiro Taniyama – Sports Editor in Chief, Japan Broadcasting .net Corporation
Yamamoto 1941
Yamamoto Isoroku （山本五十六）was, and still is known as the legendary Admiral of the Imperial Japan Navy during World War 2. Although he was adamantly against waging war against Washington, consequently Yamamoto had no other choice but follow the crucial decision latently made by then Tokyo cabinet – to launch an attack on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941 (Tokyo time).
In the early stages of the ‘Pacific war’, Yamamoto led belligerent Nippon to historic victories as Naval Commander in Chief; vanquishing the prejudiced myth of ‘white supremacy’. I once read that Douglas McArthur, the American Commander purportedly argued in the early stages of the war; “The pilots on Mitsubishi Zero that sank British warships in Malaya must be caucasian. Japs are apes, inferior to white men by all means”.
Apparently, Asians and the ‘colored’ at the time were viewed as nothing but unworthy, uncivilized creatures.
Where were we? Yes, Yamamoto.
Good times don’t usually last long. The tide of the Tokyo-Washington warfare critically changed in June 1942 in the Battle of Midway, and In April 1943 the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto was shot down by a U.S fighter while flying over Bougainville Island in what is known as Papua New Guinea today.
The Pentagon had already cracked Japan Navy’s codes in the early stages of the clash, and knew the exact whereabouts of the renowned Admiral. Isoroku’s soul rests in tranquility in his hometown Nagaoka in Niigata prefecture, as well as in Tama cemetery in Tokyo.
The ‘New’ Yamamoto
The new Yamamoto meanwhile as we know of today, is not Isoroku, but Yoshinobu.
Yamamoto Yoshinobu（山本由伸）, is a versatile starting pitcher of Tokyo Dodgers, currently headquartered in Los Angeles California. It is my unsubstantiated but unshakable belief that around 98% of the American audience today, including Mr. Ben Affleck are ignorant of the fact that the name ‘Yamamoto’ is relevant to a prominent Admiral that played a major role in neutralizing U.S naval fleet capacity in Honolulu back 84 years ago.
Yesterday’s foes are today’s bros.
The ‘New’ Yamamoto’s outstanding performance during MLB 2025 regular season, as well as postseason was not only unprecedented, but indomitable. Dodgers couldn’t have clinched the ‘U.S Baseball Champs 2025’ title; had it not been for the hurler’s excellence in Game 2, crucial Game 6 and the vital Game 7. Dodgers fans residing in proximity to Pearl Harbor must’ve yawped electrifyingly in sheer joy when the No.18 rescued the team from ‘bottom of the 9th quagmire’.
Slugger-pitcher Ohtani Shohei’s scintillating baseball is way beyond our thoughts of mediocrity. Babe Ruth was too fat to steal bases like Shotime, you know that. He also somehow reminds me of Yamada Taro 山田太郎 – the protagonist catcher slugger (pictured on the right, wearing a mask) in Japan’s legendary highschool-baseball manga ‘DOKABEN’ ドカベン, by Mizushima Shin-G.
Yamamoto is Satonaka 里中, the handsome yet dexterous pitcher pictured on the left.
Sasaki Rocky (or Roki), another Sushimongering hurler from Nippon is also unequalled. And my conclusion of Major League Baseball 2025 is that without these three heavyweights, the Californian team would’ve by no means achieved what it did last weekend.
And that’s exactly why I now label them Tokyo Dodgers.
Catcher Nomo (No.16), Betty (No.50), Fred Freeman (No.5), No.72 and all other players are fantastic surely. Nonetheless, the former Brooklyn Dodgers is currently and indisputably a group whose bedrock is ‘Ohtani-Yamamoto’.
So let us all senselessly propagate the new name across the universe.
Tokyo Dodgers!
