It would be an understatement to say that Shohei Ohtani is a superstar in Japan. More than 55 million Japanese viewers saw Ohtani and his colleagues from Japan compete in the World Baseball Classic final in March 2023.

The 30-year-old is not forgotten, despite having long since left his own country for the Major League Baseball diamonds. One of the biggest salutes to the superstar to far came from a farmer in Ohtani’s home prefecture of Iwate:

captured on camera on June 20th. Please join us this weekend, @AtoroiO.” — @oshu_city

A local rice farmer in Oshu, the city where Shohei Ohtani was born, reportedly etched the superstar’s picture into a rice paddy, according to a post on X from Oshu. The farmer was able to replicate an image of Ohtani wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers shirt and his dog, Dekopin, by using seven different varieties of rice crop.

Ohtani was raised in Oshu, but he went to high school in Iwate City, which is close by. Iwate Prefecture, which is regarded as one of the most agricultural areas of the Japanese island of Honshu, produced over 268,000 metric tonnes of rice in 2021.

The farmer who came up with this idea is not the first to do so. Ohtani wearing Team Japan uniforms during the 2023 World Baseball Classic was shown in the same paddy. In addition, a picture of Shohei Ohtani wearing a Los Angeles Angels uniform was made following his 2018 MLB debut with the AL West team.

“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

The exhibit, which will be on display through the end of July, was probably made to honor Ohtani’s July 5 birthday, which marks his 30th birthday. Furthermore, “katakana ho” is the Japanese letter that is shown next to the two-way phenomenon. The phrase “home run king” is written in Japanese when coupled with letters found on five additional rice fields around the nation.

After a spectacular first half, Shohei Ohtani heads into the All-Star break.Ohtani will travel to Texas for his fourth career All-Star game next week. Since Bobby Bonds accomplished this feat with the San Francisco Giants in 1973, he will be the only player from the National League to enter the Midsummer Classic with 50 extra-base hits and 20 stolen bases.

With his career just half over, let’s hope there’s plenty of room in the rice field to recognize his future achievements.