Baseball-MLB star Ohtani shares photo of wife as Dodgers head to South Korea

SEOUL : Shohei Ohtani and his Los Angeles Dodgers side shared on social media a photograph of the Major League Baseball star's wife for the first time on Friday, as the team boarded a plane to head to South Korea for the MLB season opener next week.

There has been widespread speculation over the marital status of Ohtani, the dual-threat MLB star and a national hero in Japan.

Late last month, Ohtani announced his marriage to a Japanese woman on Instagram but had not identified her.

Japanese media named the woman as Mamiko Tanaka, a former player in Japan's Women's Basketball League.

Ohtani posted a photograph on Instagram posing with Tanaka in front of a plane with the message "Can't wait!" in Korean followed by the national flag of South Korea.

Tanaka also appeared in a video as Dodgers players and family members boarded a plane on the team's X account

The dodgers will play Korea Baseball Organization teams before facing the San Diego Padres next week. The teams are due to arrive at Seoul's Incheon International airport later on Friday.