MLB pitcher Shohei Ohtani was born to his parents Kayoko and Toru in July 1994

Shohei Ohtani has had two MVPs rooting for him throughout his baseball career: his parents, Kayoko and Toru Ohtani.

The MLB pitcher — who signed a $700 million contract with the team in December 2023 — was born on July 5, 1994, in Oshu, Japan, where his parents continue to live today. Shohei got his skills from his father, who coached him and also played baseball himself.

Although they live thousands of miles away, Shohei’s parents have still shown up in support of their son at some of his games, including his MLB debut in 2018.

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

Toru played baseball at the amateur level

Shohei may have inherited the baseball gene from his father, who played at the industrial league level. While he never went professional, Toru was an outfielder for a corporate-sponsored baseball team, per the Japanese publication Mainichi.

However, after a shoulder injury at 25, per Sports Illustrated, Toru went to work full-time at a Mitsubishi factory.

Kayoko was a badminton player

Both of Shohei’s parents were athletes. Kayoko was an amateur badminton player, playing on the same level as Toru did in baseball. However, Shohei joked that she may have been the stronger athlete.

“I can’t beat her in badminton to this day,” he said in an interview with the MLB in 2017. “She’s tall and she’s been playing badminton for a long time.”

When Shohei was little, Kayoko would take him to the badminton courts to play with the equipment while she practiced — and he showed promise early on.

“I would let Shohei play with the equipment,” she told Nippon, a Japanese publication, in 2022. “Maybe it’s because the motions in badminton are similar to baseball, but he could swing the racquet like a champ without me having to show him.”

They have three children

Before they welcomed Shohei in 1994, Kayoko and Toru had two other children: son Ryuta and daughter Yuka.

Toru told Mainichi that when Ryuta was young, he was so busy with his job at the car assembly, working day and night shifts while also raising two little children, that he didn’t give his eldest son as much attention as he would have liked.

Ryuta now also plays baseball and coaches for a corporate baseball team, but when he was in high school, his team did not progress as far as he wanted to, leaving him disappointed.

Toru said he saw how upset his son was and was determined to spend more time dedicated to baseball and help his youngest child, Shohei, improve his game.

“If only I had worked together with him more … I’ve got to give to Shohei what I couldn’t give to his older brother,” Toru told Mainichi what he remembered thinking at that time.

Toru coached Shohei

Toru took coaching Shohei upon himself from the time his son was in elementary school through junior high school – but that didn’t mean he played favorites.

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

Shohei added that having his dad as his coach only humbled him and taught him that he needed to continue to work hard, otherwise his teammates would call him out.

“I was still young, but I knew my relationship with my dad wouldn’t guarantee me playing time,” he said. “I had to earn a spot like everyone else or my teammates would cry foul. It taught me never to expect anything, but to work for it.”

Toru kept a notebook with advice for Shohei

One way Toru kept Shohei grounded and focused on his sport was through a journal the two shared where Toru would write down advice for his son. The father-son duo would exchange the notebook with each other, jotting down notes they had about his games and performances and exchanging ideas.

“It covered both good and bad points,” Toru told Nippon. “Typical entries were things like, ‘Great control up to the third inning’ or ‘Chased too many high pitches.’ We did it for several years, until Shohei was in the fifth grade or so. We ended up filling two or three notebooks in all.”

Toru said his goal was to make Shohei more “mindful” of his plays and understand his choices on the field better. The father-of-three also wrote three major lessons he wanted Shohei to learn in the notebook, including being loud and energetic, giving it his all in his practice and always running it all out.

“I wanted Shōhei to carry these three basic concepts with him in every level of the game,” Toru said.

The advice stuck with the star hitter, who told the outlet that he still bears the three principles in mind when he plays.

“His advice was basic, but has stuck with me,” Shohei said. “They’re things I’ve heard at every stage. Like hustling. It’s important to do, but the attitude with which you approach it is also meaningful.”

They’ve supported Shohei at his games

Even though they may live a continent and ocean away, the distance has not stopped Shohei’s parents from visiting and supporting their son during his biggest games.

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