Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, who led Japan’s national baseball team to the WBC championship, earns an annual salary of 8.5 billion yen (approximately 80.6 billion won), but his family still lives a frugal lifestyle, according to a report.메이저놀이터

Japan’s Money Post reported on the latest news from the Otani family in an article titled “Shohei Otani’s money education fostered self-reliance” on March 22. His mother, Kayoko, and the rest of his family nurtured his good character, according to the publication.

According to the media, Ohtani has earned more than 8.5 billion yen this year as a major top-class player, and he has sponsorship deals with 17 major companies, including a 4 billion yen deal with New Balance, which began sponsoring his gear this year.

Despite this, the Otani family still lives frugally. Ohtani’s hometown is Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture, a small rural town in the north of the country. His parents still live there.

“When he was playing for Japan, he once suggested to his parents that they rebuild the house. “He wanted to be filial,” says an acquaintance of the family, “but his parents said, ‘We’re still healthy and the house isn’t old. We shouldn’t be spending money on that. Save it,'” he says. His parents did a major remodeling (redecorating) of their home last year, but even then, he said, they turned down all of his offers to “pay for the remodeling.”

A childhood photo of Ohtani and his mother, Kayoko, released by the Los Angeles Angels in honor of Mother’s Day recently. (Twitter handle)

Today, Ohtani’s mother is in charge of managing his income. In particular, she continues to work part-time while managing the large sums of money her son earns.

“When Otani asked his mother, ‘How long are you going to work,’ she laughed and said, ‘I can’t ask you to carry him, can I?”‘ said one insider. His father, Toru, is said to have had the same reaction, saying, “I can’t ask my son to feed me just because he’s successful.” “He’s making his own money, and they’re making their own money, and that’s enough,” the source said. His parents are not opening their hands to him,” the source added.

The same goes for his older brother and sister. His older brother, Ryuta, who is seven years older than Otani, played social baseball and is now retired and coaching a Toyota Motor Corporation unemployment team. When he got married two years ago, he took out a 30 million yen loan to buy an apartment, and he says he didn’t rely on Otani.

His older sister, who is two years older and closer to him, also married a baseball team official from his alma mater three years ago after being introduced by Ohtani. At the time, Ohtani said he wanted to give her a “big wedding gift,” but she refused.

As a result of these influences, Ohtani is frugal, according to the media outlet. “He only wears a few pieces of clothing from Hugo Boss, which he partnered with in 2020,” the publication said. His sportswear and shoes are all from New Balance,” adding, “It is unlikely that his economic views will change even if his salary increases.”