NEED TO KNOW

MLB player Shohei Otani confirmed that he married Mamiko Tanaka in February 2024

The couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl, in April 2025

Tanaka is a former professional Japanese basketball player

Shohei Ohtani has become a household name as an MLB player, but he prefers to keep his personal life private — especially when it comes to his wife and their daughter.

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher confirmed he got married in February 2024, though he did not reveal his wife's identity at the time.

“Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also have began a new life with someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married,” Ohtani wrote in an announcement on Instagram.

Two weeks later, he posed for a photo with Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka, leading fans to speculate that she was his mystery wife.

In April 2025, Ohtani announced that Tanaka had given birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, whose name they did not reveal.

So who is Shohei Ohtani’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Mamiko Tanaka and her relationship with the athlete.

Tanaka, who was born on Dec. 11, 1996, is a former Japanese basketball player.

She started her career playing for Waseeda University before going professional in 2019 with the Fujitsu Red Wave of the Women's Japan Basketball League. The 5-foot-11 forward played for the team for four years before retiring in 2023.

In her last season, Tanaka had a shooting rate of 47.7% from the field and 69.9% from the free-throw line across 28 games, per ESPN.

During a press conference after his marriage announcement, Ohtani called Tanaka a “normal Japanese woman.” 

Ohtani announced that he got married in an Instagram post in February 2024. While the caption was written in English, he also wrote a message in Japanese to his fans.

According to a translation by the Associated Press and CNN, the baseball player asked the press not to reach out to his family and friends for more information about his wife.

“The season is approaching, I am pleased to announce to you that I have gotten married,” Ohtani wrote in Japanese, as reported by CNN.

“We are still young and [there are] many things we don’t know yet, but we hope you will warmly watch over us,” he continued. “We hope that the two of us (and one dog) will work together to support each other and move forward alongside with our fans.”

“I don’t really feel comfortable talking about when I got married exactly,” he added, per TIME, sharing that he felt it was "good timing" to share the news then, however, since the season was starting.

Just two weeks after he announced he was married, Ohtani posed with Tanaka and their translators as they boarded a plane to Seoul, South Korea, where the Dodgers were set to play.

The team posted a photo of the two of them on X alongside another photo of Ohtani's teammate Mookie Betts and his wife, Brianna Hammonds.

"Wheels up to Seoul," they captioned the post, labeling Tanaka as Ohtani's wife in the alt text of the photo.

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Upon landing in Seoul, where Ohtani and the Dodgers were set to play their season opener against the San Diego Padres, Tanaka and the athlete were greeted by a sea of fans.

The two walked together from the plane to their waiting limousine, Ohtani dressed in a black training suit and cap while Tanaka sported an all-black outfit. Ohtani briefly waved to his fans while Tanaka smiled as she walked a few steps behind him, per the Associated Press.

In September 2024, she was spotted cheering him on. In one video shared by Dodgers Nation on X, Tanaka can be seen celebrating with Ohtani and their dog, Decoy, on the field after the team won the NL West.

The couple made their red carpet debut at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala in May 2024. Once inside, Ohtani and Tanaka posed for photos with Ed Sheeran.

On April 19, 2025, Ohtani announced the arrival of the couple's first baby.

"I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy beautiful daughter,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the newborn's feet. "To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents.”

The MLB star did not share his daughter's name or birth details.