Time Machine: Lessons in Japanese culture

This story originally ran in the Japanese newspaper Yukan Fuji in 2021.

TOKYO — American sports writers are trying to outdo each other these days in analyzing Shohei Ohtani, delving deeply into Japanese history and culture history. As a result, their readers are getting quite an education in things Japanese — as well as other areas.

Exhibit A is a recent feature article in The Athletic by Rustin Dodd on the Los Angeles Angels’ Japanese star. It began with a poem by Matsuo Basho:

“Ah! Summer grasses!
All that remains
Of the warriors’ dreams”
— Matsuo Bashō