Shohei Otani talks about “staying at the top,” “calculating the story within yourself,” and mention of “retirement”[Wide! Scramble](March 12, 2026)

A new partnership between Shohei Otani (31) and a Japanese company has begun. Along with the announcement, he talked about “remaining a top player.” ■“Sympathizing with the way of life” Background behind the partnership agreement Mr. Otani: “I think it’s all about the ability to continue. Of course, it’s about how accurately you can do things, but how long and how consistently you can do things is a very important point, so I always keep that in mind.” Beyond the boundaries of sports, and with interest in the business world as well, there is a new move… Otani has signed a partnership agreement with the Japanese watch brand Grand Seiko. Speaking of “Grand Seiko,” Otani is best known as the watch that Otani gave as a gift to Lars Nootbar, who fought with him in the last WBC, and Otani himself has been wearing it for many years. What was the background behind this contract? Shinji Hattori, Chairman, CEO, and CCO of Seiko Watch Co., Ltd. “I strongly sympathize with Otani’s way of life, where he continues to pursue his ideals and strives hard.I would like to continue to support Otani as he enjoys baseball with the world’s most wonderful smile.We will value every moment, face time seriously, and improve the quality of baseball.We will work with Otani to share this feeling with the world.” ■ “I want to become the best player.” In an interview, Otani talked about what he is conscious of in order to remain at the top. “Of course, I do it with high ideals, and no matter how high I reach, I always want to get better and be better.At the same time, I’m not completely satisfied with what I’ve achieved to a certain extent, but I also want to value things that make me feel like I’m good enough, so I think that balance is important.” “I want to improve even just one thing that I can do, and I don’t know what the best standards are for a player, but I want to become the best player. However, the more specific goals I have, the higher I get, and the more I clear them, the next goal will appear, so I think those things will change every day.” Mr. Hattori: “His humanity is such that he cleans up broken bats and shakes hands with those who throw him dead balls.And I admire his ability to take action and redefine common sense.” ■His comments about retirement Also, about his private life… “Over the past few years, I’ve gotten married and of course had children, so my environment outside the field has changed quite a bit.I’ve really made a lot of discoveries about myself, and I’ve been forced to study a lot.It’s also learning, and of course I want to enjoy it in itself, so I’m feeling really fulfilled right now.” “I’m already over 30, so I’m really approaching the latter half of my life, so I guess I’m really near my peak.” He says he considers himself to be near his peak. “I’m getting to the point where I think I need to go through the plan in more detail.”And then there’s the statement about retirement… “I think I’m already at the stage where I’m heading towards retirement, so I feel sad that I’m going to lose some of that fun again, and I’m wondering if I can really tackle the challenges I have now with all my might.I want to spend each day carefully calculating the “story inside me” until the end, when it really ends.” Mr. Hattori: “Time never comes back. It’s every precious moment of a person’s life. We always think of the hands of a clock. I think time is an important thing that comes along with or adds color to life.” (From the broadcast on March 12, 2026)
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