Newsfrom Japan
Aug 28, 2025 14:55 (JST)
Tokyo, Aug. 28 (Jiji Press)–Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani has topped the annual list of favorite athletes for four years in a row, a survey by a Jiji Press affiliate showed Thursday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star was favored by more than half of the 1,184 respondents in the June survey conducted by Central Research Services Inc. on people aged 20 or older.
Shigeo Nagashima, the late former manager of the Japanese professional baseball team Yomiuri Giants, ranked second. Nagashima, known as “Mr. Professional Baseball,” died in June this year.
Yokozuna professional sumo grand champion Onosato placed third, becoming the first sumo wrestler to be ranked in the top three since 2000.
Japanese volleyball player Yuki Ishikawa and former Japanese major leaguer Ichiro Suzuki took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]