It seems that the ‘rival consciousness’ between Korea and Japan cannot be avoided anywhere.
On the 17th (Korean time), I visited Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, USA to attend the spring camp press conference of Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. About 70 reporters from about 25 companies in Japan also visited Diablo Stadium to watch ‘Superstar’. An Angels official said, “About 40 people usually visit.”
Common questions from Japanese reporters who discovered Korean reporters were “Is Ohtani popular in Korea?” One카지노 reporter asked, “Which Japanese player is the most famous in Korea now? Is Ohtani more famous than Ichiro?”
While talking about the WBC with Japanese reporters, the part that bothered me the most was the ‘Japan-Korea War’. They also picked Korea as the team to be most wary of in the preliminary round. However, no matter how many times I heard the word ‘Japan-Korea War’, I never got used to it. As much as we are familiar with the ‘Korea-Japan match’, it is probably the same for them, but because of the reporter’s patriotism, when asked if the ‘Japan-Korea match is attracting attention’, he answered, “The Korea-Japan match is also attracting great attention.”
A Japanese reporter suggested, “Why don’t you ask Ohtani, ‘Do you have the confidence to beat Korea?
Rather, Ohtani showed a friendly response to Korea. When asked how he felt about playing the Korean game, he said, “I’ve seen a lot so far, but in fact, there is no big change for me. I like Korean players very much. When I meet them in the major leagues, they always talk to me. All of them are good players. ) I’m very looking forward to it.”
Nonetheless, the reason why Ohtani’s appearance in the Korean War is attracting attention is because of his skill rather than his mind. Ohtani appeared in two games against Korea in the 2015 Premier 12 and showed a powerful pitch with 21 strikeouts and no runs in 13 innings. However, Ohtani gave a humble answer, saying, “I did well in the last tournament, but I honestly don’t know how it will be this time. Korea is a strong team.”
Apart from Ohtani’s thoughts, Korean players are firmly united with the idea that they must beat Japan. Koo Chang-mo said, “We talked a lot about losing even rock-paper-scissors against Korea and Japan. In 2017, I hit a home run against Japan at APBC. Since it’s the same Tokyo Dome, I want to block it well this time.” Yang Eui-ji also showed determination, saying, “In the recent match against Japan, Yamada (Tetsuto) hit a lot of decisive things, so I think I need to be vigilant.”