Tag Archives: Hotaka Yamakawa

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Apologies Monday

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Monday was a day for public remorse for events on and off the field, for Hotaka Yamakawa, who was accused of, but not charged with sexual assault, but who on Monday was suspended indefinitely,  and the Yakult Swallows’ ballpark DJ Patrick Yu, for his unwitting comments after an on-field incident that drew the ire of the Hanshin Tigers on Sunday.

Both are interesting, less because of what was said than by what wasn’t.

Yamakawa apologizes for causing trouble

The Seibu Lions on Monday suspended first baseman Hotaka Yamakawa indefinitely after Tokyo prosecutors decided not to indict him over an allegation of rape due to insufficient evidence.

The 31-year-old, a three-time Pacific League home run leader who played for Japan in March’s World Baseball Classic, was referred to prosecutors for allegedly raping a female acquaintance at a Tokyo hotel last November.

“We take this situation very gravely and have punished the individual in order to encourage him to do some serious self-reflection,” Lions President and CEO Tsuyoshi Okumura said according to Kyodo News.

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Baseball, Free, News

NPB news: May 12, 2023

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A documentary about Japan’s World Baseball Classic team is coming out, one Samurai has failed to keep his hands to himself, while another, Kensuke Kondo, had a night against his old team. Hayato Sakamoto passed a legend and we had some great baseball with two teams avoiding being swept and three others that weren’t so fortunate.

Yamakawa accused of sexual assault

Seibu Lions first baseman Hotaka Yamakawa was in the news Thursday, or rather he was the news, after Bunshin Online published a report in a which a woman acquaintance in her 20s alleges he sexually assaulted her in a Tokyo hotel, leaving her with injuries to her lower body. The report said the 31-year-old Yamakawa admitted to a relationship with the young woman, but denied using force.

Asked about it at Thursday’s game at Seibu Dome, Yamakawa declined to comment.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police said they are looking into the matter, and Seibu did what Seibu does in these cases – this is not their first – they said they are monitoring the situation.

One for the history books

Soon after Japan was denied a WBC championship for the first time in 2013, Nippon Professional Baseball decided to bolster its effort by creating a subsidiary whose job it is to organize, sell and promote the national team.

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