After years of redefining what's possible in baseball, Shohei Ohtani is setting a new standard off the field for Japanese dads.
Despite recent efforts by the government, it’s still uncommon for fathers in Japan to take child care leave — men are entitled to up to 52 weeks of paid paternity leave, but only 30.1% of male employees took any in fiscal 2023 — and it’s the same in the world of pro sports.
Recently, the Japanese media and the internet went wild with excitement when the Los Angeles Dodgers star went on MLB’s paternity list for the birth of his daughter, even giving him a new nickname, “Papa-tani.” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts joked about Ohtani’s “dad strength,” a term that's been making the rounds on social media.
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