There's a New 'Shohei Ohtani Rule' And All of Japan Will Have to Learn It

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) runs to third base against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park Sept. 2. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has carved out a special exemption for himself in Major League Baseball's rulebook by virtue of his exemplary two-way play.

Since 2022, when the National League permanently adopted the designated hitter rule, a starting pitcher has been allowed to remain in the game if he's listed as the team's DH even after he is replaced by a reliever.

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Further, even though most teams are limited to carrying 13 pitchers on their active roster (14 as of Sept. 1), the Dodgers are not. That's because any player who has thrown enough innings on the mound, and made enough starts as a position player, is granted an exemption as a two-player. The language of the rule has changed somewhat since it was first adopted in 2020, but there is little question who it was designed to benefit. It's the "Ohtani Rule."

There's a new "Ohtani rule" coming to Japan, a rule that affects far more than the game of baseball.

The Japanese government recently changed the rules for translating Japanese characters into the Roman alphabet. Two methods have prevailed for nearly a century: the Kunrei style and the Hepburn style.

According to the Japanese outlet Mainichi, the Japanese government designated the Kunrei system as the correct style of "romanization" in 1954, and specified the characters in a table, but allowed the Hepburn style to be used as well only in "cases where it is difficult to instantly change conventional practices such as in international relations." However, the Kunrei style failed to take root in Japanese society, while the Hepburn style has widely been adopted in public documents including passports.

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Instead of having two systems of romanization, now there will be one unified translation table, based on the Hepburn style.

What does this have to do with Ohtani?

In the Hepburn style, his last name would be romanized as Ōtani. "Ohtani" is spelled in the Kunrei style. However, like Major League Baseball, the Japanese government is carving out an exception to the new rule just for him.

According to Mainichi, the updated rules allow for exceptions in cases where established spellings — "Ohtani," for example — are already widely recognized. The spellings of other "personal and organizational names will be left to the preference of individuals and entities concerned," according to the Japan Times.

Ohtani's latest personal carve-out in a sweeping rules change means the many "Ohtani" jersey owners worldwide do not have to change the spelling of the name on the back, even as many other Japanese words undergo a transformation.

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