Ken Watabe of the comedy duo "Unjash" appeared on the ABEMA variety show "I Tried Selling All My Assets," which aired on May 28th. He showed off extremely rare autographed goods from Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both players for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, and also revealed little-known stories about his interactions with Ohtani.
"I Tried Selling All My Assets" is a variety show that follows celebrities as they voluntarily sell all their assets and pursue new dreams, supporting them in their fresh start in life. The show is hosted by Ruriko Kojima and Takashi Yoshimura of the comedy duo "Heisei Nobushikobushi".
Watanabe appeared in a segment called "Kojiuri" (showing off), where he had his assets, which he considers symbolic of himself, appraised. He began by saying, "I've never shown this to the media before," and then revealed a game-used baseball bat signed by Shohei Ohtani.
Watanabe, who has been following Ohtani since he was a first-year student at Hanamaki Higashi High School, recalled, "We've had about four one-hour interviews in the past." He revealed the story of how Ohtani himself gave him a bat that he had used in practice, saying, "Ohtani said, 'I'll do an interview with you, Watanabe.' And at that time, he said, 'Here, Watanabe,' and gave me the bat."
He further explained, "These are the Japanese national team uniform and the Dodgers uniform that I got signed right after the recent WBC (World Baseball Classic)," and showed off two signed uniforms from Yamamoto.
