Photo/Illutration “Hagoita” wooden paddles displayed at the Kyugetsu doll store in Tokyo’s Taito Ward on Dec. 5 feature, clockwise from top left: major league slugger Shohei Ohtani; javelin world champion Haruka Kitaguchi; distance runner Nozomi Tanaka; "Slam Dunk" cartoonist Takehiko Inoue; TV personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi; wheelchair tennis star Tokito Oda; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; shogi prodigy Sota Fujii; and Hanshin Tigers manager Akinobu Okada. (Yuki Shibata)

Baseball star Shohei Ohtani, wearing his signature samurai “kabuto” helmet, made the nine-member lineup for special “hagoita” wooden paddles representing the year 2023.

Kyugetsu, a traditional doll company, on Dec. 5 unveiled its “people-of-the-year” paddles at its store in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. They are depicted three-dimensionally on paddles that are each 60 centimeters long.

Ohtani, who became the first Japanese player to win the American League home run crown, often donned the samurai helmet after blasting a homer in his MVP season.

Other people on the paddles include: shogi prodigy Sota Fujii, who became the first player to win all eight major titles this year; baseball manager Akinobu Okada, who led the Hanshin Tigers to their first Japan Series championship in 38 years; and Tokito Oda, a wheelchair tennis sensation who won back-to-back Grand Slam titles this year.

The hagoita honor was not limited to Japanese nationals.

American Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, also graced a paddle.

Kyugetsu began making the people-of-the-year paddles in 1986. This is the 38th time for the company to produce the special hagoita.

The eight paddles featuring the nine people will be displayed at the Tokyo store until Dec. 7. They will be featured at other stores and in different locations nationwide until Feb. 21.

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