Hanshin Pitcher Ryuto Ihara Accused of Assault: FRIDAY Publishes On-Scene Photos with a ‘Drunk Woman’

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The story

On September 2, FRIDAY published an article — complete with on-scene photos — alleging that Hanshin Tigers ace left-hander Ryuto Ihara assaulted a woman in her 20s while she was drunk. Weekly Bunshun had reportedly been covering the same story, and the overlap between the two outlets’ reporting became a talking point in itself. Reactions on 5ch were split: some questioned the credibility of the report, others pointed to a recurring pattern of women-related trouble in pro baseball, and the view that “the woman may have been at fault too” drew strong pushback. Posts also frequently brought up past cases involving Shinnosuke Abe and Hotaka Yamakawa for comparison.

Published Wed, 9/2, 7:00 AM

FRIDAY

Angry shouts and screams ring out

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

8AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:24
Same story as Bunshun, huh
17AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:26
Re: #8
Oh, this thing lol
Guess they got scooped
18AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:26
Guess all he can do now is answer with his play on the field
19AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:27
There's a chance the woman was the rude one
66AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:42
Re: #19
There it is, there it is
Baseball fans always start blaming the woman the second a player screws up
Seriously gross
21AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:27
Not interesting unless the photos are on the level of Teruyuki Kagawa's scandal lol (the actor busted in a notorious groping-arrest photo)
23AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:28
Is he a violent drunk, or did he just get roped in by the woman's advances? Which is it, I wonder
31AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:29
Do baseball players have some disease where they die if they don't assault a woman?
76AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:44
Re: #31
Baseball fans always want to defend the player with 'he's not at fault, the woman is'
Male chauvinism is probably just the norm across the whole sport
39AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:34
Well, it's a pseudo-sport that doesn't even run doping tests.
49AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:36
Re: #39
Oh really
That's awful
It's basically a profession full of guys racking up offenses like criminals-in-training
55AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:38
There was also that staged recording with Takashima's younger brother, so for this kind of evidence, video is the safer bet (than audio)
60AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:40
Re: #55
So he just happens to hit someone while being filmed? Probably because it's an everyday thing for him
69AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:42
A former Giants manager did the same thing
Baseball guys really do love choking women
73AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:43
Re: #69
That's because they had it done to them by their senpai too
110AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:50
Re: #69
And on top of that, this guy has a judo background
A judo guy choking someone is just the worst
70AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:42
Re: #23
Baseball fans always want to make it the woman's fault whenever it involves a player and a woman
They were bashing the daughter hard during the Abe case too
75AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:44
Re: #70
There's the precedent of Hotaka Yamakawa's total victory, after all
87AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:46
Re: #75
So not being indicted counts as a win lol
Not guilty isn't the same as innocent, you know
93AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:48
Re: #75
He only got off because the woman hesitated — thinking 'I still have to work with him' — and it took too long for her to go to the police
85AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:46
Re: #76
It'd actually be strange if a sport with only male players *didn't* end up sexist
And Yamakawa was in it for the money anyway
106AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:49
Re: #85
Yamakawa was only not indicted due to insufficient evidence
It's just baseball fans bashing him over the delusion that it was 'about the money' — so gross
133AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:57
Is baseball just a package deal with domestic violence or cheating scandals?
139AnonymousSep 2, 2026 09:57
Re: #133
Just means they're that popular with women

Background and Points of Debate

This article is based on FRIDAY’s own reporting, and as of September 2 neither the team nor the player had issued an official comment. Even with photographic evidence, at the weekly-magazine stage no judicial determination has been made — it’s worth remembering this remains, for now, an “allegation.” Within the thread, opinion split between those questioning the credibility of the report itself and those criticizing the recurring pattern of women-related trouble surfacing in pro baseball, with the view that “the woman may have been at fault too” drawing strong pushback. The cases of Shinnosuke Abe (Yomiuri Giants) and Hotaka Yamakawa brought up for comparison are separate incidents with their own distinct circumstances and have no direct connection to this case. That Bunshun had been pursuing similar reporting also became a talking point, but this only shows overlapping coverage and doesn’t corroborate the underlying facts.

*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Full Text] Grabbing Her by the Hair… Hanshin Ace Left-hander Ryuto Ihara’s Raw On-Scene Photos of a ‘Drunk Assault on a Woman in Her 20s’.”

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