Hanshin Tigers first-round draft pick Ihara has been taken off the active roster after reports surfaced of an assault against a woman, with the team announcing no set date for his return from the minors. Thread comments questioned whether this really counts as “punishment,” with many drawing comparisons to past incidents involving Sho Nakata and Hotaka Yamakawa.
While Ihara said he doesn’t remember everything that happened that night since he’d been drinking, the team stated that his account “generally matches the reports, and this can’t be overlooked,” and announced it was removing him from the active roster that day with no fixed timeline for his return.
According to a weekly magazine report, at a drinking gathering this past January, an intoxicated Ihara allegedly hurled abuse at a woman in her twenties and grabbed her by the hair, among other actions.
Typical Osaka
Hanshin (mockingly nicknamed "Chin-san" on 5ch) is always pulling this stuff
4Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:01:49.61ID:S70MQfuS0
Hanshin players are just way too cocky across the board, aren't they
86Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:30:34.22ID:ke1SC4DQ0
>>4
The manager's cocky too
7Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:02:33.04ID:dpxvYTv30
Handy, isn't it, this "indefinite" thing
If something comes up they could lift it as early as next week
25Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:07:03.63ID:/6pnKVKT0
>>7
Technically under the rules it's just a demotion to the minors, so it's not even a punishment
67Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:21:02.41ID:tOMXwmpBd
>>7
>>25
Fair point, this isn't a punishment at all
Typical Hanshin — they didn't even punish Fujinami and the others for that COVID lockdown party, and that same year, while the state of emergency had everyone told to stay home, Nishi didn't even get sent down for his cross-prefecture affair scandal
12Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:03:30.17ID:mzq30m1F0
What is it with finesse pitchers getting mixed up in assault cases?
13Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:03:37.64ID:Dmf7GKFd0
Guess we've entered an era where even a starting regular can't get away with this
14Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:03:43.33ID:UWOQd9Jl0
Isn't a kyabakura (hostess club) a different kind of place for that?
Giants' Sakamoto bit someone and injured them too
17Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:04:39.38ID:UIokGudO0
>>14
Turns out the guy claiming to be the woman's lawyer in that case wasn't actually licensed, so the whole thing is pretty sketchy to begin with
29Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:07:39.67ID:i96EsLT30
>>14
Do you know what happened to actor Teruyuki Kagawa?
91Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:32:49.32ID:6F51ogO50
>>14
Lol, sounds like someone who's never even set foot in a kyabakura
Where's this hostess club where assaulting women is fine?
15Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:03:51.93ID:dz35cm6u0
Eh, whatever, the team's strong and winning, so who cares
16Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:03:57.05ID:TJImMRch0
You guys ripped into Sho Nakata over and over for this kind of thing, so naturally Hanshin fans are demanding Ihara get traded too, right?
Especially since assaulting a woman is way worse
24Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:05:56.05ID:du8BzITS0
>>16
Well, the Fighters at least suspended Nakata
Hanshin not even suspending Ihara is the worse part
37Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:11:29.81ID:13338ytk0
>>16
Nakata was a nationally known star, so it caused a huge stir even outside baseball circles
A player like Ihara on a more "local" team, nobody outside the fanbase even knows him, so it's barely trending — they're probably just hoping it dies down
27Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:07:31.98ID:UP/FAmga0
Some of their past first-round picks are sketchy too, might as well send them all down indefinitely while they're at it
28Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:07:39.23ID:gkglB/yI0
He's the first first-round pick manager Fujikawa ever drafted, so they can't just toss him aside
32Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:08:28.11ID:z1adviL90
What he did is worse than what Nakata did
33Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:08:58.01ID:6DDbWina0
Isn't Ihara the guy with that mole under his nose that looks like a booger?
59Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:17:18.92ID:eiZPE8IA0
>>33
Yeah
Chikamoto's got a mole in the same spot too though
35Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:10:26.51ID:YmgS/Jp50
So basically, no punishment
They're just waiting for the heat to die down
42Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:12:57.76ID:/ZMImt5l0
>>35
I could get behind it if you said the punishment was too light, but how do you read this as "no punishment" lol
In terms of yes-or-no, he clearly WAS punished
43Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:12:59.30ID:CuWOEyXmd
>>35
Baseball fans never really let the heat die down
Even after he retires, people will keep bringing it up forever
36Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:10:32.45ID:H20svoaA0
Thought about swapping out the kanji in Ihara's name [for a joke] but that'd probably cross a line, so I'll pass
41Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:12:48.90ID:UOEBtOE2M
Is he the kind of player they wouldn't even miss if he were gone the rest of the season?
45Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:13:32.22ID:YYAcenUY0
>>42
"Punishment" usually means a suspension though
70Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:22:20.53ID:/ZMImt5l0
>>45
Does anyone actually understand what this sentence means?
It's so short but I have no clue what you're trying to say
53Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:14:49.65ID:eiZPE8IA0
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp will gladly take Ihara off your hands
60Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:18:17.05ID:MLAR5J8kr
>>53
How about a trade for Kozono?
I'll throw in Dorin too
74Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:23:46.65ID:IruOW9Pp0
No idea how long the "indefinite" lasts, but he does seem like the type Fujikawa wouldn't care for
85Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:30:04.62ID:4QRu42Y20
Reading the details, it's a fairly serious screw-up, but no police report was filed, huh
89Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:32:34.52ID:+aODSZrN0
>>85
Probably reached a settlement
94Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:34:02.61ID:mH4kt1Rp0
Same thing happened with Yamakawa
That one turned out to be a false accusation in the end, and by the offseason Yamakawa signed with SoftBank without a hitch
96Anonymous2026/08/26(水) 12:37:49.26ID:MxEKN/E10
>>94
👤 Ihara: rejected, sorry… (riffing on a meme "judge stamp" image, playing off Yamakawa's move to SoftBank)
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