Ohtani Shohei and his dog celebrated in hometown rice field art

The hometown of Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shohei has honored him by creating an image of him and his dog in a paddy field. The paddy art in Iwate Prefecture's Oshu City, northeastern Japan, shows the image of Ohtani, the two-way player for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This year, he is depicted throwing a pitch and his dog Dekopin, or Decoy, with a ball in its mouth. Local residents, including junior high school students, planted eight varieties of rice in the field in late May. The leaves turned white, red, yellow and other colors to create the image. The rice paddy art will be at its peak viewing until the end of July.