There’s been a wave of sports wedding announcements in the last couple of days. Yomiuri Giants star outfielder Takahashi Yoshinobu (30) and NTV announcer Onodera Mai (30) held a press conference at a Tokyo hotel yesterday to announce that they got married on January 29. They have known each other for six years and took the plunge before Takahashi starts spring training. Onodera talked happily about how her fiancee had proposed to her in December, but Takahashi was red-faced and flustered throughout.
• Toritani Takashi (24), an infielder for the Hanshin Tigers, appeared with his new bride Yuko (24) at a press conference at the team’s training camp in Okinawa yesterday. He revealed that they have been married since December 20. They have known each other since high school and started dating in college.
• Also recently married were NHK sports announcer Izumi Koji (34) and shogi player Iwane Shinobu (23). The two met when they appeared together on a shogi show on NHK’s educational channel. Iwane plays shogi, the Japanese version of chess, at the shoudan or first-grade level, and plans to continue playing under her maiden name.