A Japanese actor showed his love for BTS’s V with a fun tribute at a baseball game.
Actor and theater director Okabe Takashi was the ceremonial pitcher at the Hanshin vs. Hiroshima game in the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League, held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
After throwing a clean no-bounce pitch, Okabe excited fans by greeting them with V’s famous “signature pose” — placing his fingers in a V-shape next to his face.
In an interview after the game, he explained with a laugh,
“I copied BTS Taetae’s (V’s nickname) pose for inspiration. Not long ago, Taetae threw the first pitch in Major League Baseball. My name is Takashi, and people often call me ‘Tata.’ I wondered, maybe one of us would be noticed — Taetae or Tata.”
His playful moment came after V’s own legendary ceremonial pitch for the LA Dodgers on August 26, which became a global sensation and made headlines across Japan. Major outlets like Nikkan Sports, Sports Hochi, Sankei Sports, Sports Nippon, and Daily Sports all put V on their front pages, while NHK and Nippon TV repeatedly covered his pitch on both news and variety shows.
V’s popularity in Japan continues to shine, with many Japanese stars naming him as their favorite. Billionaire entrepreneur Maezawa Yusaku, kabuki actor Ichikawa Danko, and actress Koizumi Kyoko (who revealed she became an ARMY after seeing V in a music video) are among his admirers. Younger idols such as INI’s Ikezaki Rihito, BUGVEL’s Hidaka Mahiro, Produce 101 Japan’s Nishiyama Tomoki, and Sasaoka Hideyaki have also pointed to V as their role model.
Proving his unmatched influence, V has held the #1 spot on NEHAN’s K-pop male idol ranking for 232 consecutive weeks and also topped BIHAN’s Korean actors in their 20s category for 228 consecutive weeks.
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