We've seen some famous faces in attendance for Pool C games in the Tokyo Dome during this year's World Baseball Classic. Bad Bunny was there. So was Timothée Chalamet. Of course, Shohei Ohtani is on the field and doing damage.
But when more than 42,000 people poured into the stadium Sunday to watch Samurai Japan defeat Australia and stay undefeated in the World Baseball Classic, there was one especially prestigious fan in the crowd: The emperor of Japan, Naruhito.
Sunday marked the first time in nearly 60 years that a sitting Japanese emperor attended a pro baseball game. The previous time? November 6, 1966, when Emperor Hirohito -- Naruhito’s grandfather -- attended an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and a team of Japanese All-Stars. Japan won, 11-3.
“As a citizen of Japan, it is such an honor,” Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida said before Sunday’s game about the emperor's presence. “I am trying to do my best to make the day brighter.”
Yoshida did that for his home nation as he slugged a game-changing two-run home run during the win. It was the second homer in as many days for the lefty batter.
"I am guessing that all my players [are] also satisfied about today's win in front of the emperor's family,” Team Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata said.
Naruhito -- who was joined by his wife, Empress Masako, and daughter, Princess Aiko -- is no stranger to game. He and Masako were in the Tokyo Dome to watch World Baseball Classic matchups in 2006 and 2009, when they were the crown prince and crown princess. Naruhito has reigned as emperor since 2019 and is the country's 126th monarch. And he obviously likes himself some ball.