Reo Hatate’s parents have put their hoops on to appear on Japanese TV show Yabecchi Stadium to discuss their son’s move to Celtic.
As a kid Reo was forever outdoors, enjoying playing baseball, the sport of his Dad but during the last six months the now 24-year-old has become a national celebrity through his football exploits in Europe.
When the J-League season ended last year Ange Postecoglou knew what his squad needed with Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi drafted in, followed a few weeks later by Matt O’Riley as the Celtic midfield was overhauled.
Switching continent in mid-season is a big ask but after three goals in his first four matches Hatate arrived with a bang, his double in the Glasgow Derby on February 2 sent Celtic to the top of the SPFL Premiership with that position maintained till the end of the season.
Fatigue caught up with the former Kawasaki midfielder but following an unexpected title win the name Hatate will always be revered among the Celtic support.
The last Reo-centric segment features a video message from his parents.
Dad: “Yabe-san, Kengo-san, thanks for always taking care of Reo.”
Mom: “Reo, congratulations on winning the league!” pic.twitter.com/mZ2D0YF1hf
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) May 23, 2022
Mom: “He was always playing outside, pretending to be Kamen Rider or playing baseball or soccer.”
Dad: “When he was young we wanted him to experience a lot of things. I played baseball but I didn’t want to force it on him.” pic.twitter.com/s76z9UBRhN
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) May 23, 2022
“His sister played tennis so he wanted to play too, swimming as well, we wanted him to try a lot of things.” pic.twitter.com/5roEwPtA8K
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) May 23, 2022
Reo’s dad on how they chose his name: “We thought that a two-syllable name would be easier for foreigners to say; we hoped that he’d work with people from overseas one day. Never did we expect it’d turn out like this…” pic.twitter.com/LCSodsowJ8
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) May 23, 2022
Mom on her curry being his favorite food: “I felt so down because I thought that might be the only thing I cooked that tasted good!” pic.twitter.com/quxb6Cr5X4
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) May 23, 2022
