Japanese fans of Shohei Ohtani celebrate his big contract by buying newspapers!

Baseball fans across Tokyo lined up on Sunday to buy special editions of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, announcing Ohtani’s move across town from the Angels to the Dodgers.

Fans in Japan’s northeastern prefecture of Iwate, where Ohtani grew up and went to high school, also celebrated by buying extra editions of the local newspaper — the Iwate Nippo.

“I’ve been following Ohtani since his high school years,” Asihisa Suzuki told Japan’s news agency Kyodo. “I want to cheer him wherever he is.”

Kyodo reported that fans gathered at Ohtani’s high school, named Hanamaki Higashi, and took photographs of a monument that shows his handprint.

ESPN.com

In a digital world, there’s something just more tangible about paper and potentially more long lasting about a physical medium.