Hotaka Yamakawa

Hotaka Yamakawa (山川 穂高), is a Japanese baseball infielder for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Saitama Seibu Lions. Yamakawa led the Pacific League in home runs in, , and.

Career
He was selected for the Pacific League all star team for the. On October 10, 2018, he was selected by the Japan national baseball team to play for them at the 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series. He was also selected by Samurai Japan to play for them during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, winning gold with them.

Sexual assault allegations
On May 11, 2023, it was reported from Bunshun Online that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was investigating Yamakawa for sexually assaulting a female acquaintance at a hotel in Tokyo in November 2022. Bunshun Online reported that said female acquaintance had suffered bleeding injuries from the vagina and other parts of the body, and that the police had received a damage report on suspicion of indecent assault and rape. Yamakawa, however, stated that all was consensual and he had relations with the woman. In response to this, on May 12, the Lions removed Yamakawa from their active roster indefinite. On 29, it was announced that Yamakawa would not face charges as a result of the allegations.