Dodgers mural in Torrance with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Located in the South Bay, on a sunburned wall in Torrance, a new mural celebrating three Los Angeles Dodgers players was unveiled on Tuesday. 

The mural is entitled “Samurai of the Diamond,” featuring the three Japanese Dodgers players Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki. The mural is located alongside the 12-story high side of the DoubleTree Hotel and is a towering tribute to the three foreign-born superstars who helped deliver a World Series title for the Dodgers in 2025. 

The artist, Robert Vargas, didn’t just paint a mural. He waged a daily battle against gravity, heat, and time—eight to ten hours a day on scaffolding, under a Southern California sun so relentless it dried paint before it could even be applied to the wall. Every stroke was entirely freehand, no stencils or shortcuts. 

“You’re going to have to come out and see it for yourself,” Vargas said, almost daring you.

And he’s right.

Because this isn’t just a mural—it’s also alive. With a scan of a QR code, the wall awakens through augmented reality, the figures moving, interacting, breaking the invisible barrier between art and audience. It’s part tribute, part innovation. Old-world discipline meets new-world technology. Fitting, considering the players it honors. Vargas’ Ohtani mural in Little Tokyo, and his mariachi singer and son in Boyle Heights, also have the augmented reality feature.

The project, greenlit by Torrance mayor George Chen, lands with intention. Torrance holds one of the largest Japanese American populations in the country, and this piece wanted to honor and amplify that heritage.

The mural was officially unveiled on Tuesday March 24, just two days before Opening Day at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where another banner will be unveiled at Chavez Ravine. 

Vargas is hoping that word of the mural will be spread to the Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki, who will come out and see it themselves and take pictures.

Guests who attended the mural’s unveiling received free chocolate chip cookies, and free appetizers to Jana Mediterranean restaurant located inside the Doubletree hotel.

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