Kohei Arihara, whose transfer to Nippon-Ham has been finalized, updated his X (formerly Twitter) on the 28th, posting a message of gratitude to Softbank Hawks, where he played for the past three years.

Arihara expressed his gratitude, saying, "The three years at The Hawks, being able to think baseball in friendly competition with the The Hawks Nine, and winning two consecutive league championships and the Japan championship under manager Kokubo are memories that will last a lifetime," and added, "Above all, I am truly grateful to the The Hawks fans for the warm applause I received from my first pitching appearance in my first year with the team. I have felt your support from mound and have been reassured by the way you have called my name in any situation," he continued.

He wrote, "From now on I will be on a different team, but as a baseball player, I will give my all in the game in front of me. Thank you to Minei, Takuya, Umino, Tani, and Riku for continuing to communicate with me during the games! Thank you to all The Hawks players, staff, and everyone involved with the team!"

Arihara has been playing for Softbank Hawks since 2023, and in his first year, 2023, he recorded 10 wins. Last season, he won the most wins title (14 wins), his first time since his time with Nippon-Ham. He was instrumental in their first league championship in four years. This season, he also won the most wins title (14 wins), pitching 175 innings in 26 games, with a record of 14 wins and 9 losses and ERA of 3.03.