MLB popularity at all-time high in Japan

By Rob Schwartz TOKYO -- Just over a year ago, the Japanese press was agog with stories of their “national treasure,” Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, going overseas to play baseball in the U.S. While bemoaning the loss of a homegrown star, there was also a hint of pride in Matsuzaka’s ability to compete in the MLB.

Starting with the pitcher’s initial decision to head to America, and continuing through his season with the Boston Red Sox and, of course, through the World Series championship, the press came forth with a frenzied avalanche of coverage. Magazines even devoted cover stories to Matsuzaka’s semi-mythical “gyroball,” which the pitcher may or may not throw.

But has all this attention signified an increased interest by the Japanese public in the MLB, or is it another cult of personality, which the Japanese — and, to be sure, the Americans — love so well?

The truth is, the steady flow of star Japanese ball players to the U.S. has been a major factor in the recent success of American baseball, and has led to unprecedented cooperation between the two countries’ leagues. This year, for just the second time, MLB will start its season in Japan, when the Red Sox take on the Oakland Athletics later this month at Tokyo Dome. Yet unlike the first time MLB regular season games were played in Japan (the New York Yankees took on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2004), there are two teams which look to contend in the post season, one of which is the current World Series champions.

Indeed, this historic series is reflective of the tremendous growth and significant jump in awareness of American baseball here. “I think the MLB has made major strides in Japan,” says Jim Armstrong, the country’s Associated Press sports correspondent and a 12-year resident. “When I first came, you couldn’t see American baseball on Japanese TV — now NHK broadcasts 300 games a season.”

The popularity of MLB here is clearly related to the recent success of Japanese players. When Ichiro Suzuki began playing for the Seattle Mariners in 2001, the team saw sales of merchandise skyrocket 60%. In 2003, the New York Yankees, already a very high-selling team, enjoyed a 10% increase in sales when slugger Hideki Matsui joined the club.

Even in light of these figures, however, the tremendous boost Matsuzaka gave the Red Sox was shocking. According to the MLB, Boston “experienced exponential growth in sales of team products in 2007,” and merchandise sales jumped some 15% for the entire league. Ichiro, Matsuzaka have great influence

Jim Small, the managing director of MLB Japan, acknowledges that superstars like Ichiro and Matsuzaka have a great influence on the popularity of American baseball here, but he also points to an underlying love of the game. “I think baseball is more of a Japanese sport than it is an American sport,” he says. “When you look at the values that represent baseball and the values that represent Japanese culture, they are so similar. Values like sacrifice, the team over the individual, gaman, all that — it’s so perfectly suited to the Japanese mindset. So we are fortunate that we can market our product, which we think is the best in the world in terms of baseball.”

And MLB has seized the moment in its effort to attract the Japanese to their product. “What we are trying to do is make more ‘touch points’ for Japanese consumers,” Small says, referring to the places where locals can experience some aspect of the MLB.

In 2007, the league held its first Pitch, Hit & Run Competition for Japanese youth, and last year also saw the inaugural Baseball Festival, an interactive event that lets kids compare their capabilities to major leaguers by, for example, clocking how fast they can run down the first base line.

One of the more lucrative touch points for the MLB is Clubhouse, a retail shop and mini-museum that opened last year in Shibuya. The first store of its kind outside the U.S., Clubhouse is a shop that sells apparel of every MLB team, shows baseball documentaries, and exhibits historic memorabilia. An MLB-themed cafe is also in the works.

Certainly, the MLB is enjoying unprecedented visibility in Japan. Less readily apparent is what kind of lasting effect the Red Sox will enjoy with fans here by the signing of Matsuzaka.

“We want to make the Red Sox Japan’s team,” declared team president and CEO Larry Lucchino during a recent promotional visit to Tokyo. This may be more than a tad ambitious: Ichiro’s Mariners and Matsui’s Yankees have been far more popular, and while the MLB and Red Sox enjoyed a big boost by Matsuzaka’s signing, the effect in Japan is still somewhat unknown.

“The Red Sox’ popularity is absolutely expanding in Japan, and it started expanding in 2003,” Small says. He points to the crushing blow of losing the American League Championship Series to the Yankees that year, followed by “their thrilling comeback in 2004, which captured the imagination of Japanese baseball fans.” This and the dual signings of Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima in 2007 have catapulted the Sox into a dead heat with the other two teams. “With the Red Sox winning the World Series this year, I would say they are just as popular as the Mariners and the Yankees.” Media favoritism toward Yankees, Matsui

Armstrong has a slightly different take. “The popularity of the Red Sox is growing in Japan,” he notes, “but the Japanese media seems to have this favoritism toward the Yankees and Matsui.” Despite being half a world away, the myth of Yankee dominance appears to have trickled into Japan, and the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, the most storied in American baseball, continues even on these far shores.

The Red Sox-A’s series should provide another spike to the popularity of the Red Sox in Japan — even though Matsuzaka may not pitch due to his wife’s pregnancy. An added benefit is the boost the games may give to the team’s non-Japanese stars. “This is really a great chance for Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz to cement themselves here as superstars,” Small says. Not exactly unknowns, these two sluggers are among the four most popular MLB stars for the Japanese, according to MLB surveys, but still trail the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

In addition to playing two regular season games with the A’s and two exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers, the Red Sox have a special treat in store for local fans: a tour of the World Series trophy, during which they can view it up close and even have their picture taken with it. Special events will be planned for the foreign community — look for the Tokyo American Club to host a trophy showing that’s open to the public. Naturally, Japanese fans will have plenty of opportunities to view and touch the trophy, a first on these shores.

This kind of special consideration will no doubt win some converts, both to the Red Sox and MLB in general. The future of the great American pastime in Japan has never looked brighter.

The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s will play exhibition games against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome on Mar 22-23. The MLB season openers take place at Tokyo Dome Mar 25-26.

Major League Baseball Clubhouse Store. 1-15-8 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 03-3770-0089. Open daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Nearest stn: Shibuya. www.clubhousestore.jp

© Japan Today