Japanense Sports Fans Can’t Get Enough of L.A.’s Hometown Team

On March 26, when the Major League Baseball season begins, Japan will once again be hit by the tsunami known as Dodgermania. A recent poll confirmed what most sports fans already know: the Dodgers, two-time World Series champions, enjoy overwhelming support from Japanese baseball fans.

The Dodgers have done everything right when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of Japan. The biggest move in their effort to "paint Japan blue" was adding Shohei Ohtani to the roster in 2024 in a blockbuster 10-year deal valued at $700M. But it’s not strictly a one-man show. Pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are also fan favorites.

The icing on the cake: Manager Dave Roberts is half Japanese. His mother, Eiko, is from Okinawa.

Both countries benefit from the cross-cultural impact.

MLB apparel and jersey sales in Japan jumped 183% last year, while sponsorships grew 114%. Ohtani is a ubiquitous figure on billboards and TV ads, and Dodgers games are broadcast live in Japan. During Ohtani’s first World Series appearance in 2024, the number of fans watching in Japan and South Korea equaled the number watching in the U.S. and Canada.

In Los Angeles, tourism officials estimate that 80 to 90% of Japanese visitors last year attended a Dodgers game. To accommodate these fans, the Dodgers now offer native cuisine such as katsu cutlets with Kewpie mayonnaise and takoyaki.

The Dodgers’ presence also looms large in Little Tokyo. A multi-story mural of Ohtani graces the side of the Miyako Hotel, while his jersey and other artifacts hang in sports bars and ramen shops. One Little Tokyo bar, Far Bar, even offered free sake shots for every home run scored by the Dodgers during a championship game. By the end of the night, 14 bottles lay empty.

The connection between American baseball and Japan isn’t new. Babe Ruth was mobbed by fans during a 1934 tour of Japan. Ichiro Suzuki made waves years later when he moved from the Japanese league to MLB. And the Dodgers made their own mark on history in 1995, when pitcher Hideo Nomo’s sensational rookie season sparked "Nomomania."

This season promises even more thrills for fans in both countries as the Dodgers chase a three-peat.