Just as in the U.S, baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. This is probably pretty well known now because a number of Japanese players have played in Major League Baseball in the past 18 years.
Some of the most famous Japanese players in MLB include Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Yu Darvish.
Hideo Nomo was a popular pitcher in Japan, playing with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1990 to 1994. However, he got into a contract dispute with the team management after the season in 1994. Nomo announced his “retirement”, and this enabled him to play for any team, including an MLB team. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him in February of 1995, and Nomo became the first Japanese player to permanently relocate to MLB. He won the Rookie of the Year Award at the end of his first season. Before his retirement in 2008, Nomo played for 13 seasons with 8 different teams.
While Nomo had to exploit a loophole in the system to relocate to MLB, now Japanese baseball players have official means to go to play in the U.S. Nomo is credited with paving the road for the subsequent Japanese players coming to MLB.
Ichiro Suzuki was the first Japanese position player to play for a MLB team when he moved to the Seattle Mariners in 2001. He won the American League MVP and the Rookie of the Year awards at the end of his first season. After over 10 years of playing in the Seattle Mariners, he asked for a trade and moved to the New York Yankees in 2012. Ichiro hit his first home run as a Yankee, and the 100th of his career on July 30, 2013.
Hideki Matsui is an outfielder and designated hitter played in Japan for 10 seasons and in the U.S. for another 10 seasons. For his first seven seasons in the U.S.(2003-2009), Matsui played in the New York Yankees. In 2009 World Series, Matsui was awarded the World Series MVP. He became the third player in Major League history to bat .500 or above and hit three home runs in the same World Series. Matsui announced his retirement from baseball in December of 2012.
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Yu Darvish was considered by many to be the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball before moving to MLB. He was posted to MLB for a blind posting bid before the 2012 season. The Texas Rangers posted the highest bid ($51.7 million), and furthermore, signed Darvish to a $60 million dollar contract for six years.
Japanese baseball fans are very excited to see Japanese players in MLB. Some of them are very busy following both Japanese games and American games! This year, Japanese baseball season starts on March 29, and MLB season starts on March 31.
