The Dodgers wanted to ‘paint Japan Dodger blue.’ Now they’re witnessing it in person

TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani greets you at the Tokyo Dome before the two-way star even enters the building. After all, the Los Angeles Dodgers star’s face and likeness are plastered on advertisements in every corner of Japan.

Ohtani’s star power is unmatched, and the Dodgers are seeing the fruits of Sho-economics. When they signed him, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman preached the idea of “painting Japan Dodger blue.” Now, the team is seeing that in person.

“I think our mission was accomplished,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday, as the Dodgers arrived in Tokyo for their season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs.

It’s an endeavor fueled by their ownership in more ways than one: Guggenheim Partners, the team’s ownership group, are title sponsors of the Tokyo Series as the Dodgers roll out a glitzy roster that features Ohtani alongside fellow Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

The #TokyoSeries pitching matchups are set!

Game 1, Tuesday: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Shota Imanaga

Game 2, Wednesday: Roki Sasaki vs. Justin Steele pic.twitter.com/kl6d12bfly

— MLB (@MLB) March 13, 2025

This is the vision the Dodgers wanted. When they arrived at Haneda Airport on Thursday, the crowds were so massive that they had to exit through a different terminal. When Roberts walked the streets of Shibuya, he saw nothing but Dodgers hats. When Kiké Hernández hosted a meet and greet, camcorder in hand, it looked like the biggest collaboration between someone from Puerto Rico and Japan since Bad Bunny dropped the song “Yonaguni.”

“I’m sure that my teammates are really enjoying Japan right now and I hope that they continue to do so, but also I hope that the fans get to see my teammates enjoy Japan,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.

That, they have, making their presence felt from the moment the Dodgers arrived.

“There’s a lot of people outside the hotel and the Dome…(and) you see Shohei’s face all over Tokyo,” Tommy Edman said. “You see Dodgers (gear), just walking down the street. You get the sense that the Dodgers are being Japan’s team.”

The media crush was so massive that the workout day interviews were held in a ballroom at the Tokyo Dome Hotel. Hundreds of cameras as the Dodgers’ trio of stars posed together, with the 5-foot-10 Yamamoto getting onto his tip-toes standing between the much taller Ohtani and Yamamoto.

When the club went through workouts Friday at the 55,000-seat Dome, a crowd of 10,507 paying Japanese fans were there to watch. The tickets, worth 2,000 yen (approximately $13), sold out the allotment within an hour. Just about everyone was wearing Dodgers gear, applauding politely as Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas and Will Smith hit batting practice home runs.

“Being able to experience that today was something that gives you a lot of excitement about the game of baseball, how they live it here,” Rojas said. “The players who came before me — a lot of Venezuelan players have played in this league and they’ve talked really highly about the Japanese fan base. It’s really cool to experience something like this that I’ve never experienced before in my life.”

“We were starting to have a little fun with it,” Muncy said.

They shouted for Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw, but also for the lesser-known players in the building such as relievers Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda. Japan’s most famous American baseball team flexed its celebrity status.

The fans even called out to Freddie Freeman’s son, Charlie.

“This is a cool experience,” Freeman said. “It’s practice and we have all these people in the stands. So getting chants for Charlie, I didn’t hear it, but I’m sure he was loving every second of it.”

It’s clear in person: Dodgers are ninkimono here in Japan.

“I think the Dodgers are trying to get right there with the biggest organizations in the world,” Rojas said. “I’m talking about Real Madrid, Barcelona, all the teams that are worldwide. I think the Dodgers are really close to that.”

They’re just getting started in Japan, with a pair of exhibitions the next two days against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers before sending out Yamamoto and Sasaki to start each of the two games against the Cubs.

For Yamamoto, it’ll be his first Opening Day start, a chance to showcase his skills back in his home country for the first time after signing a record $325 million contract with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season.

“I really feel the excitement of the country with the games being played here,” Yamamoto said. “I’m looking forward to pitching in front of the fans as well, so I want to do my very best to make sure I do that.”

For Sasaki, it’s his major league debut — a chance to prove how electric he can be in Major League Baseball.

“For me, it’s more about being able to pitch in this different uniform and with a different team and making sure I do perform at my best,” Sasaki said.

And for the Dodgers, it’s the opportunity to plant their flag in the country and soak in a nation that has embraced them and their biggest stars.

(Top photo: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP via Getty Images)

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