TOKYO (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers gave Shohei Ohtani an unprecedented $700 million contract hoping to drive interest — and the dollars that come with it — from fans across the Pacific.
It seems to be working. He's the main attraction as the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs open the MLB regular season on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome.
He's also producing off the field, the marquee name at a sprawling souvenir store that fills an exhibition hall in the Tokyo Dome complex.
MLB calls the setup its “largest ever special-event store.”
“Isn't it crazy?” said Lillian Izawa, who did a slow walk through the store, wedged between shoppers and shelves of souvenirs, most carrying Ohtani's name, face or No. 17.
Just as thousands of others, Izawa stood for an hour just to get in with fans three or four abreast in a twisting line entering the 30,000-square-foot store. She chose a sunny day. But the lines seemed to grow longer, even on a rainy Sunday in Tokyo.
The daily flow will only intensify as Tuesday's and Wednesday's games approach and both the Dodgers and MLB cash in on Ohtani, who signed a $700 million, 10-year deal last offseason.
Let’s call it a “Merch Museum” dedicated to Ohtani and his two Japanese teammates, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, and the Dodgers. There’s even a small section for Chicago Cubs fans with most of the usual stuff — caps, jerseys, t-shirts and MLB knick-knacks.
“Japanese people will buy anything that's in a limited edition and hard to get, and they'll resell it," said Izawa, a Japanese American from Honolulu and a flight attendant with Hawaiian Airlines.
World shopping center
The souvenir shop illustrates that Ohtani might be intensifying the worldwide interest in baseball.
“This is an important series,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It highlights that baseball is on a world stage, a world platform.”
Rosie Rosas, a Dodgers fans from San Diego, made the trip to Tokyo with her son to visit her husband who works in Japan. Tickets for the Dodgers-Cubs games were impossible. But shopping was not.
“It doesn't happen very often, games like this, and the Dodgers are champions,” Rosas said. "And the Japanese players we have are amazing.”
Ruby Yu and Nick Mah, two Canadians with roots in Hong Kong, traveled from Vancouver on vacation and made Ohtani part of the experience.
“Things are flying off the shelf,” said Ruby as Nick stood alongside with a bag full or goodies.
They paid $200 apiece for two tickets to Friday's exhibition game between the Hanshin Tigers and Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won 3-0. The least expensive tickets for the Dodgers-Cubs games are fetching about $1,500 on the secondary market.
“We knew the Japanese were huge baseball fans," Ruby said.
Wearing a blue Chicago jersey, Cubs fan Jason Umbreit was spending modestly in the souvenir shop, happy to have found a corner with Chicago merchandise.
“I knew it was going to be crowded, and this is the biggest shop I've ever seen," he said.
He's also among the most fortunate baseball fans on earth. He said he paid only $60 for a ticket for one of the Dodgers-Cubs games.
“I got the ticket when they went on sale,” he said. “I was lucky.”
The prices, the exchange rate
The value of the Japanese yen has fallen drastically in relation to the dollar in the last 2 1/2 years. That means it has become very expensive for Japanese to travel to the United States. The yen buys fewer and fewer dollars, making American prices seem very high for Japanese. Conversely, tourists with dollars find Japan affordable.
It means this MLB shop is a useful opportunity for many Japanese fans to buy coveted Ohtani and Yamamoto merchandise. Most suggested the prices — though expensive — might be cheaper than they are in the United States.
Star Dodgers pitchers Yamamoto was asked his reaction to seeing thousands of fans wearing Dodgers garb, some with his name on the back. Or seeing his face on billboards, or inside massive souvenir store.
“I see the support from my fans and I’d like to turn it into positive energy and carry it to the mound,” he replied.
At the very high end, the store offers Dodgers white or blue jersey for about 75,000 yen — about $500. There are also other styles of Cubs and Dodgers jerseys for a bit less — about 25,000 yen — about $170.
Caps and t-shirt are among the favorites, many in the $30-50 range. There are key chains for about $18 and game programs for $20.
“I think the prices are reasonable,” Kohei Matsui said, a 21-year-old Japanese student. He described the crowds and shopping mayhem as "beyond what I expected.”
“Japanese all love baseball and Major League Baseball, and we want to see it once in our life," Matsui added. “This is the chance.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Stephen Wade, The Associated Press
