Viewership in Japan for Tokyo Series emphasizes Dodgers' brilliant recruiting plan

Apart from an awkward four innings against Shota Imanaga in the opener, the Dodgers just looked better than the Cubs during the Tokyo Series. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding through five innings, and the offense was able to cobble together a three-run lead while the Cubs couldn't get a hit off of four Dodgers bullpen arms.

In the finale, Roki Sasaki narrowly avoided disaster to put up a decent debut, and the big bats got going; Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández, and Shohei Ohtani all homered en route to a Dodgers victory.

This is exactly what MLB wanted to happen when they sent the Dodgers and Cubs, who have five rostered Japanese-born players among them, to open their seasons in Tokyo. There were undoubtedly some Cubs/Imanaga/Seiya Suzuki fans in attendance who were disappointed by the sweep, but the crowd was dominated by Dodger blue.

Over 55,000 people packed into the Tokyo Dome for those two games, with resale tickets going for over $20,000, and millions more tuned into the broadcast. The LA Times' Bill Shaikin reported that 25 million viewers had watched the broadcast — that's over 1/5 of the country's population as of 2023. He added that baseball in the States haven't seen numbers like that since Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.

TV ratings in Japan for Tokyo Series reinforce Dodgers' dominance in Asia

After the Dodgers signed Ohtani, Andrew Friedman said he wanted to "paint Japan Dodger blue," and if the crowd at the Tokyo Dome was any indication, they certainly have. Dave Roberts said he walked through Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood, he only saw Dodgers caps. The fan mob at the airport to try to catch of a glimpse at the Dodgers' arrival was so intense that they were forced to exit through another terminal.

And although Ohtani is perhaps the most famous person in Japan, Japanese Dodgers fans aren't just in it for him. A huge crowd of people followed Kiké Hernández into an appearance at a store in Tokyo, and some fans inquired after Freddie Freeman's son Charlie.

The Dodgers have made themselves the destination for fans, current NPB players, and even future stars, to a point where it'll be surprising if huge NPB stars go anywhere other than LA when they're posted to MLB. Friedman has already gotten his wish, but the Dodgers still don't even seem like they're fully satisfied yet.