Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he’s much more than that in Japan. Back home, he’s a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan’s economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.

Ichiro debuted in Major League Baseball in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, the first Japanese position player to span the Pacific and an instant star. Left-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the country’s confidence in a period of national malaise.

TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he’s much more than that in Japan. Back home, he’s a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan’s economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.

On April 2, 2001, Bret Boone jogged to second base for a chilly Opening Day in Seattle. The roof at Safeco Field was open, the upstart Oakland Athletics were in town, and ESPN2 had the national broadcast. Boone was preparing for the first pitch of his 10th season when second base umpire Kerwin Danley called his name.

TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball ... Right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the country’s confidence in a period of national ...

TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball ... to span the Pacific and an instant star. Left-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the ...

TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball ... Right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the country’s confidence in a period of national ...

In 1995, the Dodgers made history by signing right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo, a five-time All-Star in Japan's Pacific League. Nomo became the first player from a Japanese professional league to ...

Players are elected to the Hall of Fame provided they are named on at least 75% of ballots cast by eligible voting members of the BBWAA. With 394 ballots submitted in the 2025 election, candidates needed to receive 296 votes to be elected.

Suzuki spent nine seasons with Orix in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball before joining MLB and the Mariners in 2001. While Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo was a star for the Dodgers in the 1990s, Suzuki was the first Japanese position player to enjoy that level of success in the majors.

Ichiro Suzuki has become the first Japanese player to make it to baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is likely to be the next.

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he's much more than that in Japan. Back home, he's a wellspring of national pride.