Shohei Ohtani fans leave cash trail from Japan to Los Angeles

The tourism board now expects Japan to be L.A.'s fifth largest overseas tourism market this year.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 6:20AM PT
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Dodgers may be four games away from a World Championship, but the city of Los Angeles is already reaping the benefits.

According to Bill Karz with the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, the city has seen about 230,000 visitors from Japan so far.

"We know there's the Ohtani effect," he said.

Of course, he's referring to Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who was born and raised in Japan.

Karz said baseball-loving Japan still can't get enough of the superstar, with huge numbers of fans traveling all the way to L.A. to see him play.



"We know that 80% to 90% of travelers who are going to L.A. from Japan are going to see a Dodger game," Karz said.

The tourism board now expects Japan to be L.A.'s fifth largest overseas tourism market this year. The Miyako Hotel in the heart of L.A.'s Little Tokyo has seen some of the Japanese tourism wave, especially since the hotel is home to the giant Ohtani mural, which has become a social media selfie hit since it went up earlier this year.

Dodger Stadium is also noticing the boost. It has increased its Japanese-speaking tours to eight per week now.

The cost of traveling from Japan to L.A. is apparently not a deal-breaker for some fans.

"Tickets are expensive, hotel is expensive, everything is expensive yet people still want to come to see him," said Risa Oyama, a sales manager at the Miyako Hotel.



One of those people is Yohei Suzuki, who flew all the way from the other side of the planet to see his baseball hero play in Sunday night's clincher.

"I came here from Japan to see him hit and he had two hits so I was really surprised because he did a great job. Yeah! He was great!" Suzuki told Eyewitness News.

According to the Associated Press, television ratings in Japan have set records as the Dodgers head to the World Series. The first game against the New York Yankees is Friday evening in the U.S., which will be Saturday morning in Japan.


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