Baseball

Baseball is a popular sport in Japan and has been played in the country for more than 100 years. Since the 1990s, many Japanese professional baseball stars, such as Nomo Hideo and Matsui Hideki have started playing in the U.S. Major Leagues. Suzuki Ichiro, who joined the Seattle Mariners in the 2001 season, was the American League's Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in his first year. In 2001, he was also the AL leader in several categories including batting average and stolen bases.