The Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes have attracted a record number of spectators to their spring training, backed by strong results in recent years and popularity-boosting efforts.
On Sunday, the former team of new Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had its largest-ever spring crowd of 29,196 and teamed up with Zweigen Kanazawa, a J-League football third-division club based in Ishikawa Prefecture, to collect donations for the earthquake-hit Noto Peninsula.
The two teams are holding their camps in the same sports park in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, while recovery work is underway for the peninsula struck by a 7.6-magnitude quake on New Year's Day.
"We want to involve fans and do what people did for us, based on our experience," senior Orix official Yuichi Kohama said.
In 1995, Orix won the Pacific League title, inspired by fan support and led by Ichiro Suzuki after its then home, Kobe, was struck by a deadly earthquake just months before the start of the season.
The Orix camp had more than 20,000 visitors each day over the three-day weekend that ended Monday. Donations for the Noto Peninsula will continue to be collected at the venue until the end of February.
Now based in Osaka, Orix has long struggled to expand its fan base in the shadow of the hugely popular Hanshin Tigers, who share essentially the same market in western Japan's Kansai region.
But the Buffaloes have successfully brought fans closer to players at their camp in Miyazaki.
"Everyone on the Orix team interacts with fans nicely," said Satoyo Konoike, a 60-year-old from Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture. "I came to the camp for the first time. I never expected it to be this fun."
Fans are getting to see Orix's players up close and get a good look at potential future stars. The Buffaloes, with a solid track record for player development in recent years, have their share of promising young talent.
Shumpeita Yamashita, a 21-year-old right-hander, has drawn attention from Major League Baseball scouts, and was voted the PL's rookie of the year last season.
Outfielder Yutaro Sugimoto, looking at the big crowd, said, "This is like Universal Studios (Japan in Osaka)."
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