While diehard baseball fans gather to watch America’s two largest cities battle for a World Series title, many from all over the world come to this Los Angeles neighborhood because of a single player.

People here in the LA suburb of Little Tokyo call it the “Ohtani effect.”

Shohei Ohtani – the star player of the Los Angeles Dodgers – towers over the historic district, personified in a 150-foot mural, and his name appears on the jerseys fans wear here.

Baseball may be known as “America’s pastime,” but its biggest star comes from Japan. The player signed a landmark contract to play this season – a whopping $700m (£540m) over ten years – and the hype surrounding him has only grown, bringing new fans and new traditions to multicultural Los Angeles.

Business has boomed here. Tourists come from all over, including the star’s home country.

“When Shohei comes to bat, they know if he hits the home run, we’re going to pour sake shots,” said Don Tahara, the owner of Far Bar, where dozens of TVs show Dodgers games. Home offers just as much free rice wine – often to hundreds of fans.

That’s a lot of sake. Ohtani has hit 54 home runs this regular season, but none so far in the World Series against the New York Yankees.

“It’s good for the Dodgers – maybe not so good for my wallet. But it is meaningful, it warms my heart.”

Far Bar was packed during the World Series.

Mr. Tahara handed out mochi, a Japanese rice cake decorated with the Dodgers logo, and free margarita shots in honor of Fernando Valenzuela, the recently deceased Dodgers legend. The Mexican-born, left-handed pitcher is also immortalized in a mural – just across the river from Little Tokyo in Boyle Heights.

Covered in paint splatters, muralist Robert Vargas took a break from painting Valenzuela to watch the game at Far Bar. It’s hard to imagine Mr. Vargas buying his own drink at Far Bar — in Little Tokyo, he may be as beloved as Ohtani for immortalizing the baseball star on the massive wall of the Miyako Hotel.

“I’ve been a Dodger fan all my life,” says Mr. Vargas, who says he painted Ohtani “in the spirit of representation.”

And the mural has become a popular destination for tourists from Japan who come by the busload to pose for photos with the artwork.

Takatani Kiuchi traveled from Japan to attend Game 2 of the series at Dodger Stadium in the heart of Los Angeles and watched Game 3 with his friends from Far Bar. Dressed from head to toe in Dodgers gear and Ohtani jerseys, Kiuchi met fans from Los Angeles and around the world.

“We are new Dodgers fans. From Tokyo. For us, it’s more about the Yankees versus Dodgers – that means a lot more than the World Series.”

They were excited that the second game of the series also featured the team’s other Japanese star: Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched six innings and allowed just one hit to the Yankees.

Kiuchi last came to Los Angeles as a child 50 years ago and says he will definitely return to see the Dodgers play again.

“We came here to see this,” Kiuchi cheered as the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hit a home run during Game 3 and the crowd at the bar erupted in cheers.

The city’s tourism office is also cheering. In 2023, there were 230,000 visitors from Japan to Los Angeles, an increase of 91.7 percent from 2022.

And by the end of the year, the city is expected to welcome 320,000 visitors, says Bill Karz, senior vice president of brand marketing at LA Tourism. It’s still a drop from pre-pandemic levels, but tourism officials are celebrating the increase.

“The Ohtani effect is real,” says Karz. “It affects our entire economy.”

That, he says, results in higher hotel occupancy, ticket sales at area theme parks such as Universal Studios and tours of Dodger Stadium, which has increased the number of Japanese language tours.

Even some dedicated Yankee fans have jumped on the Ohtani bandwagon.

In a sea of ​​Dodger blue, Vince Gonzales wore a black and red Japanese national team “Ohtani” jersey.

“Shhh, I’m a Yankee fan,” he whispered at the bar as he mingled with tourists from Japan. “But more importantly, I am an Ohtani fan because I have a passion for Japanese baseball.”

Far Bar erupted in cheers and “I love LA” blasted from the sound system as game three ended in a Dodger victory.

Robert Vargas – the muralist – couldn’t sneak away. A woman from Japan ran out of the bar to beg him for photos for the mural. He agreed and soon there were dozens of people posing for photos with him and chanting, “Let’s Go, Dodgers!”