Over the past few months, Don Tahara has handed out nearly 100 bottles of free sake to celebrate Shohei Ohtani’s late-season heroics for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At Little Tokyo’s Far Bar, a gastropub Tahara opened 18 years ago, every customer gets a chance every time Ohtani hits a home run. The “Shohei sake shot” special wasn’t a cheap expense, but Tahara said it was money well spent for a lifelong Dodgers fan.

Watching Ohtani at the Far Bar has become a family affair, especially when the Dodgers play at home. Women and seniors, who Tahara said had rarely visited the bar in the past, have been out and about in droves in Ohtani jerseys. The more ardent fans started at the bar for a pre-match meal before taking an Uber to the stadium, Tahara said, then returned to the bar for a few post-match cocktails.

“We have become the national place to watch Dodgers games,” said Tahara, who estimated a 30-40% sales spike on game days. “People who normally wouldn’t even come here for sports competitions, but now come for Shohei.”

As the Dodgers face the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series, Ohtani mania has transformed Little Tokyo into the unofficial “Dodger Town.” A host of entrepreneurs, already die-hard Dodgers fans, were quick to create Ohtani-themed menu specials to support their homeland hero. A towering mural of the two-way star adorning the Miyako Hotel has become a top tourist attraction, drawing legions of new shoppers and diners to revitalize a historic enclave under the growing threat of gentrification and displacement.

In the nation’s second-oldest Japantown, the impact of Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers was stratospheric. Adam Burke, the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism Bureau, said it is possible that the number of Japanese tourists to the city could exceed 400,000 this year, nearly doubling the total number of visitors from 2023 .The general manager of Miyako Hotel said that 98% of residents are at stake. There were days of watching Ohtani.

Mariko Lochridge, small business coordinator at the nonprofit Little Tokyo Service Center, said Ohtani’s love for Japan has clearly boosted tourism, but his more lasting impact is on increasing the visibility of Japanese language and pop culture in the USA

“The long-term effect of Ohtani fever is impacting the cool factor of Little Tokyo because our identity is tied to Japan,” Lochridge said. “It gives us hope that people will find the neighborhood and fall in love with it.”

Along the four streets that make up historic Little Tokyo, bars and dessert stalls turn food into Ohtani merchandise. The confectionery factory Fugetsu-Do, which has been making mochi for 121 years, launched the “Sho-mochi”: Dodger blue packaging filled with white chocolate and ganache. Okayama Kobo’s Bakery at the Miyako Hotel sells pastries shaped like the Dodgers’ helmets.

Tahara and other business owners credit local artist Robert Vargas, who painted the Ohtani mural, for putting Little Tokyo in the spotlight. “The mural is the best thing to happen to Little Tokyo in a long time,” Tahara said, noting that dozens of Japanese tourists would line up in front of the Far Bar to take photos with the mural. Some visited the bar afterwards.

The mural towers over Bunkado, a family-owned gift shop that opened in 1946. Natsuki Quartz, who runs Nostalgiana, a pop-up craft stall selling traditional Japanese products such as teacups and vintage kimono coasters, said she rarely saw Japanese customers. come into the store until Ohtani joined the Dodgers. Since the mural was unveiled in March, she estimated that total visitors to the gift shop have more than doubled from the previous year, often reaching more than 500 people on busy days.

“Ohtani-san has certainly made a big change in Little Tokyo,” Quartz said, addressing Ohtani with the Japanese honorific. “Instead of just going to restaurants, people now also want to experience Japanese culture.”

At Mr. Ramen, the last family-run ramen shop on First Street, Ohtani mania has triggered an avalanche of sales from new customers eager to taste Japanese food, says co-owner Ryusei Yamamoto.

“We are seeing a big influx of people who are interested in the Japanese community,” said Yamamoto, 36. “We hear that people who speak Japanese and know Japanese culture and history are returning to Little Tokyo.”

Like Far Bar, Mr. Ramen has capitalized on Ohtani’s star power by offering 50% off the first 17 bowls of ramen the day after he hits a home run. Although the majority of the restaurant’s visitors are LA residents, Yamamoto said Ohtani has brought in a wave of Japanese tourists and out-of-state visitors.

The revival came after a particularly difficult period in the restaurant’s history. Yamamoto’s father, who founded Mr. Ramen in 1993, died suddenly in 2020, leaving him and his two younger brothers with the difficult choice of whether to sell or take over the company. The three sons wanted to work in music and acting, but decided to rebuild the restaurant to honor their parents’ legacy.

“If we sold for the low amount people offered us during Covid,” Yamamoto said, “how disrespectful would that be to our parents?”

Yamamoto said Little Tokyo is experiencing a resurgence that he hopes will continue. Yet development pressures remain a serious existential threat to family businesses in Little Tokyo, which celebrates its 140th anniversary this summer. Residents and business owners continue to be squeezed as large-scale developments, including a new rail line and a $2 billion mixed-use project, are given the green light. In May, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Little Tokyo one of the 11 most endangered historic sites in the country.

Kristin Fukushima, general manager of the Little Tokyo Community Council, said more than half of Little Tokyo’s old businesses — those that have been in business for more than a decade — have closed or left the neighborhood in the past 15 years.

“We still see rents rising,” Fukushima said. “A handful of companies have been able to take advantage of this moment, but it doesn’t fully alleviate the problems we have.”

As an avid Dodgers fan, Fukushima said she is excited about the World Series, but concerned about the upcoming changes in Little Tokyo. She said she has already noticed parking lots increasing prices, which she said could deter locals from visiting the area.

Fukushima said tourism driven by sporting events and powerhouse events can be a good thing as long as investments are community-oriented. It’s a conversation that should continue ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, she said.

“We want to make sure that when people are here, they go to our old businesses,” Fukushima said. “We are not trying to stop change or progress, but we want to ensure it does not threaten our 140-year-old community.”