Kobe was transformed during the pennant race; the wave of civic pride that helped ease the after-effects of the earthquake crested as the team made it to the championship series. Unfortunately, the Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League, were too strong for the Blue Wave, beating them 4 games to 1. However, Ichiro’s brilliant season had elevated him from youth cult status to national treasure. It wasn’t just teenagers who loved him; now it was everyone.

Ichiro won the batting title and MVP again in 1996, as the Blue Wave successfully defended their Pacific League pennant. This time, the team won the Japan Series, defeating the fabled Yomiuri Giants 4 games to 1. The clincher came in Kobe’s Green Stadium. Ichiro was a thorn in the Giants’ side throughout the five games, reaching base seven times and hitting a home run.

After the season, Ichiro played for a Japanese all-star team in an exhibition series against a group of touring major leaguers. American players had little respect for the brand of baseball being played in Japan, and gave little credence to the possibility of a Japanese position player making it in the majors. That changed when they got a load of Ichiro Suzuki. Most of the time he looked like the best player on the field—for either side. Catcher Mike Piazza told the local press that Ichiro could easily hold his own in the majors. As a result Ichiro’s status in Japan grew ever larger.

The 1997 season saw Ichiro win a fourth straight batting championship and reach a new personal high with 91 RBIs. During one stretch he went 216 at bats without striking out to set a new league mark. That fall, Ichiro again dazzled a team of American stars, stealing bases at will and batting well over .300.

Ichiro’s fame was through the roof. He was the wealthiest and most adored athlete in Japan. His marketing power was incredible. In fact, he canceled a lucrative deal with Nike to market his own line of clothing—and it quickly became the country’s top seller. The downside of fame and fortune, however, was beginning to take its toll. Privacy became a luxury that Ichiro rarely enjoyed. He could not leave his apartment without being followed. He could not eat at a restaurant without a wall of bodyguards between himself and the other diners. He and his girlfriend, television newswoman Yumiko Fukushima, found it impossible to have a normal date. When they decided to marry, they flew to Los Angeles under assumed names and had the ceremony performed there. They were afraid that a wedding in Japan would bring the country to a grinding halt.

Perhaps inevitably, Ichiro’s mind was beginning to wander on the ballfield. He still won the batting championship in 1998, and led the league in hits, but his RBI and stolen base totals plummeted. When the Blue Wave failed to reach the postseason for the second year in a row, Ichiro started thinking more seriously about playing on the other side of the Pacific.

Like all Japanese players, Ichiro was under contract for a minimum of nine seasons. Though his salary was the richest in Japanese history, he was still counting the days when he could test his skills against true major leaguers. The Orix Corporation, the large leasing company that owned the Blue Wave, knew its young star had his heart set on playing in America. They were willing to let him go, as long as they were compensated. In 1999, they set in motion a plan that would make Ichiro and Orix both very wealthy.

That March, the company sent Ichiro and two other players—Nobuyuki Hoshino and Nobuyuki Ebisu—on loan to the Seattle Mariners. Publicly, Orix claimed it was simply a way to foster better relations between American and Japanese baseball. But everyone knew the truth: Ichiro was being marketed to the majors.