I guessed that Seattle must be one of the biggest destinations for Japanese given the popularity of Ichiro. Here's an article from Japan Today discussing it:
Seattle trying to attract Japanese visitors beyond IchiroMaya Kaneko
SEATTLE — Ever since Japanese superstar Ichiro entered major league baseball in the United States in 2001, Seattle has become a common tourist destination for the Japanese, but the area known as "the Emerald City" for its lush greenery knows it has to offer attractions other than the outfielder.
"Before Ichiro came, nobody in Japan or this side of the Pacific could imagine how big an impact baseball would have," recalls Michael Kurtz, tourism development director at Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Seattle was not very well known in Japan."
"We realized early that baseball was wonderful for us and it really was a magnet, but we knew it could not last forever," Kurtz says.
The convention bureau opened a Tokyo office in 2001 to coincide with Ichiro's major league debut as a Seattle Mariners' outfielder.
Japan has been Seattle's "No. 1 international tourist market" since the convention bureau began promotion in 1980, but Ichiro's arrival in the city further increased the number of Japanese visitors by 30 percent in the first year of his major league baseball career, according to the Tokyo office.
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