The Japanese baseball fans tuned into NHK, eager to see the MLB debut of their homegrown star Hideki 'Godzilla' Matsui (pictured) who signed for the Yankees in the close season.
The NHK ratings for the game averaged 11.1 percent of the total audience, peaking at 12.8 percent, nearly three times the normal figures for the coverage of the sport.
NHK is broadcasting 300 MLB games this season, mostly on two of its three satellite feeds, as Matsui and seven other Japanese are playing for five MLB clubs this season.
Last year NHK aired 262 MLB games - well up from the 75 it aired in 1995, when the first Japanese pitcher, Hideo Nomo, joined the Los Angeles Dodgers.
NHK has broadcast MLB games since 1987.
