If you're a serious Red Sox, Yankess, or Mariners fan then the names Diasuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Ichiro Suzuki are standout players for their MLB teams. But unless you live in Japan, you likely have no idea just how big they are in Japan, just how much more than 15 minutes of fame they enjoy:

Of the 250 media members at last Tuesday's Yankees-Red Sox game in which Matsuzaka pitched, nearly half were from Japanese news organizations, said Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo. "You'll have two writers, from the same company, covering different players," said Isao Hirooka, the Yankees' Pacific Rim media advisor, who came to New York in 2003 when Matsui joined the team. Interest in the pair, and in Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki who also has his own assigned reporters, is huge at home. "We have to cover each player, every day," said Hiroshi Kanda, who covers Matsui for Kyodo News America. "Fans want to read their story, every day."

But it not just the quantity of coverage that's noteworthy, the quality, particularly the focus and style, has changed as well:

When Matsuzaka and Matsui were playing for their respective professional sides in Japan, they were covered as members of their teams, not as individuals, several reporters said. It was only their coming to the United States that created the demand to know about their everyday life.

And while we normally hear about the media spotlight taking its toll on athletes, all the intense media scrutiny surrounding the players takes its toll on the reporters too:

The 24-hour coverage of the Japanese players is both competitive and exhausting, as illustrated by a Japanese media member last week who was fast asleep at his laptop midway through the game.

And by doing so gave a new and perhaps unintended meaning to the words of this 1984 hit:

Here's my comeback on the road again Things will happen while they can I will wait here for my man tonight It's easy when you're big in Japan

Aah when you're big in Japan-tonight...
Big in Japan-be-tight...
Big in Japan... ooh the eastern sea's so blue
Big in Japan-alright, pay!
Then I'll sleep by your side
Things are easy when you're big in Japan