Well I'll be honest I'm no die hard baseball fan or season ticket holder.  But every Japanese had pride in the Mariners since at one point (2002-2003) they had at once 3 Japanese players on the roster.  Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, and Shigetoshi Hasegawa.  And the Mariners had Mac Suzuki, Masao Kida, and currently have Kenji Johjima.  

I may be lacking research, but my quick tally puts the Mariners on top at having the most Japanese players in their franchise at 6 players,  (3 at one time) with the Boston Red Sox at 5 players.

http://www.japaneseballplayers.com/en/

Would it be a coincidence then that the Mariners get Wakamatsu as a manager?  I think its almost warranted...finally.