Mr. Akiyama said that Ichiro and former New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui's jerseys have been the most popular among the Japanese athletes playing in the Majors. But, like his performance on the field, Ichiro's sales have dropped off in recent years. When pitching ace Yu Darvish donned the Texas Rangers uniform for the first time after his announced move to the Lone Star state this January sales of his Rangers jersey back in Japan soared. But Mr. Akiyama said he expects that sales of Ichiro apparel will catch up to Darvish's goods by the end of the year, because he believes the Yankees are the most popular team in...