Masahiro Tanaka media

Japanese reporters surround Masahiro Tanaka in his first spring training with the Yankees in 2014.

(Brendan Kuty/NJ.com)

BALTIMORE — In the Masahiro Tanaka injury saga, they're the innocent bystanders, the ones as much at the whim of doctors as the Yankees and their $155-million ace: the Japanese media.

What's happening? Where is Tanaka? Where's he going?

Reporters covering the Yankees are clamoring for these answers. But, for most of them, there are other questions, too. Other stories.

While Tanaka works to recover from the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, which could either mean six weeks of rehab or Tommy John surgery that sidelines him for a year, mysteries such as the case of Brian McCann's missing bat or whether general manager Brian Cashman tries playing roster Jenga before the trade deadline could provide the next big headline at any time in New York.

But not for Japanese reporters like Mamoru Shikama, of Nikkan Sports News, who's main responsibility is covering one man: Tanaka.

Tanaka's arm injury is "huge news" back home, says baseball fan Nobuhiro Yamanishi in an email from Japan.

"It has been in headlines of newspapers of both general and sports types," he told NJ.com. "Also on TV, it has been treated as one of the top stories on news programs and sports programs." But, he adds, "Nobody seems to care about how this will impact the Yankees' rotation or their race for the pennant."

It's all about Tanaka. And Shikama -- one of the approximately 30 Japanese media members on the Yankees' travel list, according to the team's public relations department -- must deliver the latest news on the star to the fans back home.

In 2013, only about a dozen Japanese media members went on the road with the team, which only showcased aging stars Ichiro Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda from Tanaka's homeland.

The influx was a reflex to the attention Tanaka commanded this offseason when teams battled over a chance to even negotiate with the 25-year-old and remained sizable into spring training and the regular season.

A 22-year journalist, Shikama moved to America to cover Major League Baseball just before Ichiro Suzuki signed with the Mariners in 2001. Shikama's job had mostly been to cover Ichiro's every move from the moment he landed in Seattle until this season, while also covering other Japanese players occasionally.

Then Tanaka came and changed everything for Shikama, becoming his main focus as Ichiro, a future Hall of Famer, and his steady decline became a drier storyline in Japan. Tanaka, however, has become a rock star of sorts back in his homeland. News of his injury dominated the whole front page of Nikkan Pro Sports Saturday.

So, Tanaka became Shikama's beat when he arrived, and Shikama's recorded just about every nuance possible of his starts and routines and life.

Soon it's likely Shikama and several others like him will be doing it away from the Big Apple and in the Sunshine State. Tanaka will follow a specific rehab program that will start Monday with a platelet-rich plasma injection into the elbow Monday that he'll get in New York City.

Then it's likely off to the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., for exercise, strengthening and throwing. The Yankees haven't said yet where Tanaka will undergo rehab, but it's unlikely to happen in The Bronx, which is better equipped to handle an active baseball team than a rehabbing starter. Fellow rotation member Michael Pineda, also 25, has spent most of his time in Tampa since going on the disabled list on May 6 with a strained back muscle, from which he hasn't returned.

Shikama said he would likely follow Tanaka to Florida for however long he remains there. And while uprooting from a place where you've spent much of your time might sound difficult, Shikama said it won't bother him much.

Shikama has been living in various Hilton hotels since Ichiro came to the Yankees in the middle of 2012. Shikama has just one gigantic suitcase, he said, and he brings it with him from place to place. Occasionally, Nikkan Sports News lets him travel back to Arizona, where his family lives, to rest and gather new supplies.

"It's actually very usual," said Shikama, who speaks solid English. "He is the big story."

Back in 2012, Daisuke Matsuzaka was the big story. Matsuzaka, by then, had fallen from the latest, hottest foreign import in 2007 to an expensive bust with the Red Sox. Still, Matsuzaka was big in Japan, and when he had Tommy John surgery, Shikama traveled to the Red Sox's complex in Fort Myers, Fla., to chronicle his recovery.

The days were long, Shikama said. He and other Japanese reporters would spend most of their days hanging outside the clubhouse, waiting for the pitcher to emerge, or watching him from hundreds of feet away. They'd watch the simple things, such as playing catch, with the intensity of covering a real game. They'd tally how many throws he made in bullpen sessions, even breaking down the pitch types.

It may sound like much, but it's common among Japanese reporters, according to Brad Lefton.

Lefton, a bilingual St. Louis-based journalist, covered the entirety of Ichiro's career in Seattle and in New York, just like Shikama. Lefton, working Friday for MLB Japan, said even if Tanaka isn't made available to Japanese reporters every day in Tampa, they'll still be there.

Nobuyuki Kobayshi, of the Tokyo-based Daily Sports, said Japanese reporters — and videographers and TV correspondents — will wait outside the complex if they must and shout to Tanaka as he leaves, hoping he'll take a few minutes to discuss his progress.

In Japan, while they wait for the next nugget of news on Tanaka, fans have been through this before, Yamanishi says.

"Nobody is worried about his surgery in the U.S. We have a long history of pitchers traveling to the U.S. to receive treatment from the late Frank Jobe," he wrote.

And when it's all over -- whether Tanaka's rehab is a success and he returns to the Yankees by September, like they hope, or if he undergoes Tommy John surgery, Shikama will be there.

It's his job.