Could baseball be the fourth arrow of "Abenomics," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategy for reviving Japan's economy?

Mr. Abe and his ruling party apparently are open-minded about how to get Japan's economy going, including adding more professional baseball teams.

Adding four more teams to Japan's current 12 could reinvigorate regional economies and keep more Japanese players from signing with U.S. teams, sportswriter Seijun Ninomiya told Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Friday at a party meeting to discuss economic revitalization.

"If you go to the countryside to see a game, you stay in a hotel, so hotels, hot springs resorts and construction companies profit. Families are happy," he said. "It's a win-win situation."

Mr. Ninomiya cited the U.S., where there are now 30 Major League Baseball teams, up from only 16 around half a century ago.