Seattle ? At the height of his heralded arrival two years ago, Ichiro Suzuki rarely left the ballpark without a caravan of Japanese reporters and photographers trailing him.

Once, after they showed up at his home, Suzuki became so frustrated that he stopped talking to the Japanese media for a time. Teammate Kazuhiro Sasaki joined the boycott.

It’s rarely a problem anymore, in part because many of those who used to follow Suzuki’s every move have been reassigned to New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui, the newest Japanese star.

“Nothing like that has happened this year so far,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “This is more like, ‘Where there’s no smoke, there’s no fire.’ When there is a rumor, they look and try to find it by following me home.”

About a dozen Japanese journalists cover Suzuki on a daily basis this season, down from roughly 50 two years ago. But that doesn’t mean he is yesterday’s news.

Cameras still are trained on the Seattle right fielder during warmups, reminiscent of the scrutiny directed at British royalty. A buzz floats through the Safeco Field crowd each time he steps into the batter’s box.

Suzuki has led the majors in All-Star balloting for the past two years.

But the media frenzy? That part, he said with a smile and a look of relief, has subsided.

“The number of writers, the TV crews, is much different from my first year,” he said. “But the number of people I speak with is more.”

Suzuki’s interviews more frequently focus on baseball than on earlier topics, such as what he ate for breakfast. He even speaks in English sometimes.

The celebrity journalists and magazine writers from Japan are gone, leaving only regular baseball beat reporters.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki takes practice swings during a game May 10 in Seattle. No longer hounded my a horde of Japanese reporters and photographers, Suzuki has nicely settled in with the Mariners.

“The quality of questions has gotten better,” Suzuki said.

Two years ago, Suzuki was one of the biggest stories in baseball, helping the Mariners win 116 games. He became the first Japanese-born position player to see daily action in a major-league lineup.

He also had an exceptional season, hitting .350 to win the American League batting title and stealing a league-leading 56 bases.

He was voted AL MVP and rookie of the year.

For his first two seasons, Suzuki conducted pool interviews with Japanese reporters. He usually stared straight into his locker, paying little attention to those around him as he carefully massaged his feet with a small wooden tool — a postgame relaxation ritual.

Now he takes questions from any credentialed media members at the appropriate times. He’ll often make eye contact and smile.

“I knew two years ago was just not a normal situation,” Suzuki said. “Now, it’s more of a normal situation.”

Not so for Matsui. Since joining the Yankees this spring, the slugger has endured the kind of scrutiny that greeted Suzuki’s arrival — attention that is magnified because he plays in New York.

“I’ve been trying to do the same things as I did in Japan,” Matsui said through an interpreter. “You have responsibilities, on and off the field, such as dealing with the media, and I try to fulfill them.”

Matsui has been very accessible to reporters, meeting with the Japanese media after every game. He even seems to enjoy it. During spring training, he took a group of writers out to dinner.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been easy, but I’ve been able to become comfortable here,” Matsui said.