TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met Friday with the Los Angeles Dodgers' new pitcher Roki Sasaki and received a team cap with Sasaki's autograph, saying he is happy that Major League Baseball's 2025 season will start in Japan.

During the meeting at the prime minister's office, also attended by Dodgers' owner and chairman Mark Walter, Ishiba offered his sympathy to those affected by wildfires in Iwate, Sasaki's home prefecture in northeastern Japan, and in the Los Angeles region.

"I'm truly happy that the Dodgers are opening the season in Japan," said Ishiba. He continued to wear the cap received from Sasaki, who is scheduled to make his major league debut against the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 in Tokyo next week.

"There may be only a little that I can do but I want to contribute to the team," Sasaki told reporters after meeting with Ishiba.

A massive wildfire in the city of Ofunato in Iwate, where Sasaki attended high school, took nearly two weeks to contain, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. It came shortly before the 14th anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated a wide area of the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan, including Ofunato.