Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka greets a group of photographers who were waiting for him to take the field yesterday at the Tokyo Dome.

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The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

TOKYO — A year ago, America was in the middle of Matsuzaka-mania. This month, it’s Japan’s turn — again.

As the Red Sox settle into their Far East experience, their host country is rediscovering its obsession with starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The country’s star has returned, this time with his World Champion teammates, and if anything, his stature has only grown during his professional absence.

Japan has embraced Matsuzaka fully as he returns home, a point reinforced since the Sox landed here shortly after midnight Thursday.

“I think we all knew that Daisuke was very popular in Japan,” said Mike Lowell yesterday. “but the other night, I thought there was a light problem with the elevators with all the cameras [flashing].”

Matsuzaka has made the rest of the Sox seem like little more than sidemen here. His mere appearance at a news conference yesterday afternoon resulted in a stampede of photographers, intent on capturing the pitcher posing with his manager Terry Francona, owner John Henry and general manager Theo Epstein.

Through it all, Matsuzaka seemed bemused by the attention. While he frequently discourages interaction with American reporters, he seems bemused by the frenzy that surrounds him here. Less than two hours after he spoke at a news conference yesterday, he was surrounded by reporters as he came off the field from the team’s workout, pressed against a dugout railing by photographers desperately angling for a shot of him in his Red Sox uniform.

“On the bus to the hotel [late Thursday],” said Matsuzaka, “everybody commented that they were surprised about how much attention I received over here. But to me, it’s not much of a problem.”

In the U.S., Matsuzaka zealously guards his privacy. He was irate last season when a photo of his wife, watching a game at Fenway, appeared in a Boston paper. But back home, in more familiar surroundings, he appears more comfortable with his celebrity.

When Matsuzaka put himself up for bid following the 2006 season, he could not have foreseen that, a little over a year later, he would get the opportunity to pitch again in Japan so quickly.

“I certainly didn’t expect it to happen in the second year,” he said.

That he returns as a member of a world championship team has only made the sojourn that much more fulfilling. And, given Josh Beckett’s unavailability, he could not have foreseen getting the chance to pitch the Sox’ regular-season opener.

Only a week ago, in fact, he wasn’t sure he would be able to make the trip here since his wife was expecting the couple’s second child. But when the baby was born a week ago, it cleared the way for his return.

“Everything worked out well,” he said. “I’m glad to be here and I look forward to pitching in front of the Japanese fans.

Already, there is intense speculation in the media about how long Matsuzaka will be allowed to pitch in Tuesday’s opener against the Oakland A’s. The notion of pitch counts is largely foreign here, where the culture virtually demands complete-game efforts.

“Japanese fans expect [pitchers] to go deep into games,” said Matsuzaka. “We haven’t had that conversation [about how long he’ll be able to go] yet, but over the next couple of days, I’ll throw a side session and we’ll discuss it. Fans expect me to go [deep], but even more so, I expect the same thing.”

The Sox have urged Matsuzaka to pitch more aggressively in his second major-league season, encouraging him to pitch to contact more to avoid running up his pitch count in the early innings. It’s a lesson Matsuzaka has been trying to heed all spring.

“If I can keep focusing,” he said, “I think that I will naturally go deep into games.”

The Sox will be watching carefully Tuesday, mindful of the fact that while the game counts, it won’t count any more than the 30 or so starts Matsuzaka will have remaining when they leave Tokyo Wednesday night.

“It’s early in the season,” cautioned Francona. “On March 25, pitchers aren’t ready to go as deeply as [they will later in the season]. What we’ve been talking about all spring is not to do something on March 25 that will have repercussions on August 25. We want to win these games, but if we have to pull a pitcher out an inning early, we will do that.”

Regardless of how long he remains in Tuesday’s game, the reception Matsuzaka will receive when he first takes the mound will be thunderous.

“I’m glad he’s going to pitch Opening Day,” said Lowell. “That will be very emotional for him and he’ll be full of emotion. And hopefully, he’ll do a very good job for us.”

smcadam@projo.com