Bring on the baseball!

The view from our stand

Having visited the sumo once, and with tickets for a day during this month’s basho in our possession, Simon and I decided that we should also check out the other sport for which Japan goes mad, namely, baseball.  I would never have thought of this as being a particularly Japanese sport but apparently it’s been around in this country since the 1870s, and its enthusiastic support is certainly evident in and around Tokyo and Yokohama with three major stadia located here (Tokyo Dome, Meiji Jingu Stadium and Yokohama Stadium). It was to the Tokyo Dome that we headed last Saturday, clutching our tickets for a Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers match.

Tokyo Dome looking like a large jellyfish in the evening sun

Quite a lot of research went into getting the tickets in the first place, not in terms of where to sit/stand in the stadium, but in terms of how to use the ticket machine in our local convenience store. The machine’s name is Loppi and I spent some quality time making friends with its various screens and menus. I’m pleased to report that I achieved most of my order without having to ask for help, but at the point where it didn’t seem to want to accept my name (converted into Japanese) I asked the lady at the checkout for help. She was lovely, but very confused as to why I didn’t have any kanji (ideographic characters) for my name. I perhaps should have made some up…but before I could get creative she called over her colleague, who sorted it all out and enabled me to input the syllabic version of my name. Which, incidentally, I’ve decided is アビ バーベ. Loppi presented me with a foot-long receipt, which I took to the till, paid some money, and was handed my tickets there and then. In a convenience store five minutes’ walk from my apartment. Convenient? I think so!

My new friend Loppi

We had decided to go for the cheapest tickets on the basis that neither of us knows anything about baseball so there was no point in spending loads of money to discover that we weren’t that interested. And, it being five days before the equivalent of an Arsenal vs Manchester United match, all the expensive tickets had sold out months earlier. So, £10 standing tickets in hand, we joined the queue for Gate 25, wondering exactly what we were letting ourselves in for.

The queues weren't that long and we were in within about 10 minutes

Once inside, we spent a while wandering around the tunnels that circle the outer edge of the stadium, checking out the all-important food and drink stands. Through a combination of not really understanding the Japanese on the signs and generally just wanting to get in and get involved, we ended up in the away team’s stands somewhere around centre left field. Simon had been doing some reading up and found out that both the home and away teams have a section of the stands where the really hardcore supporters with their banners, trumpets, clackers, flags, drums and general noise-making apparatus congregate. You guessed it…Hanshin Tigers’ cheering section acquired two new foreign supporters on 28 April 2012!

I told Simon we should have worn matching outfits!

I have to say, if you’re going to spend a few hours at a sport about which you know nothing, make sure you stand with some really full on supporters and let yourself get swept up in the general mayhem and excitement of it all. Shortly after arriving, we were treated to a several-minute long rendition of all the various chants that would be used throughout the match, fully conducted by a person in white gloves, and accompanied by drumbeats and synchronized giant flag waving. This was reciprocated by our equivalents in the home team’s stands. For the rest of the evening, various parts of this chant were used depending on who was playing – there was a different bit for each player designed to rhyme with their names, for example “Let’s go, let’s go, Ya-ma-to!” and “ii, ii, Ar-a-ii!”. My favourite was one that honestly sounded like “Yomiuri bastards, ki-ki-kii!” I have no idea what was actually being chanted.

A white-gloved conductor leads the drumming and chanting

The flags waved in time with the chants

There is very little space in the standing area, but we were lucky enough to be next to a particularly avid supporter who had obviously bagged himself a great spot hours before the match. Whenever anyone came and stood in front of him he tapped them on the shoulder and shooed them out of the way with a menacing look on his face. People were usually so surprised and apologetic that they went miles away meaning that we too, for the most part, got a pretty clear view of the goings on. There were exceptions to this rule, who moved about a foot away from menacing-man, affording me a particularly great view of the game!

My view for a little while!

My favourite part of the whole evening was, unsurprisingly, the ease with which we could buy beer. In line with all things convenient and Japanese, we didn’t even have to move from our standing area but could get our pints from the lovely ladies who came round with kegs attached to their backs from which they dispensed ice-cold, smooth and tasty lager. And not just the one variety – there was a choice of Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi or Ebisu. Great stuff indeed. And talking of all things convenient, the fantastic tomato ketchup / mustard pot that came with Simon’s hotdog definitely goes on that list.

Happy beer face

Making friends

I really want a backpack
like this!

Convenient and delicious!

A baseball game is somewhere to let off a bit of steam – you can yell and clap to your heart’s content, dress up in all your supporting gear, drink a lot of beer, and generally unwind after a day at work. Despite it being a Saturday, there were a couple of young guys who had clearly come straight from the office but they soon forgot the day’s toil and got involved with the merry-making.

Hordes of fans in the stadium

Checking out the players' stats during a break

Dressed for the match

Unfortunately for those around us in the stands, the Hanshin Tigers were outplayed by the Yomiuri Giants and, when we left a little before the end of the game, the score was 7-2 to the Giants. Despite this, the cheering and support continued in the away team’s stands, and we certainly had a great time watching the game. I left on a high, feeling that I’d experienced another little bit of Japan’s multi-faceted culture.


またね!