Baseball

Before I begin this post on sport, I would like to offer a hearty congratulations to Japan's women's soccer team, Japan Nadeshiko, for winning the World Cup!

I watched the first half of the match in an izakaya, but had to drag myself to bed (well, it was almost 5am). When I went to bed it looked like America would win, so I was super chuffed to turn on my TV this morning. Go girls!

The other day I went to Meiji Jingu stadium to see the Tokyo Yakult Swallows play the Chunichi Dragons (Nagoya's team). (Yes, there is a baseball team named after fermented milk. If you look at other baseball team names, you'll realise it could be much worse. The Nippon Ham Fighters, for example.)

This photo is of Yokohama stadium, during a Swallows - Bay Stars match.

In Japan there are two main baseball leagues: the Central League and the Pacific League.

The Central League is probably a bit more prominent/popular. Its teams are the Chunichi Dragons (Nagoya), Hanshin Tigers (Osaka - well, close enough), Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Yokohama Bay Stars, and the Yomiuri Giants (Tokyo).

The Pacific League comprises the Chiba Lotte Marines, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, Orix Buffaloes (Osaka), Saitama Seibu Lions, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Yes, there is a lot of unsubtle product placement going on in these team names.

If you're in Japan in summer, you should check out a baseball game. Even if you're not that into sports, it is a very interesting and very Japanese experience.

I have never seen any baseball other than Japanese games, so I can't tell you much about Japanese baseball and how it compares to American baseball. American friends have described Japanese baseball as conservative, and not that exciting. What I do enjoy, though, is the act of participating in Japanese-style ouen, or cheering.

There are some ouen leaders, who orchestrate cheers with whistles and signs. Seriously! While your team is at bat, some dude will hold up a sign to show what cheer you should do next (the signs say things like 'go go let's go' and 'kattobase!' (which means something like 'slam a home run!'). Whistles set the pace. There's a team with trumpets and the like to play the cheer songs. The more popular or established players all have their own particular cheer songs.

In the case of the Swallows, cheers are done using plastic cheer bats with Swallows colours and designs - you hit them together in lieu of clapping (which is just as well, because it would be a lot of clapping; while your team is at bat there is no rest in the cheering). If the Swallows get a home run, all hell breaks loose - or rather, out come the umbrellas, for a rousing rendition of 'Tokyo Ondo'. (Check it out on YouTube.

Tokyo Ondo is the Swallows winning song. It used to, to my great amusement, open with the words 'screw you Yomiuri!' because the Swallows are long-time rivals of the more popular Tokyo team, the Yomiuri Giants. This lyric has officially been changed to a more 'gentle' version, but a lot of fans still sing the original. ^_^

Each team has its own little idiosyncracies in terms of cheering, but it's a good workout for the fans. In fact I often get so distracted by watching the fans that I forget to focus on the game, ha ha ha. Funnily enough, cheering in unison like this is actually great fun and really adds to the atmosphere of the game.

You can get tickets ahead of time from ticket machines, like in Lawson convenience stores. You can also go to discount ticket booths, which can be found in many shopping malls around Tokyo and Kanagawa.