BASEBALL IN JAPAN
Calling all Astros fans and lovers of baseball! Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a baseball game in Japan?
2022 marks the 150th anniversary of baseball’s arrival in Japan!
First introduced in 1872, baseball was spread throughout Japan in the 1870s and 1880s by American teachers and missionaries. Japan saw its first professional baseball team founded in the 1930s. And by the end of World War II, baseball had become Japan’s most popular participatory and spectator sport.
**History buffs: click here for a comparative study on the history and culture of baseball in both Japan and the US.
Japan has developed quite a formidable baseball culture.
It will come as no surprise that attending a baseball game in Japan has clearly defined rules. Starting with the ticket purchase: the home team seats are clearly divided from the visitor team seats. Fans wishing to wear their team’s gear are asked, not once but twice during the online purchasing process, not to do so unless they purchase seats in their respective team areas.
AT A JAPANESE BASEBALL GAME
Courtesy of Olivia S.
The game we attended was in Yokohama — the second largest city in Japan, located only about 40 miles, or 20-30 minutes by train, from Tokyo.
The local team, Yokohama DeNA Baystars, is one of the six teams that make up Japan’s Central League. Together with the six teams of the Pacific League, there are 12 teams at the core of Japan’s professional baseball world.
On a summer Sunday in July, we watched the DeNA Baystars face off against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
For a bit of perspective, both teams are currently in the lower half of the Central League in terms of 2022 standings. However, the Hiroshima team has won the league championship three times since 2015. The Yokohama team has not earned a title in 23 years.
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FANS
Fans of both teams do not seem to dwell on standings, past or present, and support their teams wholeheartedly — not only by attending games in large numbers and wearing team gear, but also by chanting team songs when their team is up to bat!
Courtesy of Olivia S.
The stadium stands were awash with vivid Yokohama blue and Hiroshima red!
It was impressive to see the large number of Hiroshima fans who came out for the game despite the distance between Hiroshima and Yokohama. (The two cities are separated by around 500 miles or a 3.5-hour ride on the shinkansen or bullet train!)
As our seats were in the Hiroshima Carp fan section, we had a first-hand view of Hiroshima cheering traditions.
Fans enthusiastically and continuously cheered for their team with inflatable mini baseball bats tapping in time with team chants. A large drum and team flag would also be used at the top of each inning but would be put away just before the first pitch of the inning was thrown so as to ensure spectators fully enjoy, without distraction, the live action on the field.
Courtesy of Olivia S.
In between innings, a couple of hundred youth cheerleaders provided entertainment, dancing enthusiastically to the Yokohama team song in front of the home team stand. (I bet they were probably dreaming of one day being selected to become one of the very few to cheer on their team at every home game!)
CONCESSIONS
The Yokohama Stadium concession stands are very similar to the ones found in American stadiums. All the staples you might expect —- hotdogs, hamburgers, pizza — are available alongside traditional Japanese eats like edamame, sushi and ramen.
In addition, energetic beer girls, dressed in the uniform of their designated drink brand, walk the aisles of the stadium carrying a large backpack full of draft beer, raising their hands to attract the attention of thirsty baseball fans.
Upon spotting an interested party, the roaming servers let the beer flow from the portable tap, their smiling eyes not betraying one bit the strenuous work they endure in the heat and helping clients completely forget the 30-40% markup compared to the beer served at the concession stands!
Courtesy of Olivia S.
Since the temperature in Yokohama was in the 90s, cold drinks and icy deserts were the treats of choice during the whopping 12-inning game.
I found the Yokohama stadium’s specialty — mikan kakigoori (shaved ice with Japanese mandarin compote topping) — to be very addictive!
Courtesy of Olivia S.
The short of it is, you definitely don’t have to be a baseball fanatic to have a good time at a Japanese baseball game! And before you know it, you’ll be joining in the chanting!
POST-GAME DINNER
Courtesy of Olivia S.
After an enjoyable but hot baseball afternoon, we decided to end our day in Yokohama with dinner nearby. Since the largest Chinatown in Japan lies within a 10-minute walk of Yokohama stadium, an authentic Chinese dinner it was.
Out of the 280 restaurants there, we chose a Sichuan place where mabo tofu (soft cubes of tofu accompanied by tasty bits of ground pork, scallion, and Sichuan peppercorns, in a spicy, chili-based sauce) is the signature, and therefore must-try, dish.
We were definitely not the only foodies attracted to the spicy offerings - several other baseball fans walked into the restaurant still wearing their team gear. For the full experience, we chose an evening course with six dishes priced very affordably at under $20/person. Everything was so delicious that we completely forgot to take photos and only the appetizers were immortalized with this shot!
The walk back to the station through the vividly colored streets filled with Chinese architecture made us feel we had somehow crossed the ocean and landed in another country.
Courtesy of Olivia S.
Courtesy of Olivia S.
Japan can often make a foodie feel that they have teleported across the globe, just like in the Hollywood movies. International cuisine is raised to an artistic level; but by adding local ingredients or spices, you are reminded that you are actually still in the Land of the Rising Sun!
Whether your a sports fan or a foodie, Yokohama has something for you!