Baseball, Tokyo

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Yomiuri Giants v Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome.

After rolling up at the Dome 3 hours before the game, we easily got tickets for 2300 YEN. We sat in the top tier and had a great view from 1st base.

The stadium was not full but 43,000 fans inside. Plenty of away fans and both made huge amounts of noise. The fans seem to sing while their team bat then go silent when they field.

Giant won 6-5 in a very close and entertaining game.

When I went to Tokyo, I made sure that I went to Tokyo Dome to see a baseball game as I had never seen one in real life before. It was a nice experience but I don't think that I will be following the sport from now on. The souvinears in the shops around the dome are expensive and when the game ends you get caught up among 50.000+ people all going the same way as you. Or not in my case and I found myself in the wrong underground and across the wrong side of Tokyo from where my hotel was, but I did make it back safely.

Tokyo is the center of Japanese baseball and no team is more beloved than the Yomiuri Giants. They play their home games at the Tokyo Dome, with the first pitch usually thrown at a very early 6 p.m. So grab some sushi and beer and watch a good ball game!
Watching a game in Japan is a different experience than in the United States, and not just because the seats are smaller. Fans chant in an organized fashion throughout their team's at bat, and the stadium is often divided between fans of the home and visiting treams. Fans will rythmically beat together plastic bats to urge on their team -- the rally sticks that were popular in Anaheim when the Angels won the World Series in 2002 was an idea actually imported from Japan, where it has been the custom for years.

I got a pair of roller-skating shoes from Hawaii my hometown, practice this too bad there were not big and open space for me to practice, so I can only practice at night at a baseball court near to my house.

Basically baseball is one of the most popular sport in Japan. Too bad, no educational qualification is required, so most of the young people aim to become a professional baseball player, this effect the quality of educational level in Japan DROPPED a lot.

Equipment: Ticket to watch the Baseball match basically purchasable at the entrance of the Baseball Court, or you can even but through the internet

The Yomiuri Giants are kind of the National Team of Japanese Baseball. It seems like no matter where you go in Japan, their fans are everywhere. They are also the team that wins the most often, kind of a Japanese version of the New York Yankees. My favorite team (based on the name alone) is the Nippon Ham Fighters. It took me a few years to figure out that they don't actually fight ham in Japan, but that all the teams are sponsored by companies, and in this case, Nippon Ham.

It is worth the time and money to go see a Japanese Baseball game if you are in Tokyo, because it is very different from the way it is watched and played in America. For example, it is more of a chess game, rather than each hitter trying to smack it out of the park, bunting a player over is common in even the early innings.

Tokyo actually has five baseball teams. But only two play at the dome. Make sure you are going to the right game when you order your tickets.

The atmosphere is amazing, It is loud and frezied, filled with the sounds of team cheers, team songs, and slurping of noodles.

Equipment: Well, I don't know about bringing with you, but there are these inflatable noise making things you buy and smack together. Also people have these plastic bullhorn-like things to amplify the cheers. Those can all be bought at the stadium and are part of the fun.

Baseball is a very populair sport in Japan. One of the best teams is based in Tokyo: the Giants. They play their homegames in the Tokyo Dome.
But we had to go to Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama to see them play (and win 10-3).
It was a great experience. We took the train from Tokyo station to Yokohama Kannai station. We went early in the day to have some time for sightseeing in Yokohama.
At 6 the game started, the stadium was filled with families in orange to support tthe giants or in blue to support the Yokohama Baystars.
The game was great and together with thousands of other fans we took the train back to Tokyo. It was all so very relaxed we couldn´t believe our eyes. People were patiently waiting for a red light instead of crossing the street regardless, like we are used to in our country. And then everybody was neatly waiting for the next train, no pushing nobody trying to cut line.... It still makes me quiet and thinking about the antisocial way we behave at home.

Baseball is one of the most popular spectator sports in Japan. The Tokyo dome, home to two of the city's major teams, was just a short walk from the Sakura Hotel. It seemed a good opportunity to see my first baseball game, we had just arrived in Tokyo though and no sleep for around thirty hours so maybe we did not really appreciate the experience. We watched the Nippon Ham Fighters play Blue Wave from Kobe? the crown was quite small but we were told that Yomiuri Giants who also play home games in the Dome are far mor popular. Never mind an entertaining evening and a 4-2 win for the Ham Fighters.