Baseball


I don’t think anyone needs me to tell them this, but Japanese people love baseball. Baseball is one of America’s pastimes, but has since made its way to Japan and become a beloved sport all across the land of the rising sun. Baseball was first introduced in Japan by an American by the name of Horace Wilson back in either 1871 (according to the Japanese Wikipedia page about Baseball in Japan) or 1872 (according to the English version of the same article). It was first known in Japan as dakyu oni goko, literally meaning ‘batting tag’. However, baseball is nowadays known in Japan as yakyu. 

I’m not much of a sports person, but seeing as Japanese people love baseball, and seeing as I’d heard that the way in which Japanese people support their favorite team is different than how you’d see a baseball fan in America support their favorite team, I’d wanted to see a baseball game in Japan for some time now. Watching a game of baseball in Japan isn’t much different than in America. What is different is that Japanese people are a lot more calm when cheering, particularly when their home team scores a run. You don’t see many people (if any) jumping out of their seats, and when their favorite team is up at bat, there’s usually a song or chant for that specific player. Supporting a baseball team in Japan is a lot more subdued than how Americans support their favorite teams.

My girlfriend’s sister’s friend works inside of the Meiji-jingu baseball stadium, which is home to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. We scored a couple of free tickets, so we went and saw the Swallows play against the Hanshin Tigers, a team from Hyogo prefecture that is beloved in Osaka. The Swallows aren’t a particularly strong team, but seeing as they won 6-2, they seem like a pretty strong team to me. From now on I think I’ll continue to support the Swallows! Go go Swallows!


For whatever reason, the robot from the Japanese cartoon Mazinger Z was there!



I love ekiben, which are Japanese lunch boxes that you buy at major train stations across Japan. So I had to pick up a bento box at this baseball stadium. I went with the 'home run bento'.



Whenever there's a baseball game taking place, you'll find these cute girls selling beer. Too bad I'm currently taking medicine, I couldn't get one of these girls to serve me one. Next time!



Whenever your supporting teams hits a home run or scores a point, you raise one of these small umbrellas available at one of the many souvenir stands. Something you don't tend to see at a baseball game in the U.S.A.



The cute mascot for the swallows.


Another mascot? Apparently this guy is a good dancer.


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