Japanese Baseball is a different experience from the fan's point of view. It is much more organized with eight entire sections devoted just to fans that are singing and cheering. There are chants and cheers for the each team, for each player and even for specific game situations. The dedicated cheering sections are located in the outfield and there are four for each team. The home team, Orix Buffaloes had their own cheers and their sections were full of fans. The visiting team, the Hanshin Tigers, were louder and had catchier cheers. We sat slightly towards the Tigers side of the field so they sounded louder on our side. Or it may be that there were more Tigers fans in the dome, The Buffaloes fans were loud enough when there was Buffaloes offence to cheer about. It turned out that it was mostly Buffaloes offence as they won 3 to 0 against the Tigers. The Pitcher for the Buffaloes, #13 Miyagi, was throwing heat and he threw 60 strikes vs 22 balls. I had to chuckle a bit when I say his name Mr. Miyagi, it it the same name of the mentor, Pat Morita, in Karate Kid. We had so much fun at the game. Highlights include the drink vendors, 99% young women, some of them carrying mini beer kegs on their backs for the entire game. We saw one male vendor and he was not even trying. Since Japanese are very trust worthy, it was possible for people to leave their valuables unattended. The lady in the seat next to us left her purse and all of her items at the seat and left of 15 minutes getting drinks and food. Everything was still there when she returned. Kids went off to the bathroom or to buy food all by themselves, no adult supervision. The air-conditioning was piped in through the seat backs. Had it been needed, it would blow right in our faces where it would have been most effective. The cheering and singing was non-stop and very entertaining. Everyone could join in and cheer for their favorite player as there was a specific cheer just for him. The food was reasonably priced, varied in selection and readily available. Of course there was still the Japanese mystery, why were there dozens of people in line at one stall and none in the next one over? The same could be said about the women's restrooms. Leslie got into a long line with 30 ladies in front of her. This gave me time to wander around. I found out that the next restroom over had no one in line at all. I came back to Leslie, she still had 15 women in front of her and she was able to switch to the other bathroom. Later when we saw the same situation she started telling the women in line about it. She had to translate it on her phone but several ladies switched to the next bathroom over. There was a male mascot and a female mascot, and hey had equal time on the field. It was a great time and we are looking forward to our next game in Tokyo.
The metro station is just for the Kyocera Dome
So there are signs everywhere
Player pictures
Even the mascots get some wall space
The female mascot
A big mall is next to the stadium
Most everyone on the train got off to go to the game
The won it all last year
Very orderly entrance
Get your mascots!
The interior of the dome. One fly ball disappeared into the roof during the game
Batting practice
Warming up as a squad
As Max Rudolph said many times, I'll have a Highball!
Leslie gets a freshly poured draft beer
The vendors would hold up their hand and gesture to sections of the seats, as if blocking off areas that did not want a drink
Sweeping the dirt
Smoothing the dirt
Laying down the chalk lines
Mr. Buffaloe
Ms. Buffaloe
The cheering squads are in place, banners, instruments and all
Cheer!
The dance crew is out for the pregame show
High energy song and dance
Busting those moves
The stretch
The delivery of the ceremonial first pitch
The ceremonial first sip
Takoyaki, the local Octopus ball dish
The classic hand gesture
Big zoom lens on the cell phone
Play ball!
First score Buffaloes up 1-0
The AC vents
Only 4 foreign players are allowed per team
An even bigger zoom lens
This was the Tiger side of the field and where most of the cheering came from
Run #2!
Miyagi is throwing heat
We took a walk around to see more of the stadium
The players get to show a lighter side
The Tigers are losers!
A sobriety test, tough your finger to your nose
Silly!
These were the mini kegs that the vendors carried on their backs
This gal had to take a break and rest her back
We stuck our heads into the cheering section
This drum boomed through the entire stadium. There were trumpet players too
Cue cards for the fans to know what the next cheer was going to be
A shrine to Ichiro who played for this team before going to the US
A 2 footlong hot dog
It takes two hands to hold on to it
No line at the men's room
Long line that wrapped back on itself at the ladies room. Leslie is trying to tell the women that the next bathroom over is empty
More dancing and singing. They ringed the stadium except for in front of the visiting teams cheering section
I got some of these square chicken sausages
60 strikes thrown to only 22 balls. A 153 km/hr is 95 mph so he is throwing hard
Holding up signs at the dance finale
Even the mascot got to dance
A mysterious sign that was paraded between innings
The sign was also in the stands.
