that's "thebaseball", for those of you who don't speak Japanese. and yes, they are pretty crazy about it over here, but in subtly different ways than folks in the States are. where being a fan at a baseball game is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable in America, the same avocation here carries serious responsibilities, naturally. you must not only know all the chants and songs used to rally your team, but you must sing them at the appropriate time, and in perfect unison with the other fans. likewise, your noise makers must only be banged or shaken in choreographed synchrony with everyone else. i'm not sure what the penalties for failure are, but they must be stiff, because we didn't notice anyone out of line. then again, we are lazy Americans, and probably incapable of such detection anyway.
the bright green astroturf of the famous Nagoya Dome, home to the champion Chunichi Dragons. here, however, they are getting beaten by the Hiroshima Carp in a playoff game. below, they had signs for most of the players when they got up to bat. i'm not making this unison stuff up.
in any case, the game we saw, with our friends Dale and Elise, was a bit of a snoozer, despite being in the playoffs. last year our local team, the Chunichi Dragons pretty much coasted to the national title (the game we saw was on October 5th), but not before being beaten quite handily by the Hiroshima Carp in this division series game. here in Japan, as in Taiwan, teams are often owned by companies, and so take their name. our local team in Taiwan was the Sinon Bulls, named after the Sinon grocery store chain, and the Dragons are owned by the Chunichi Shimbun--the Daily Chunichi newspaper. the big team in Tokyo, arch rival of the Dragons, is the Yomiuri Giants, owned by the Daily Yomiuri paper. i wouldn't have thought there were natural synergies between newspapers and baseball teams, but clearly they see something in it. maybe cheap stories? either way, you may be somewhat familiar with the Dragons as they were the team nominally featured in the 1992 Tom Selleck movie, Mr Baseball.
so it was a fun experience, something you have to do in Japan; after all, it's almost as much a national sport as sumo. the hot dogs are a bit dubious and you're just as likely to find yourself eating soybeans as peanuts, but the game is pretty true and it really is a trip to see and hear an entire stadium perfectly synchronized. it's too bad all that order doesn't persist when the game is over--behold the anarchic sea of head-down, no-eye-contact Japanese salarymen all heading for the subway station:
the bright green astroturf of the famous Nagoya Dome, home to the champion Chunichi Dragons. here, however, they are getting beaten by the Hiroshima Carp in a playoff game. below, they had signs for most of the players when they got up to bat. i'm not making this unison stuff up.
in any case, the game we saw, with our friends Dale and Elise, was a bit of a snoozer, despite being in the playoffs. last year our local team, the Chunichi Dragons pretty much coasted to the national title (the game we saw was on October 5th), but not before being beaten quite handily by the Hiroshima Carp in this division series game. here in Japan, as in Taiwan, teams are often owned by companies, and so take their name. our local team in Taiwan was the Sinon Bulls, named after the Sinon grocery store chain, and the Dragons are owned by the Chunichi Shimbun--the Daily Chunichi newspaper. the big team in Tokyo, arch rival of the Dragons, is the Yomiuri Giants, owned by the Daily Yomiuri paper. i wouldn't have thought there were natural synergies between newspapers and baseball teams, but clearly they see something in it. maybe cheap stories? either way, you may be somewhat familiar with the Dragons as they were the team nominally featured in the 1992 Tom Selleck movie, Mr Baseball.
so it was a fun experience, something you have to do in Japan; after all, it's almost as much a national sport as sumo. the hot dogs are a bit dubious and you're just as likely to find yourself eating soybeans as peanuts, but the game is pretty true and it really is a trip to see and hear an entire stadium perfectly synchronized. it's too bad all that order doesn't persist when the game is over--behold the anarchic sea of head-down, no-eye-contact Japanese salarymen all heading for the subway station:
2 comments:
Hi Jay, Like your blog. Can't wait to see you both again. All's well here. It was 68 degrees today! Very nice. Love Mum xxx
hi, you have great blog, kisses from
Poland :)
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