japanese baseball

i got back from hokkaido on the 3rd and headed to tokyo for 2 days...for a stop at my favorite museum and book districts, but primarily to see my first japanese baseball game (with 3 alum) in the famous tokyo dome, which is actually within a little `city` of restaurants, shops, spas and amusement parks. the weather was great and i was just taking it all in and comparing the fans, cheers, food to american baseball...instead of cracker jacks, peanuts, and hot dogs there was bentoo, yakisoba, and sushi although i did see some really expensive `famous american` hot dogs for sell. there were also lots of girls going up and down the aisles in neon uniforms, carrying huge barrel backpacks each containing a different brand of beer, glowing all over the dome like fireflies.

the fans for both teams had their own volunteer band/cheer leaders and musicians and large flags and even drummers (the stadium would sometimes play short samples of american hip-hop for the home team`s plays). but most surprisingly, the cheers were tailored specifically for a player or the team name...and the best part was at crucial moments during the game the yokohama fans would all hold out their arms palms down and did this special cheer/prayer thing as if the good vibes would flow from their finger tips and onto the playing field but only to their team, naturally. but i guess they felt this baseball ritual was warranted because their team won and the fans stayed a bit longer to sing victory songs. considering that they all stood up and cheered the whole time their team was at bat, and how difficult and long the songs appeared to be, i wonder how much of the game they actually saw. i know i missed some of the plays just watching the fans. the cheer leaders shouting their lungs out at us couldntve seen much of it. oh and another thing, no one started the wave.

by the end of the game though i was just as thrilled as the real fans despite having my team chosen for me (i had planned on cheering for the home team). the underdogs had won with a surprise 3 run inning, and i suddenly realized that in 5 hopefully very short weeks not months-january and february dragged and dragged-i would be back home, preparing for school in the fall. i was so wrapped up in June, i didnt even have time to be my usual borderline claustrophobic self, and somehow managed to navigate my way thru the 50,000, mostly unhappy, fans as if i`d lived in tokyo all my life.