Ren's Footprints

Yesterday was another big day. I was taken to a pro baseball game showcasing the Marines vs the Buffaloes. It was around an hour away from my place by train in Chiba prefecture.
I met Miho at one of the train stations I made a transfer at and we continued to the ballpark together. We were trying to make it there early because we wanted to see her sister's performance as she is a cheerleader for the team.

Here is a shot of the stadium from a distance, and a shot of a convention center near it that was hosting the famous Tokyo Game Show while we were there.

Before the game we hung outside the stadium where there were booths setup for buying food and other things being demonstrated. Miho and I ate some Takoyaki (breaded, balled chunks of octopus). We also posed with some police vecicals on display at a little public safety demonstration area.

Finally we went in the stadium and got our seats. It was open seating so it took a while to find seats that were open! There are many differences between American baseball games and Japanese so I will try and see how many I can remember.
The most obvious is the singing and chants. Their chants are not like ours that are started by music that comes from the public address system. Theirs are widely known team specific songs. All of the right field seats were full of people wearing the same colors and chanting constantly when the home team was batting to the beat of one huge drum that lead the pace. Our section above third base was a lot more tame, and we were so high up that it gave me a good view to observe from.

Team accessories also seem a bit more important here in Japan. For example almost everyone has a team scarf that they would raise in the air using two hands when they sang certain songs. Also, there is one point in the game where most of the fans blow up balloons and let them fly at the same time. I got a picture of that.

The enthusiastic right field didn't seem to lose a single person all game and was just as loud even though we were up 8-0. They all stayed, and most of the rest of the crowd too, in the stadium for around 20 minutes after the game to see the "hero interview" that takes place on the field with the player of the game.
Another big difference is how affordable food is in the stadiums. Having already eaten takoyaki, I wasn't too hungry but I did buy a box of cookies for around eighty cents. I think a slice of pizza was like a dollar sixty, beer was five dollars, etc. You also aren't allowed to throw your trash on the floor!

During the game we were trying to spot Miho's sister cheerleading but it was hard to tell which was her. We did get to see her dancing outside the stadium at a post game party though. Here's her picture a also some of the fans watching the cheerleaders perform.

After the game I finally was able to get my cellphone. It is a bit of a headache trying to get a phone as a foreigner here but I finally did it. It is crucial here and people make loose plans assuming you have a phone so you can be reached and notified of changes or people's tardiness. The phone was free and some of it's features is it picks up digital tv signals free, it has infrared sensors for sending files, pictures, and contact info to other phones, and it has only been on the market for a couple weeks! It is really awesome how you just have to hold your phone next to someone else's to get their contact info . That is all people here do now.

Feel free to send an email to my phone anytime!

My address is: ShiaWasedaRen@ezweb.ne.jp

Also, my mailing address is:

Ren Hollis

520 TsurumakiCho Waseda

Apartment 602

Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo 160-0014