Baseball: Japanese-Style

The other night, I had the pleasure of attending a baseball game here in Hiroshima. The Hiroshima Carps played against the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. It was an exciting finish, as the Carps won in the bottom of the 10th inning in an exciting home run by the player, Ishihara.

The excitement of the crowd in getting to the game was similar to what one may see in the States. People had on their favorite team colors and various sports attire, and vendors enticed the crowd to buy their food along the way. Yet I knew I was in for a special cross-cultural treat when our hosts told us that we'd be picking up a Bento box to take into the game to eat (because it's cheaper and better than the food in the stadium), and I saw the array of bicycles parked just outside the "Mazda Zoom Zoom" Stadium!



Amidst the backdrop of the mountains around the Hiroshima area, the new Mazda "Zoom Zoom" stadium has a stream of trains gliding by throughout the game, as train passengers get a glimpse into the stadium as they travel to and from Hiroshima. In this picture, you can see a white Shinkansen train (bullet train) gliding by.



The game itself was very much like a baseball game in the States. The crowd behavior, on the other hand, was quite a bit different. There were cheering sections for each team, way up high, with flags waving and leading the crowd with their continuous cheering, chants and songs. It reminded me of a soccer game, actually.



The crowd joined together and cheered on their team, with the lead from the section way up in the stands (where there was a small band as well). To give you an idea of how the crowd all joins together to cheer, here's a quick video moment from the game.





I ordered a Coke and later had a beer, as we weren't allowed to bring in drinks from the outside. While food from the outside is permitted, liquids apparently are not. One of my colleagues ordered a corn dog at the game as well. Both young men and young women strolled the stands with beer kegs on their backs, serving the crowd.



Baseball is extremely popular in Japan and it showed in the pride and fan support during the game. The rules were all the same, and there were even two American players on each team (who didn't perform that well, by the way), and I couldn't help but think about how wonderful it is to share something in common with a culture that is so different than our own. Sports is a great way to cross the cultural divide between nations, yet there are some fundamental differences between the object of the game across countries.

One of my hosts and I talked quite a bit about the differences and to give you an idea, consider this: in Japanese baseball, if the game is tied, it only lasts until the end of the 12th inning. In other words, the game can be tied at the end, as the players will get too tired if the game goes indefinitely. Imagine a game in the States where there is no winner! We are so competitive and wouldn't stand for no one winning, while the Japanese are more concerned about keeping everyone happy and in harmony with one another. I thought it was a very revealing contrast. I also learned that when the game is televised, the broadcast ends when the alloted television time is over, so if the game endures for a long time, people watching don't see the end. Now imagine that ever happening in the States! It would likely cause a riot in some major city rival games!

I noticed that the players threw out baseballs at the beginning of the game, that they don't sing a national anthem prior to the game, nor sing any patriotic songs at any time during the game. Instead, they sing their school song with pride. In addition, most people stuck around after the game to watch the "press conference" that was set up on the field as a stage and the "hero" of the game was interviewed in front of thousands who remained.



After it was all over and done, everyone seemed to pick up their own trash and carry it over to a trash collection area, so that the stands were as clean as they were when we first arrived.

It was a great night of Japanese baseball and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it and particularly to my Fulbright hosts who entertained us with this special treat.

Oh, and by the way, this is their mascot. Somehow I couldn't see the "carp" in him, but he was very cute! :-)