Giants vs. Swallows Baseball Game

So, on Thursday evening we went to a baseball game. This was a big deal in our family, as Josh is a huge Red Sox fan, and many Japanese players who have been stars in Japan, come to the US to do very well, too. So, months and months ago, Josh purchased our tickets. The Giants and that Swallows are both Tokyo based teams (there are 12 teams in all of Japan). The Giants are the Yankees of Japanese baseball, and the Swallows are the Mets.

When we arrived at the game, the Swallows stadium which holds 40,000 people, was pretty full. The Giants and the Swallows fans were separated very clearly, as half of the crowd was neon orange (Giants) and half the crowd was neon green (Swallows). And here’s where the fun part begins…

Here are some very big differences between American and Japanese baseball:

1) There is a female announcer at Japanese baseball games. There was actually a much stronger female presence at the game in general, which was neat.

2) There are no instant replays on the big screen

3) There are cheerleaders! The crowd knows all of the cheerleaders’ dances too, so you’ll see men up and doing the dances in their seats.

4) There is a brass band for each team (kind of like a high school football game).

5) There is no music blaring and no stadium lead cheering- it’s completely fan based and fan lead.

6) There is no national anthem sung

7) There are beer girls- pigtails, hats pinned on their heads, long flowing hair, selling beer

8) They play ads on the big screen between innings

9) No security, allowed to bring all kinds of food inside the stadium

10) Fireworks after the 5th inning

11) Bento Boxes at baseball games

12) The mascot for the Swallows team is a big bird- but not just one- there is a whole family- the Daddy, Mama and babies. At one point, they all came out and sat on the field. It made us wish that Wally (the Red Sox mascot) had a wife and kids, too.

12) Our favorite difference between games was when the Swallows team scored. The fans take out tiny umbrellas, about a foot in diameter, open them up and do a dance with them. I asked a man in Japanese what the reason was, but my Japanese isn’t quite good enough yet to understand his explanation. To see thousands of people dancing with tiny umbrellas, singing at the top of their lungs is pretty priceless. You can youtube this and see it for yourself.

13) During the ad time between innings- we saw a Baskin Robbins ad for a new flavor of ice cream. Their new flavor? Popping Shower. no joke.