April Fever

It is April. And April only means one thing. Baseball!!! Fortunately, it also means the same thing in Japan. Therefore, we took a weekend trip to Osaka to watch the weekend series between the two most popular teams in Japan: The Hanshien Tigers vs. The Yomuri (Tokyo) Giants. If the subject of baseball comes up, you will most likely get asked, "Like Tigers or Giants?"


Everybody in the stands has plastic bats they hit together so we decided to pick some up. They aren't short of merchandise vendors outside the stadium. Inside, just about everybody is wearing a jersey, even the little kids. Imagine a college football atmosphere without letter painted bare chests and more organized. There is one guy in the front with a bass drum and higher up are two trumpet players. Then in the front of each section is the section's cheering 'ring leader'. They sing, root, cheer, and hit their plastic bats in unison the entire time their team is up to bat. If you are a better player, they make a song for you and sing it over and over every time you get up to bat. Also, beer, kids and plastic bats do not mix. If you're not getting hit in the noggin by a kid, it will be a drunk guy. Then during the middle of the 7th inning, they all blow up big, long balloons and wave them to a cheesy song. After the song is over they let the balloons go and they fly all over the place. Needless to say, it was a blast and the 4 runs in the bottom of the 12th was a good way to end the game.
It was also interesting to note: no peanuts (YAY), no crackerjacks (YAY), no hot dogs (BOO). Instead, Grilled Squid (Boo), Skewered chicken (YUM), and yakisoba. They also don't care if you bring food and beer into the stadium from home. Good news for those of us (Hong family) that jam pack our pockets (and extra large purses) when going to events and movies. In fact, in good Asian fashion, some people had tupperware with home cooked food and vegetables in it. (Although if it was our family, it would be cottage cheese and sour cream containers instead of tupperware)

Also in Osaka, we visited Himeiji Castle, which is voted best castle in Japan, and visited a pretty cool aquarium. Then ate supermarket sushi and bread (Japan has tons of bakeries) on the 2-1/2 hour bus ride home.