Go Tigers!

I went to Tokyo last Saturday to watch a baseball game. The Hanshin Tigers, from the Kansai region near Osaka were playing the hometown Swallows. Despite playing as visitors in the stadium, the Tigers are apparently very popular in Tokyo, and probably had more fans than did the Swallows. The friends I went with were Tigers fans, so they came adorning yellow baseball jerseys and towels. They also carried with them plastic tubes, which they call “megafuon,” or I guess megaphones. I imagine that they are intended to amplify one’s voice by shouting in one end and then directing it from the other end. Most fans however, carry two of them and use them as clappers, which are essential for the numerous cheers that the crowds are involved in.

During Japanese baseball games, the fans always stand up when it’s their team’s turn at bat. The stadium is divided into two sides so that each team’s fans sit apart – although on Saturday, there were plenty of Tigers’ fans wearing yellow shirts amongst the Swallows’ fans. Each player who steps up to the plate also has their own personal cheer – complete with percussive clapping and hand motions, that all of the fans memorize. I think that each time the team makes a big play, or scores a run, there are separate cheers for these as well. Even though the fans all seem to know what to do, there are a sort of “cheer-leader” in each section of the stands who where uniforms, white gloves, and blow a whistle in order to direct the fans in their cheers. There is also a small brass band at the back of the stands that play accompanying music.

No matter which team is up to bat, one side of the stadium is always on their feet, performing orchestrated cheers for their team – it makes for a very lively scene.

Aside from the temperament of the crowd, most of the baseball scene is pretty much the same as in North America. The field looks the same, the rules are the same, they sell hot dogs and hamburgers (although they are of Japanese equivalents to those found at home – and you can bring your own food/alcohol into the game), and there are several girls in uniform walking up and down the aisles selling beer and snacks.

As an added bonus to the day, someone somewhere also decided that we, as participants at the event, would also try to break the word record for the largest toasting of drinks in the world. The previous world record was set at 26,564, I think by a crowd somewhere in Europe. We managed to shatter the record with 27,126 people. For our toast, we were all given a small bottle of Coca Cola and a special plastic cup made for the event. Then, an old celebrity pro-wrestler came onto the field to lead our toast. At the end of the fifth inning, we all raised our glasses and shouted “kanpai!” and then held them for about 30 seconds so that some could “count” (?) our numbers. I’m not sure if they were actually counting, or what, but we held our toast for quite a while and the results were announced a few innings later. I think the results will be in next year’s Guinness Book of World Records.

The Tiger’s ended up losing in the last few innings, so there were no songs of celebration after the game. Either way, it was a great day!

Here are a few videos as well where you can hear some of the cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJGifqmRfoQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWX3IBy6CH0
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8iDc4WUy5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDm-dlGzDEo