Baseball

After last night's happenings, I unsurprisingly finally got myself up at 3pm. I went to Cosmos in the rain, as my stomach was demanding food. It eventually received an instant ramen meal for its troubles and a lot of orange juice. Brendan emerged as well, though we could not arouse Rushen.

Brendan and I were adamant that we would not go back on our plans to see a baseball match, so left without Rushen at 5pm. We made our way into Tenjin, where we visited the largest bakery I have ever seen. It is underneath the train station, though I have never been there before. How little I explore! From there, we took the subway to Tojinmachi, the closest stop the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome. We could see it when we emerged from the station, but it still took about 15 minutes to walk there and then to find the ticket counter.

We purchased the middle price ticket: the S-seat and went in. The inside is full of food and drink shops, as well as merchandise outlets and was buzzing. We bought a drink each before going to find our seats. The inside of the dome was gargantuan and was pretty packed, which is surprising as they play most every day. We chose not to sit in our exact seats, as the they were between two other couples and the rest of the row was empty, so instead we sat at the end of the row. The man in front of us looked around engaged us in conversation in English. He was at the match with his daughter, a big Kawasaki (the shortstop) fan, and spent the entire time holding a Kawasaki fan with her mobile phone firmly planted on top. Her father kept turning round to explain certain things to us, which was nice of him.

We were only slightly late to the game, as they had just finished the bottom of the second when we sat down. The score was 1-1, and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks were playing the Chunichi Dragons.

It was not long until the Dragons hit a homerun; dissapointing, but impressive at the same time. The amount of time the ball stays in the air is mesmerising. The Hawks came back quickly, getting a homerun with a runner on base to go ahead. In the end it was futile, as the Dragons eventually won 4-3. It was good fun, though.

At two points, the Softbank's cheerleaders came out to cheer on the crowd. Before the second time, we knew something was going to happen when people started to buy and inflate long, orange balloons. The man in front of us gave us one each, which was nice. Eventually, the crowd around us was a sea of orange. Then the cheerleaders came on (I think they were called the "Softbank Sevens") and started dancing along to some song, the words of which were being shown on the giant TV screen. Everybody moved their balloons in a piston movement during the song before releasing them all to the sky as they deflated, after the song. It was all very strange.

We were sat along the foul line, to the left of the field, though the stand directly opposite us was very vocal. They all chanted along at exactly the same time, waving their orange and white noise-makers in the correct way. It is like it is all preorganised, especially as they all appear to start up together. It is an odd sight to behold, but that is Japanese crowd support for you.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to pick up a wild ball, of which there were a few flying in to the crowds to the accompaniment of warning whistles. One even flew over head, before bouncing back down to be claimed by a man in front of us. This is not a game where you can fall asleep whilst watching. Afterwards, a couple of people in blue would come rushing along to make sure that everybody was okay.

The other noticeable thing is the number of people with kegs strapped to their backs, running up and down the stairs, offering beer and other drinks to people. A good idea, I think, as it means that you never need to leave your seat! The bouncy energy that they all had at the start of the match, however, gradually lessened towards the end, unsurprisingly.

After the bottom of the seventh, people started to leave. In fact, there was a noticeable movement of people, including the two in front of us. Maybe they did not want to be involved in the ensue crowd of leavers. People also departed after the eighth. We stayed until the end of the match and watched them tidy up the pitch. The Dragon's mascot came running on the pitch and did some backflips, which was rather impressive.

We bought a team shirt each, with Kawasaki's name on the back, as we had at least heard of him. The large size is still quite a tight fit on me though! There was a mass of buses laid into Tenjin with a very orderly queueing system in place. A man stood at the back of the queue with a sign denoting what the queue was for. There was no pushing, either. All very civilised.

We had a good time and it is something that I have been keen to do for a long time. I only wish I had gone to see more, as it was rather enjoyable. Next, I want to see a game where my team wins!