Tokyo Dome Giants Baseball
We were able to watch the home team Tokyo Giants play
the Dragons and had a great time observing America's favorite pastime
with subtle Japanese twists. The tickets for right of home plate in an
upper section with a great view of the game was about $23.
Tickets are in Japanese so other than the gate no. which is easy to figure out,
we asked ushers for help and they took us to our seats.
The first thing I noticed was how clean the stadium was. The floor in each
row and under your seat seemed newly painted with not
a spec of trash or spilled drinks. Each seat had a cup holder and for our
section we had no less than six drink and snack girls. They
were all young, dressed up in bright, branded colors, shouting polite
solicitations for their merchandise. The beer girls had
mini-kegs on their backpacks with pour hoses that only beer lovers could
appreciate "draft on their back". They had peanuts, cuttlefish
and other salty snacks clipped to their shoulder straps. The food
concessions had hot dogs, hamburgers and bentos including
tonkatsu, loco-moco, yakisoba and hibatchi skewers. Beer, soda and bottled
teas abound, but no bottled water. Vitamin water and
other turbo charged water but if you ask for plain water "mizu" you will be
pointed to the water fountain.
The game was just like U.S. baseball with the noticeable
difference being designated cheering sections for the home and visiting
teams. The fans at large cheered but in a polite and reserved manner.
Waving towels, clapping of bat balloons and clapping was the
norm. No obvious swearing or heckling could be found. Key plays were
met by loud "OOOHHHs". Favorite players also had their
own home town cheers with claps, arm gestures and flag waving. The field
and players were neat and proper as well. No tobacco
chewing and no spitting were anywhere to be seen. Fans ate their bentos
and drank their beer and cleaned up after themselves.
The food came in containers or boxes that were easy to close and take with you
on your way out.