Continuing my cultural experiences, I went to a baseball game this weekend. This is the second baseball game I’ve been to. The first time was in August of 2005, watching the Chiba Lotte Marines play somebody. The stadium was outdoors and really hot and humid. This time I saw the Chunichi Dragons (for Wikipedia, click here), Nagoya’s home team, play the Yakult Swallows (wikipedia here) from Tokyo. They played at the Nagoya Dome. The team names represent their primary sponsors. Chunichi is a local newspaper and Yakult is a drink (a probiotic milk). Indeed, the Dragons look a LOT like the Dodgers. Hey, we could be watching Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (wikipedia here)!

A Japanese baseball game and an American baseball game are similar, but in so many ways they are different. What I found interesting was that all the amplified team interstitial information and cheers were in English. “Road to Victory” and so on. Of course, the game is mostly the same and the rules are too, so it was easy to follow.

As I’ve shown before, the Dragons have a mouse-y dragon mascot.

 
The snack bars are a little bit similar,

And a little different although LA stadiums do have Panda Express.

 
I went to the game with two colleagues and the son of one of my colleagues. We picked 3rd base line tickets, and had a good view of the field.

 
Nagoya plays in the cleverly named Nagoya Dome, a fact I was quite thankful for while it poured rain outside.

 
One difference between the Japan and American viewing experience is the use of group cheers and noise makers. The cheering is very organized at a Japanese baseball game. Here is a picture of a guy who kind of looks like me but apparently has graying hair and less hair than I do. He’s participating in a group cheer with sticks borrowed from his colleague.

This isn’t what I see when I look in the mirror. When did my highlights become the base color?

 
Of course, the exploitation of women starts early, and young girls are convinced they want to be cheerleaders.

 
In a previous meeting, I had taught my colleague’s son how to place a spoon on his nose, thrilling his parents I’m sure. It is a big part of my family, so I thought I would pass it on. He’s a clever kid, and made do with a wooden spoon.

 
The game was actually a pretty exciting contest. The Dragons prevailed, 4-2, and a lot of people stayed around for the post game interview that was broadcast on the big screen. The MVP was interviewed as was the winning pitcher.

 
Our group was very excited and gave one last cheer before heading home. A fun time for all.

I went to Kabuki theater for the first time in Japan on September 6. This was from the Heisei Nakamura clan, who are apparently very famous. A Japanese colleague at work asked if I wanted to attend – I said, “Sure, why not?” Another Japanese colleague joined us as well. Wikipedia has a very nice description of Kabuki. Another good reference is Kabuki21.

Fortunately, the basic story was explained to me ahead of time because I surely was not going to understand it. All parts, men and women, are played by men. There are many formalities to it, but I was surprised to see lightheartedness as well. At times the performers really played to the audience. I was also surprised by the physicality of some of the performances as well.

The first act was quite long, with the story as complicated as any Shakespeare lover story or tragedy. Basically our story was based on a bunch of guys all digging the same girl. A lot of people get killed, and two (male and female) come back as one to haunt the hero and the heroine. The second act basically is a big fight between the ghost and a ronin who used to be samurai to the hero. The second act reminded me of a fireworks grand finale, with lots of dancing, colors, elaborate staging, etc.

Interestingly, the same families have been a part of Kabuki for a very long time. The leader of the group we saw comes from 17 generations of Kabuki actors.