Interview Request

Just to clarify, it is not a face-to-face interview. I will e-mail a few questions or I can even just post them here. The paper is due on November 13 so I would like to get this done in the next 10 days. Thank you for reading this post.

I will go ahead and post a couple of questions for anyone who would like to answer them.

1. If you are a member of the oendan, how long have you been in the group and why did you join?
2. What do you see as the main function of the oendan?
3. If you are not in the oendan, what do you like and dislike about the oendan?
4. What is the oendan's role at a game in Japan?

Thank you.

The lack of replies to this thread is rather disappointing, but, to be honest, I think there are no oendan members among frequenters (at least the regulars) of this site. Plus, the fact that this is a predominantly (but not exclusively) English-language site means the number of people that qualify for your criterion "a native of Japan" is rather limited.

Also, while some people here probably are or have been on the fringes of an oendan, and although questions 2 through 4 don't seem to require membership of an oendan to be answered, I suspect that your criteria and preferences have excluded pretty much all of the regular contributors here.

Good luck, tho'.

Sorry about the delay in responding as I have been on a long holiday, but here are some answers.

1. I joined the group because the the head of the organization invited me to. Basically all my Tigers friends are part of the group, and because we meet at the games and cheer together it seemed a logical move.
2. The oendan is a group of people who cheer for the Tigers and that is their primary role. However, groups and clubs are very important in Japanese culture. Thus you get together with like minded people and share the experience.
3. There are certain things that are objectionable about the oendan; they are too regimented for example, and you may find yourself not being able to watch the whole game (sometimes some members have to leave early to reserve seats for the next game). Politics also play a major part and these clubs which are incredibly political. But you get a great sense of togetherness and a set of firm friends who will always be delighted to see you.
4. The oendan is there to provide a solid cheering base for supporters. Cheers and songs are directed by the musicians group in the oendan who decide what is sung and when. The rest of the oendan provides the basis and direction to the cheers. These sound far more effective when they are organized. Fans outside the oendan stands also follow the lead of these groups (except at Koshien which is 95% oendan).

Christopher,

I had no idea there were any oendan members on this forum. I currently have an application in for membership next year with one of the groups from Osaka. Are you still a member?

The politics were the first thing I noticed in trying to join. Suddenly, I had several different people telling me different things and pushing me in different directions, and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Luckily I had a friend who is a Japanese native who helped me cut through the politics and figure out what I needed to do.

Anyways, I suppose I'll chime in here, too.

1. I am not yet a member. My hopes are very high for membership in the 2007 season, though. I am joining because it called to me, really. The whole cheering environment at Koshien is really incredible, the equivalent of which doesn't really exist anywhere else, and I want to be a part of it.
2. I actually see two roles of the oendan. In the game, it serves to organize the fans into one solid voice to support the team. Additionally, though, there is definitely a sense of camaraderie and friendship among the members. Since there are many different oendan groups, this seems to be the primary factor in determining which group to join. I really have a hard time speaking accurately about this, though, being American the culture is very different and I'm sure there are aspects of this that I am totally overlooking.
3. There are people that I have met who associate with members of the oendan frequently, but who are not members themselves. Some of them talked to me about my reasons for joining, and presented reasons not to join. The main reason given for this is that you can't really watch the game while you're in the stadium. There's just way too much going on - see my next answer.
4. The oendan are cheerleaders, and have a very similar role to their counterparts at American college football games. They lead the crowd in cheers. To this effect, there is one person who calls the cheers at the bottom of the right field stands. The choice is communicated to the other oendan members around the stadium by hand signals. Then, in each individual group scattered around the stands, there are oendan members who hold up placards which have the cheer written on them so the fans know what to chant. Other members bang drums to keep the crowd in unison. Other members play trumpets, especially important when they play the batter's cheering song. When the team scores, many members pick up flags and wave them as the crowd goes nuts.

I hope this is helpful.

Yes, but I do not do many of the duties. I was invited to join because I don't get involved in the politics and because my friends seem to think that I add a cheerful presence to matches.

Hey, so out of curiosity, how does game admission work for the oendan leaders? Do they have special passes to get into the games, or get tickets from the team, or get tickets on their own, or what? I always sort of wondered exactly how closely they were tied to the team (especially with all the talk a while back about Hanshin and Yakult's "official" guys and the NPB licenses to play trumpet and such).

I was told quite specifically that I was responsible for getting my own tickets, even though I probably won't use the seat. That's what gets you in the door, though. You need to be on a special list to bring drums, trumpets, flags, and other equipment, though, although you still need a ticket. It seemed that many of the oendan members had purchased seats together. There was always a spare somewhere near the oendan that they moved me to, regardless of where my seat was. I don't know if maybe the oendan itself buys them as a block of season tickets and then sells them to the members, or what.

The oendan appoint someone to buy tickets in blocks. These people leave the game early in grounds with unreserved seats and join a queue outside the ticket office. They buy seats for all other members. To reserve seating areas members arrive early and place objects on blocks of seats to indicate that they are reserved. In grounds where seats are reserved, members are responsible for buying their own tickets and can only buy a certain amount. For Giant games at Tokyo Dome, several will often queue overnight to try and get adjacent series of blocks (you can only buy four tickets per person). In this case you can stay for the whole game and not worry about arriving early to reserve seats.