Traditions in Japanese Baseball

One thing you might want to comment on is how the home side's fans always sit on the right side of the stadium, visitor's fans on the left. This topic is discussed in a little more detail here.

That is a general rule, however, and when you get sides with large followings, like Yomiuri, Hanshin, or Daiei playing sides whose squads almost outnumber the fans (post-Ichiro Orix, etc.), the fans of one side inevitably encroach into the "territory" of the other.

I can't really talk about other grounds, but at Hanshin's home ground, Koshien Staduim, fans are specifically banned from doing the wave*!

Sort of related to your "hotdogs, beer, and peanuts" line of enquiry is this: fans who regularly attend games usually end up siting in the same seats (or thereabouts). Sometimes they also have a favorite kid who comes around with the beer (both boys and girls do the selling, but often a particularly nice girl will catch the eye of some guys in the crowd). Anyway, quite a few times I've attended games as a guest of friends, started to call for a beer and been admonished, "don't just buy from anyone; wait for Miss XYZ to come around!"

On the other hand, once a couple of years ago, a beer-baring kid came around, and as he was pouring our beer, he started pouring out the contents of his heart. "This is the first time I've worked the outfield stands (which are notoriously rowdy at Koshien). I'm really nervous; what if I can't sell any beer? If you're going to buy any more beer, call me and I'll come running!"

*Trivia: Where I'm from, the wave is known as the "Mexican Wave" as it was made popular (in those parts) at the Mexico soccer World Cup.

Torakitchi didn't mention how the beer is delivered to the fan. The beer is dispensed from tanks (mini-kegs) on their backs through a hose into drinking cups.

I thought the wave was started by Washington Huskies football cheerleaders in the 1970s?

- Torakitchi didn't mention how the beer is delivered to the fan. The beer is dispensed from tanks (mini-kegs) on their backs through a hose into drinking cups.

Not at Koshien, it isn't. That's why I didn't mention it. At Koshien, they open the cans, and pour the beer into the cup with a nice head of froth on top. Much better that way, because you can't help but get the feeling the beer's watered down at other grounds.

FWIW, beer prices:

Tokyo Dome: 800 yen
Osaka Dome: 700 yen
Koshien: 600 yen

- I thought the wave was started by Washington Huskies football cheerleaders in the 1970s?

I'm sure it's centuries old. Just wasn't a big thing for us until the mid 1980s.

Sorry Torakitchi, I just attended three games at Tokyo Dome, Jingu Stadium, and Seibu Stadium in 1996. I wish I could have got my uncles to take me to Koshien in 1999.

As you can imagine, I'm quite partial to Koshien. But I did attend the three season-opening games at Tokyo Dome between Hanshin & Kyojin in 2001. Now that was a great experience, too (as it should be for the hoops I jumped through to get tickets!). Completely different than Koshien.

Never been to Seibu Dome, but they say that a wicked wind that blows through the gaps. (Explanation for those who've not seen it: Seibu Dome is not a complete dome, more like a roofed-but-not-walled ground.)

As a professional musician, I always admire the lavish instrumental offerings at Japanese baseball games. Every player has a theme of sorts which is played by a small brass band of crazed fans, when they come up to bat. Many fans know the words to these songs, which are always four stanzas long. The fifth stanza is intoned by all: "Katto ba-seh, (player's name)!" or "Get on base, (player's name)." Many fans have team "clappers" [two pieced megaphones] with which they hit their hands or back of the chair in front of them, three times, to accompany the "katto-ba-seh" call.

My other favorite tradition at Japanese games is the food which, while not gourmet quality, does include items like obento, sushi, and takoyaki noodles. On chilly nights there is nothing better than hot sake in the stands. Can't get that in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium.

There are yet more and more traditions as I think of them: "Hero of the Game" post-game interviews, team songs, team mascots, seventh-inning fusen (balloon) releases, home-run stuffed animal throwing, etc., etc., etc. I'll leave these to the next contributor.

[westbaystars: "Katto ba-seh" is broken down a little differently, I think. "Ka" with the small "tsu" character after it (effectively doubling the next consonant) is the sound of the ball off the bat. "Tobase" means "make [it] fly!" So I've always translated it as "rip the ball!" or something similar. But I don't think that this translation is any better. It's the nuance that's important, and you've got that. Any other translations?]

- takoyaki noodles

Woah, hang on there. Takoyaki ain't noodles! Takoyaki are little dumplings of goo with bits of octopus in 'em. Local treat here in Osaka. I wonder if you might be referring to yakisoba noodles.

Also on offer at Koshien: the famous Koshien curry - only tastes good if you eat it at Koshien. You can conduct this experiment for yourself - they sell the curry in little sealed take-home packs. Also, yakitori char-broiled chicken, deep-fried chicken, hotdogs, burgers, udon noodles, okonomiyaki, sandwiches, ice cream, dried squid, beef jerky, peanuts. Apart from the normal range of drinks, there's also chuhai (usually) citrus fruit-flavoured alcoholic drinks.

Additional: a search on the Google images search page will turn up pictures for all of the above except "Koshien curry" (guess who can't concentrate on his work today).

I'm not sure this is exactly what you wanted, but you could do a pretty good school project on Japanese baseball cuisine!

I stand corrected. Writing quickly in the late evening, I confused my Koshien yakisoba with the takoyaki that I purchased at the nearby Daiei depaato. A quick call to my torakichi friend confirms Michael's translation of "katto base" (small "tsu" is in there), as "hit the ball hard." Though other Japanese friends have told me it meant "get to base," possibly thinking it easier for a gaijin to understand a translation that sounds like it's English. "Katto base" is, by the way, spelled in Katakana, not because it is a foreign transliteration, but because it is delivered in a strong manner.

Thanks for setting me straight. Accuracy is important in all matters Nihon!

Is this the JapaneseFood.com site? Makes my mouth salivate. "Have o-hashi, will travel." Mmmmmmm!!!

- Thanks for setting me straight. Accuracy is important in all matters Nihon!

Then I'll offer the slightest of corrections. It's one word: kattobase, but the way it is said makes it easy to see why you'd break it up that way.

Something that's not quite a "tradition," but is fun anyway, is the mad dash for bleacher seats at Tokyo Dome. I experienced this when a friend took me to see Game 2 of the 2000 Nihon Series.

Basically, the night before, everyone gets set to camp out in front of the gate. They already have tickets, this is purely for seating. Everyone gets into a snaking line delineated by ropes the evening before the game. Oendan usually have a troop of people ready to stake out their seats. Almost everybody brings a tarp to sit on, folded lengthwise into a long narrow rectangle that will fit into the rope-lines. You think you do this to save your spot, but for some reason at around 2 or 3 AM almost everyone leaves the line, leaving just their tarps there. They get back early in the morning and wait the rest of the day, usually in shifts. A couple hours before the game the lines are almost full again.

Because of the baggage check, the common strategy is to load up one or two people with all the bags while everyone else makes the dash. The line starts moving, and once you're past the gates you run to find open seats, which is pretty tough because the the oendan stake out their seats with long rolls of paper or tape. In fact, my friend and I (and a couple of friends we made waiting in the line) would have been stuck standing at that Nihon Series game if a friendly oendan member hadn't given us some seats.