On August 16, I was lucky enough to be watching a baseball game in Japan, specifically
this game between the Yakult Swallows and the Hanshin Tigers. I had a great time – my brother, Chris, was sitting next to me and snapping amazing pictures (some of which you’ll see in a bit), our neighbors in the row were a family of Americans who had just two weeks earlier moved to Japan and turned out to be Red Sox fans, and it was the lazy end of a beautiful sunny day.
As the evening progressed, I noticed a number of differences between my experience as a fan here and my prior trips to American ballparks, beyond simply the PA making announcements in Japanese instead of English or that Japan Airlines was a major sponsor instead of United. Although I’d heard rumors of a couple of these differences, most caught me by surprise,often in a pleasant way. Allow me to discuss these notable nuances, so that you may be ready the next time you find yourself in a Japanese ballpark.
