Giants vs Tigers, the oldest baseball rivalry in Japan

Last night, I went to the Giants vs. Tigers baseball game at Tokyo Dome. Somehow, we scored front row seats in a section where you're given a helmet and a glove, you know, in case the ball flies straight at you (it didn't). Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants and Osaka's Hanshin Tigers are the two oldest teams in Japanese baseball, and it's a rivalry as intense as the Yankees vs. the Red Sox. It was an extremely important game for the Giants—it brought them one game ahead of the Tigers in the Central League, late in the season after a 13-game deficit. The Giants scored 8 points in the bottom of the 5th inning to gain the lead, and then kept it to win 9-5.

Tokyo Dome is a 1.2 million square foot facility that was built for the Giants in 1988. It was pouring out last night, but as you can see, the 55,000 spectators and all the players are perfectly dry and comfortable. I actually went to the opening game at Tokyo Dome with my dad and my little brother. Dad took us out of school to go on a weekday, saying this was a special event in history that was worth ditching math class for. I thought he was such a cool guy for doing that. (But neither my dad or my brother remember going, haha.)

Continue reading for video and pics of the Hanshin Tigers cheering squad and the awesome bento I ate while watching them.

In Japanese baseball, each team has its designated cheering squad and section, and each player has a customized chant made for them ends with the phrase "Kattobase!" and then the player's name. This is the Hanshin Tigers cheering squad singing the team anthem. I must say they were definitely the more hyped up, organized camp of the two. Even though they were the away team, there were tons of cute ladies wearing jerseys and tiger ears walking confidently around in the stands.

The Giants did have this awesome Tokyo Dome-shaped bento set, though It had fried rice, a meatball, a shrimp fry, karaage, custard cake, jello, pumpkin, an octopus-shaped sausage, and chestnut cake.

Comments

[vagrant]

I saw a Bay Stars/Giants game at the Tokyo Dome back in July. It was the first I'd ever seen and was interesting. I was amused by the synchronized fan sections and also didn't mind the "cheerleaders" the team had, as I had not seen that in baseball before.

My favorite, especially a buddies favorite, was the girls going up and down the stairs with the mini-keg on their backs, providing fresh, cold beer.

I must say the most striking difference from an American baseball game, is the crowd chatter. It's definitely bawdy in the U.S. I'd say that word sums up the difference.

P.S. 1SEG TV reception is great in the dome if you want to watch the replays on TV.

[archie4oz]

"This is the Hanshin Tigers cheering squad singing the team anthem. I must say they were definitely the more hyped up, organized camp of the two. Even though they were the away team, there were tons of cute ladies wearing jerseys and tiger ears walking confidently around in the stands."

Of course! No team's can match the fanatical dedication of Hanshin fans... :)

[GT88]

I went to my first game in 2006. It was one of those "Things to do before you die" things for me. I saw the Dragons play the Swallows. I loved every minute of it. I took pictures of the food (like you did) and I took video of the 7th inning stretch (kind of like you did). It was awesome and much better than seeing any baseball game in North America. What we found was odd was that when we got our tickets at the day of the game they asked what team we were rooting for. We didn't know so I picked the home team (Yakult). That was a mistake because there were more fans to see the Dragons than there was for the Swallows. The Dragons fans were having a better time that the Swallows!!

Later, when I was back in Canada, I started watching Heros and Hiro made a reference to a baseball game. It was the Swallows and the Dragons. It freaked me out that it was the 2 teams I saw in Japan. Wierd.

[Mosquito_Ace]

Nice helmet!
But what's underneath is nicer! ^^;

[Kuriharu]

Lisa's in Japan and Heroes premiered last night (3 hours if you count the clip-show special that preceeded the show). Of course, I'd prefer a month in Tokyo to seeing Heroes, as awesome as Heroes is.

[stuz]

かっ飛ばせ(kattobase)、[name] isnt exactly the 阪神 anthem.. although perhaps originated from their fan squad fans of other teams chant it too...

[good worker]

Lisa is a playa!
Chunichi Dragons !!!

[William]

You have a cool dad and, damm that Bento Box looks good! All it needs is some Wasabi... everything is better with Wasabi! Well... ok, most things...

[KoreaMelon]

The Tokyo Dome Bento Set sure sounds yummy! I love karaage and fried rice! Everything looks so good! Would love to try the chestnut cake... mmmm... you're making me hungry!

Ok. That's it. I'm going to Tokyo.