Nothing But Words

• I've never heard of this band, but they have an original and good interpretation of a certain favorite song of mine: http://bit.ly/cjNmfP #

It always amazes me that so many Tokyo shop owners, when they decide to give their stores English names, don’t reach out to Tokyo’s large community of native English speakers (just grabbing a white guy off the street probably would do), to see if their great idea for a store name actually makes the least bit of sense. The first three pictures below are stores I came across on this trip. The rest are ones I found on previous trips.

View at Picasa You know it’s not hard to find native English speakers in Tokyo, to run by your great idea for a store name05-Jul-2010 08:23, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100	View at Picasa Another dubious store name, in Kichijoji06-Jul-2010 02:00, SONY DSC-W55, 4.5, 14.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 125
View at Picasa A coffee shop in Ningyocho named “Tax Payer”08-Jul-2010 02:09, SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 125	View at Picasa Spotted in Yaesu chikagai – the underground shopping mall at Tokyo station14-May-2007 19:12, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 4.0, 10.8125mm, 0.02 sec
View at Picasa One of several “hair saloon” signs I’ve seen in Japan – this one is in Kawagoe25-Mar-2007 16:56, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.017 sec	View at Picasa A hat store on Sun Road in Kichijoji. Knowing what “Shazbot” means (without looking it up on Wikipedia!) marks you as a child of early 80s American television.21-Feb-2007 00:02, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.013 sec
View at Picasa Another great store name in Tokyo – “White Trash Charms Japan”24-Jun-2004 21:54, Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.013 sec

Pre-game warm-up inside the Tokyo Dome View at Picasa Pre-game warm-up inside the Tokyo Dome04-Jul-2010 00:25, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 200

You can bring your own drinks to Tokyo Dome, but you have to give up the cans – they pour the drinks in cups for you View at Picasa You can bring your own drinks to Tokyo Dome, but you have to give up the cans – they pour the drinks in cups for you04-Jul-2010 00:26, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 125

These girls running up and down the stadium steps with kegs on their backs made me think of soldiers in boot camp View at Picasa These girls running up and down the stadium steps with kegs on their backs made me think of soldiers in boot camp04-Jul-2010 02:24, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 320

Red Alert! Somebody spilled a drink! Clean it up! Clean it up! Only in Japan… View at Picasa Red Alert! Somebody spilled a drink! Clean it up! Clean it up! Only in Japan…04-Jul-2010 02:17, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 320

Japanese baseball has cheerleaders – here they are before the game, getting ready with kids who volunteered to join them in some pre-game dancing View at Picasa Japanese baseball has cheerleaders – here they are before the game, getting ready with kids who volunteered to join them in some pre-game dancing04-Jul-2010 00:40, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 1000

So many fans are dressed up, it’s hard to tell the stadium from the team locker room View at Picasa So many fans are dressed up, it’s hard to tell the stadium from the team locker room04-Jul-2010 00:32, SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 1000

The indoor-outdoor mall next to Tokyo Dome, which is also an amusement park View at Picasa The indoor-outdoor mall next to Tokyo Dome, which is also an amusement park03-Jul-2010 23:52, SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 100

As an American attending a Japanese major league baseball game for the first time, it turned out that the most fun part wasn’t watching the game, it was enjoying the highly choreographed, non-stop cacophony of alcohol soaked cheering and singing from the fans. The game itself was good, and was very much like watching two good major league American teams play. It was the Yomiuri Giants vs. the Hanshin Tigers, who have a long-running rivalry like the Yankees and Red Sox. The big difference from American baseball is the rituals the Japanese bring to the game. When you combine Japanese baseball fanaticism with their obsessions over convenience, cleanliness, and group activities involving alcohol, you get a unique experience.

Convenience begins with buying the tickets – we didn’t buy tickets until the morning on the day of the game, so all that was left were standing room only tickets. But we were able to buy them at the convenience store down the street from our hotel, for only 1000 yen (about $11) each. Convenience stores here sell tickets for just about every major event in the city, with no surcharges like those obscene TicketMaster “convenience” fees. Getting to the game is also convenient on the subway, which takes you within a stone’s throw of the Giants’ home stadium, the Tokyo Dome. I didn’t even see a parking lot – if there is one, it must be small.

Cleanliness is apparent the moment you walk in the stadium. You’re allowed to bring in any food and drink you like, including alcohol. However, there are paper cup stations at every entrance, where you are required to give your drinks to a uniformed guard, who will pour them in cups for you, as they want to make sure all the metal cans and plastic bottles are recycled, and to minimize any mess. And there is no mess: every stairwell, hallway, stadium seat, and toilet is spotless. The stadium had an almost antiseptic feel to it, like a hospital: as an American, it felt utterly antithetical to any previous stadium experience of mine. Maria and I had to restrain a fit of laughter partway through the game, when a man sitting across from us spilled his beer (by then we had snuck into some empty seats in the nosebleed section behind home plate). Not only did he immediately get up and run to report the spill to a stadium attendant, the attendant than grabbed another attendant, and they rushed back to his seat with a pile of paper towels and a plastic bag to frantically clean it up.

Like in the US, beer is the drink of choice for many at baseball games, but hard liquor is also for sale. The people working hardest during the game aren’t the players, it’s the beer girls. They’re all young and pretty (presumably a requirement for being hired), and they carry small kegs on their backs, with a tap attached so they can serve draught beer. They are in constant motion, huffing up and down the steep stairwells, serving beer and dripping sweat, but always with smiles on their faces. It was like watching marines doing basic training, but high on happiness pills. I felt exhausted just watching them. I noticed none of the same girls were around for more than a few innings, so presumably (hopefully) they were allowed decent breaks.

Video – visiting Hanshin Tigers fans cheering, in Tokyo Dome View at Picasa Video – visiting Hanshin Tigers fans cheering, in Tokyo Dome04-Jul-2010 05:08

The most remarkable thing was the choreographed cheering, which started before the first pitch and went on continuously throughout the game (see the video on the right for a sample). Actually, there were a few brief breaks when the cheerleaders – yes, cheerleaders for baseball – came out to dance (so they should call them dancers instead, since they were definitely not cheerleading). The left outfield seats were occupied exclusively by the Toraki-chi (crazy Tigers fans), and the right outfield was for the Giants, and then fans for both teams were mixed together in the rest of the stadium. Each side had chants they sang when their team was at bat, and the other side mostly would stay deferentially quiet, except for especially good defensive plays. The stadium-wide coordination was impressive. Each team had a specific way to express their enthusiam for home runs. For the Giants, aside from an explosion of cheering, every fan has a small orange towel to wave, and in the center of their fan section were people waving two enormous flags (see the video below). Unlike in the US, nobody brings home-made signs. I thought it was all really a lot of fun for the first few innings, but by around the sixth inning the constant cacophony became numbing. But I wasn’t drinking, so that was probably a big part of my problem.

Video – Yomiuri Giants fans cheer after a run, in Tokyo Dome View at Picasa Video – Yomiuri Giants fans cheer after a run, in Tokyo Dome04-Jul-2010 05:41

What also stood out to me was the lack of an announcer. Not a word was ever spoken over a PA system. The name of the current batter was usually incorporated into the crowd’s chant, so everyone was following the state of the game just fine without an announcer. My favorite chant was for the Giants’ American player Edgar Gonzalez, whose name is impossible for the Japanese to pronounce, but they did the best they could, chanting “Ed-o-ga! Ed-o-ga!”

Which reminds me, I did also pay some attention to the game The Giants clobbered the Tigers 10-2, mainly because the Tigers opening pitcher gave up 7 runs in the first few innings before they finally took him out. Here are the game’s full stats if you’re curious. Since we were still a bit jet lagged (it was our 2nd day in Tokyo), it was a pleasant way to relax on the 4th of July, and have an experience that felt both American and uniquely Japanese.

• Whether you're a fashion model or a Dark Lord of the Sith, you need a new cell phone http://twitpic.com/22cntm #
• Sean, this one is for you – David Bowie on the Wall of Fame at Tokyo Dome http://twitpic.com/22covr #
• Pre-game warmup inside the Tokyo Dome http://twitpic.com/22cpzy #
• These girls running up and down the stadium steps with kegs on their backs made me think of soldiers in basic trai http://twitpic.com/22cr2w #
• Japanese baseball has constant choreographed cheering – these cheers are for the visiting Tigers, at bat http://youtu.be/02OlbP3EK78 #
• And here at the Giants fans after a run, singing and waving their orange towels http://youtu.be/w8tEaTTu85o #
• We got to enjoy a Tanabata festival today after all (before the game), on Kappabashi-dori http://twitpic.com/22d3wr #
• Sorry for the lack of updates from Tokyo the past 2 days. I've been avoiding my computer, which is proving to be therapeutic. More soon! #
• Heading home in the morning. I am so not ready to leave. #
• Dragonfly in the Imperial Gardens http://twitpic.com/23hem0 #
• Edo period sake shop and storehouse (made of metal so it won't burn) http://twitpic.com/23hfnm #
• Maria in an Edo period stationary store, at the open-air Edo Museum http://twitpic.com/23hg1c #
• You know it's not that hard to find a native English speaker to run by your great idea for an English store name http://twitpic.com/23hh2i #
• Last meal in Tokyo some delicious ramen http://twitpic.com/23hhq9 #
• Back on the east coast after a long but not too horrible flight. Just uploaded more Tokyo pictures http://bit.ly/9EkFMA #
• Read "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" on the flight home. Amazing and terrifying. Here's a good review: http://bit.ly/cBjujO #
• The real reason we went to Tokyo: Ultraman, Gundam, and Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers) http://twitpic.com/242jvh #

• New property listing for my Dad – a unique 3 bedroom house in Portsmouth RI – http://bit.ly/ceaJGK #
• Hmm – should I brush up on my Japanese before the trip, or Tokyo teenage fashion? Thanks Chris, I think… http://twitpic.com/20goco #
• Making good time to Newport http://twitpic.com/20qm5g #
• Morning jog near the naval base (aircraft carrier USS Saratoga; decommissioned 1994; will be scrapped) http://twitpic.com/20yjsv #
• Arrived safe and sound in Tokyo a few hours ago, after 23 hours of travel. The flights and train were fine – it's exciting to be back! #
• Got up early and had a lot of fun at the Tsukiji wholesale fish market. Here's a video of a tuna auction we saw – http://bit.ly/bSJM2y #
• And here are some pictures of our morning in Tsukiji – http://bit.ly/9EkFMA #

2010 - TokyoJul 2, 2010 Photos: 80

Greetings from Tokyo! We’re starting our second full day here, and we’re having a great time so far. It’s mind-boggling to be out without the boys – and up late on school nights

It’s the 4th of July, and since we can’t have burgers on a grill in someone’s backyard, we’re looking for at least some type of American experience today. We’ve decided to see a baseball game, which is also a uniquely Japanese experience. We’re seeing the Yomiuri Giants against the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome (the Giants are like the New York Yankees of Japanese baseball). There’s a lot of fun stuff going on today – for us it was a tough call between the game, the international breakdancing competition Battle of Year preliminaries in Kawasaki, and the Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata matsuri (I really wanted to see the festival, but it’s a 2 hour train ride each way to Hiratsuka, so we decided to skip it).

I may not have many opportunities to blog while we’re here, but I’ll do my best to at least upload pictures. Keep an eye on this post, as I’ll try to add photos each day to the album above. So far I have pictures from our first day yesterday – Tsukiji fish market in the morning, lunch with friends we made through Kai’s school in 2007, and a wonderful dinner at Nozaki Shuten.