My First Hanshin Tigers Game (at Koshien)!

It might be a SMALL overexaggeration, but your first REAL baseball game in Japan is to learning about this culture what taking your first step is to learning about life. If that makes sense? And ok, while I know I did go to ONE baseball game with Jane, Jen & Rob last fall, I'm a Kansai girl, so my first Tigers game at Koshien Stadium (and against our biggest rivals - the Tokyo Giants) was a big deal.
Even if you are not a baseball fan, you should check out a game when you're in Japan. Just watching the fans is an experience!! EVERYONE in the stadium is fiercely loyal to their team. They get so into it and are really passionate. I had lost faith in finding this atmosphere here after the 'quiet' environment at the Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert this spring, but that faith has been fully restored. It seems I was just looking in the wrong places. What's more, each player has their own little song (that they have chosen and is supposed to represent their character), that the crowds sings after they hit. Most people have plastic bats that you hit together and at the end of the game, the ENTIRE crowd releases these long baloons (with the team emblem on them) into the air. If you don't know the cheers, it's ok... they have "cheerleaders" (literally) at the front of each section. There's no "Wally the Beer Man", but the teenagers selling beer, nuts (no peanuts), chuhai and hotdogs come in a close second. The Japanese curry is rumored to be amazing as well.
The best part is that this isn't even a Kansai tradition... the Giants section (the visitor section has to be expanded for them) had giant flags and grandmothers with more charisma and enegy than I have seen some of my 15-year-old students display.
Our team won, so it was a good game to attend. People were going crazy! The energy was amazing.After the 9th inning had finished and the players had left the field, our group made our way outside and hung out at this (apparently famous) little tacoyaki (octopus ball) stand outside of the main stadium gates. We sat around a little make-shift table, with other entusiastic Tiger's fans joining us in celebration, including the guy who owns the pub near Lena's house (nice chap - bought us a round!) and another super-fan who gave us all a pack of baseball cards (complete with bubble gum).

Wonderful night. I am left with only one question: when the next game is going to be?! I'll be practicing the teams songs until then;)