Hiroshima Carpu!

We are Hiroshima Carp (pronounced Carp-u ala Japanese) fans now! I think Glenn and I both agree that the baseball game was one of our favorite parts of our trip. It may have something to do with the fact that we were a little shrine and templed-out after Kyoto so the baseball game was a change of pace.
The Mazda Zoom Zoom stadium in Hiroshima is brand new and we just happened to be there for opening weekend! This was their third game in the new stadium. It was a gorgeous stadium and they even built the outfield wall lower so that the Shinkansens and trains going by could see in to the stadium and "get into the spirit of the game". How fun.

Japanese fans are all super fans. Like all hobbies in Japan really. If you are a fan, you are a FAN! For example, one of my students, Toshiko, is such a fan of kabuki theater that she has joined the fan club and traveled as far as Paris to see her favorite actor perform. That's dedication. So the same is true for baseball. Almost everyone in the stadium was wearing Carp attire (except myself, and yes, I felt out of place) and came loaded down with flags, towels, noisemakers and more.

Many times throughout the game the team song was played and everyone sang along and performed the same clapping, motions and chanting. Glenn and I tried to play along, but we had no idea what they were saying. There was also the inexplicable 6th inning balloon release. At the bottom of the 6th inning everyone got their balloons out of their bags and started blowing them up in preparation for this:

I think the greatest part of a Japanese baseball game though is the ability to bring your own food and beer! On the walk to the stadium, Glenn and I noticed everyone carrying bags of food and drinks so we backtracked to the Lawson Station convenience store to load up on Chu-his and snacks. When we got to the game I noticed a sign that said no bottles or cans yet everyone was still walking towards the gates with cans so we proceeded as well. Once we got through the bag check we were directed to a cup station where they opened our cans (and recycled) and poured our Chu-his into paper cups and gave us a cup holder! How strange we thought, but we continued on! Apparently, it is protect the players from cans and bottles being tossed on to the field! I'll take a $2 drink over the $7 ones at the stadium! Although the $7 drinks we later consumed were dispensed by cute girls from kegs on their backs- gotta love the Japanese for their ingenuity.