Between goodbye parties and last minute packing, I had the chance to go to my very baseball game ever!

Nagoya’s baseball team is the Chunichi Dragons, and the city is very supportive of their baseball team. After spending an entire semester living close to Nagoya Dome and seeing fans everywhere, my interest in baseball was admittedly piqued. Baseball is a big deal in Japan, with roots dating back before World War II, so who was I to ignore tradition? I expressed an interest in going to my host parents this semester after seeing my host brother obsess over them (he knows all the starting batters and players. All of them.) and seeing merchandise around the house. As a gift to me, my host mother and sister and I all went to a game.

We got pretty decent seats, not too into the crowd, so we weren’t surrounded by screaming people or anything, but it was still insanely loud and noisy. We were in the bleachers that were closer to the opposing team, the Lions, and every time the Lions were at bat, we had crazy fans screaming around us, and then cursing loudly when the Dragons were at bat.

I have only a vague understanding of baseball, but I pick up quite quickly. The beginning of the game was pretty uneventful and even disappointing, as the Lions managed to get in a good homerun, but the Dragons pulled in after the 7th inning and we left by the end of the 8th with Dragons pulling in 5 more runs, which was amazing. There was a lot of screaming and cheering at that point, from me included.

As baseball games go, that one was pretty fun. I got a grasp on some of the main players in the Dragons, and I’m definitely excited to see more, American or Japanese, regardless, though it was more fun here to see people bring out their bento boxes and sushi and buy Japanese beer. Baseball is a fun game to watch and the attitude of the crowd is infectious. Now all I need to do is learn all of the Dragon cheers and I’ll be ready for another round.

By the by, Dragons won 6-2! Good game!

Location: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan