I am having the absolute time of my life here in Japan. I am loving it here more than I ever expected I would. The trip so far has been full of amazing cultural experiences, but the largest one for me was at the Giants and Swallow’s baseball game. Baseball is HUGE in Japan, I’d say that it is bigger here than in the US. When we were buying tickets, two seats were not in the same section as the rest. Julia and I were fine sitting a bit further from the group so we went to sit there. Little did we know that the seats were smack-dab in the middle of the Tokyo Giant’s Oendan, or cheering section. Sitting there was a surreal experience- a baseball got hit into the rows behind us. An Oendan has not real American equivalent. It is separate from a cheer team but it is a section of the crowd that has organized cheering. Just like how in Fenway there are some cheering traditions but on a much larger scale. Each player had their own song and everyone was cheering in unison. To really understand you’d have google “Tokyo Giants Oendan” and watch a video of it if there is one. That hour and half was probably one of the coolest I have ever had.
We are currently on the bullet train out of Tokyo and heading into the rural village of Gokayama. I am so excited to experience traditional Japan since we just left the modern city of Tokyo.
We are currently on the bullet train out of Tokyo and heading into the rural village of Gokayama. I am so excited to experience traditional Japan since we just left the modern city of Tokyo.