Watching A Japanese Baseball Game: Tokyo Giants @ Tokyo Dome

Watching a baseball game in Japan is an activity I would recommend for tourists. Attending a baseball game provides a glimpse into another unique facet of Japanese culture.

Tokyo Dome

We took the metro to Tokyo Dome to watch the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants take on the Chiba Lotte Marines. It was easy to buy our tickets in advance through the Tokyo Giants website. There was an option to pick up the physical tickets, but I just showed the tickets on my phone for entry.

We stopped in the official Tokyo Giants store at the stadium to look at the merch. D had wanted to buy a t-shirt, but they only had expensive jerseys so we left the store empty-handed.

(D’s shopping bag was from our earlier Uniqlo haul.)

We enjoyed the temperature-controlled climate of the enclosed Tokyo Dome and it was nice not having to deal with the sun in our eyes. The Tokyo Dome also did not feel too large. Although we had some of the cheapest seats, it felt like we were a lot closer to the action than our usual nosebleed seats at Angels Stadium.

Tokyo Dome Food and Drinks

I wanted to buy dinner at the stadium, and the first place we saw was this place that sold bentos. I really liked how they had players pick their favorite foods for their namesake bento.

I had no idea who any of the players are, but the packaging was cool.

This was the bento I chose. It was okay, but there were a lot of mysterious items and it was relatively expensive.

This bento also ended up being just meh. I am not sure if it was our American palates, or whether Japanese people actually enjoy these foods. It did not help that the food was not hot, which is D’s biggest problem with bentos. I saw the moms in front of us eating onigiri from the convenience store, and I think that would have been a better option.

We also tried this mango soda. It was basically soda water with big chunks of frozen mango.

It was fascinating to watch the Japanese beer girls running up and down the stands with large kegs on their backs. I seriously did not understand how they had the stamina to do this. Even more amazing is that they did their jobs with smiling faces and cheerful attitudes.

Cheering at a Japanese Baseball Game is on a Whole Different Level

Japanese people really let it all out when cheering at baseball games. There were basically two extremely loud cheering sections: the away team section was way across from us, between second and third base, and the home section was closer to first base. I cannot imagine how loud it was in the middle of either of those sections, as it was already loud from where we were sitting. The Chiba Marines fans were so loud, it almost seemed like they were cheering for the home team. It is interesting that Japan has subways filled with commuters so silent you could hear a pin drop, but also has baseball fans that can yell non-stop for three hours straight.

The chants were quite involved and varied for each player and type of play. Here is D doing his best to participate.

D wore his SF Giants hat, which has a very similar look to the Tokyo Giants gear (same colors and font).

The boys in front of us had fun playing with these cool light sticks.

The stadium was pretty full for a Wednesday night.

We left the game early, before the 7th inning. I read later that the Giants lost, 3-4. I did not realize that they had won against the same team the day before 18-2!

If you are visiting Tokyo during baseball season, going to a game at Tokyo Dome is a worthwhile experience. Just remember my personal recommendation would be to skip the player bento boxes and find something else to eat.