Our Japanese Baseball Experience at the Tokyo Dome

We’ve always thought it would be fun to see a Yomiuri Giants game at the iconic Tokyo Dome, and when the opportunity presented itself during our trip to Japan, we jumped at the chance.  For us, the Tokyo Dome has long been a bucket list, pie-in-the-sky dream to visit one day, especially to see a Nippon League baseball game there.  The Tokyo Dome has been around since 1988 and has hosted so many different events through the years. When Major League Baseball wanted a larger presence in Asia, it headed straight for the Tokyo Dome.  The MLB has opened its season at the Tokyo Dome in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 and just about every big musical act known to mankind has made a stop there. While it may no longer be the most up-to-date, state of the art stadium it once was, there aren’t many other stadiums as iconic.  The facility seats 42,000 for baseball and reminds us of the old Hubert H Humphrey Dome in Minneapolis, MN.

We  attended a game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers with a 2:00pm local start time. Here’s one of the many video screens located throughout the stadium announcing the game time.

By the first pitch of the game, the place was packed. The seats are actually smaller and closer together than they are in the US, believe it or not.  We had seats in the upper deck behind home plate in order to see the scoreboard and take in the whole view.

The place even has its own amusement park outside called Tokyo Dome City, which has a roller coaster and a ferris wheel.

We were brave enough to ride the ferris wheel.  Maybe we’ll try the roller coaster on our next visit!

The Japanese baseball experience is very cool and so different from that in the States, even though the rules of the game played on the field are basically the same. One thing that really sets Japanese baseball apart from American baseball is the interactivity of the fans – it’s really the highlight of the game.

Both team’s mascots perform a pregame show which concludes with all of them shaking hands as a sign of peace before the game. Fans of both teams make sure to applaud their own mascot as well as the opposing team’s mascot. The whole thing is very cordial.

Team mascots are a fan favorite for people of all ages, not just the kids.  The Giants mascots are called Giabits and include two males, a female and two children.  We found the Giants mascot, Vicky, doing a photo shoot for the fans as we were exploring the downstairs concourse in the stadium.

Fans cheer and chant throughout the entire game, adding a lot of excitement.  As the Giants lineup was announced, the Giants fans had a unique cheer for every player.

Fans of each team all sit together.  Fans of the Tigers were sitting in the left field stands and had their own chants throughout the entire game.

The rowdiest Giants fans were sitting in the right field stands.

There are also certain cheers where the fans all twirl a towel of their club’s color. This makes for a much more interactive and exciting game to sit through… we all know how some of the mid-innings of a baseball game can drag at times. All of the cheers helped keep us awake as we powered through jet lag and got used to the time difference.

Instead of beer guys walking around in the stands, there are liquor saleswomen. Suntory whiskey is the common spirit of choice (Bill Murray would be proud!).  The women carry a large canister in a backpack and provide the liquor draft style out of a tap.  They also precariously bobby pin hats to the top of their heads.

Heading out into the concourses, there are souvenir stands for not only the home team Giants but also for the visiting Hanshin Tigers.

Here’s the Giants souvenir stand.

Some cool Giants souvenir items including plush mascots which were very popular.

The concession stand food options were pretty diverse.  Some of the standard ballpark fare is available like ice cream, pretzels and hot dogs (the hot dogs were …interesting to say the least) and there are also a lot of options unique to Japan. The pictures on the menu really helped us when ordering.

The chicken on the stick was also interesting but paired nicely with a Sapporo Lager.

We also tried the noodles which we proudly ate with chopsticks.

Our favorite food options were the bento boxes based off of player’s favorites.  Very cool.

The Yomiuri Giants beat the Hanshin Tigers 2-1 during our visit. Here’s one last look back at the stadium as we made our way to the subway.

Overall the Tokyo Dome really lived up to our expectations and we would love to visit again… maybe next for both an NBL and MLB game!