Tokyo 東京 and the Yomiuri Giants 読売ジャイアンツ
Thursday was our first full day in Tokyo with out a guide to help with directions and the subway. We started the day by exploring Northern Tokyo and the Asakusa area. Despite visiting other historical sites in Tokyo, the Asakusa was the district first that contained the feel of age. The cobblestone streets are lined with shops and stalls. The district is centered around the Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist site at 1,400 years old. The temple and adjacent Shinto Shrine and Asakusa Shrine are among the most highly visited religious sites in the world.
After explore and cooling off with a matcha frappe, we enjoyed a late lunch of tempura at Tempura Fukamachi in Asakusa. The menu was limited to four options each of tempura or tempura tendon (tempura with a dark, soy sauce).
From the Asakusa, we took the subway to the Tokyo Dome complex which contains the Tokyo Dome, the Korakuen (Japan Baseball Hall of Fame), and Tokyo Dome City (an urban amusement park complete with a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, and a ton of other attractions).
The Japan Hall of Fame presented the story of Japan's baseball history and celebrated its most notable players and contributors. The museum featured both professional and amateur displays along with women's baseball and softball. Highlights for this American were displays of Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron's bats.
The Yomiuri Giants are the New York Yankees of the Nippon league. The Giants are the primary team in the country's largest city and the Japanese either love or hate them. Their home reflects their standing in the league. The Tokyo Dome itself is a massive covered stadium that felt very Western, including "luxury" suites, wider and multi-level concourses, a wide variety of concessions and merchandise, and sponsored pop-ups, The dome includes exterior restaurants and shops which, unlike the Yokohama Stadium, scream professional sports. The Ballpark Store (merchandise) had a major league finish-out and was packed like a U.S. store on Black Friday. Under Amour is the on-field merchandise sponsor of the Giants so U.A. has a lifestyle store on the plaza as well. Restaurants included Taco Bell and Shake Shack.
Wednesday's game was the Giants versus the Hiroshima Carp. As with our game on Tuesday, the crowd was late arriving but ultimately filled the stadium to capacity. The Carp have the best record in the league and played like it. Their enthusiastic fans arrived early and were vocal throughout the game. Both the Carp and the Giants are iconic franchises in the league so it was fun to watch fan interaction and the variety of caps and jerseys worn by fans.
The game presentation was similar to that of the Baystars but a few differences: the Baystars' jumbo-tron was newer and allowed the team to present a better fan experience although the Giants aired more sponsored ads between innings; while the Baystars had the tradition of launching balloons during the seventh inning stretch, the Giants opted for the more "professional" unfurling of a long banner in right field.
After the subway back to the home, it was time to unwind. Off to Kyōto in the morning