Typically, whenever I’m attending a baseball game and I see umbrellas begin to pop up in the stands, it means I’m either about to get wet (because I don’t typically bring an umbrella to the game), sunburned (see previous parenthetical statement), or upset because the thing’s smack dab in front of me and blocking my view of the onfield action.
Turns out there is a place where umbrellas and baseball can coexist: It’s Tokyo’s historic Meiji Jingu Stadium, home of the Yakult Swallows.
I think I remember hearing about the Swallow fans umbrella “dance” as I did a bit of reconnaissance on my trip to Asia for some baseball spectating as part of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project (see my take on Korean baseball here). That said, if I did know about, I still considered myself surprised when – in the bottom of the sixth inning following thirdbaseman Eigoro Mogi‘s 2-run homer -thousands of miniature umbrellas popped open, hoisted into the air, and waved in rhythm to the music that was playing.
Mistakenly, I thought this only occurred following a home run, but upon further research, it happens following every Swallows’ run. It also occurs heading into the home half of the seventh inning (e.g. the seventh inning stretch) and I was ready for it that time and had my camera poised to capture some footage.
I gotta admit, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything quite like it before.
Sure, I’ve been part of waves, white/black outs, sing-a-longs, cheering on racing presidents or sausages or pierogies, but mini umbrellas dancing in synchronicity?
Never!
It was way cool to witness in person and if I lived in Tokyo and was a fan of the Swallows, I’d totally own one of those umbrellas … which were available for purchase at all the merchandise stands.
Other Nippon Professional Baseball Observations
The level of play is a touch above KBO. If Korean professional baseball is equivalent to somewhere between Double-A and Triple-A in the States, I’d say the Japanese version is somewhere in the Quadruple-A range.
I’d both heard and read this prior to attending games in the Far East and my non-learned opinion is that it seems fairly accurate. Defenses were a little more sound in Japan, offenses (our 2-1 final score notwithstanding) seemed to have a bit more pop, and pitchers were consistently hitting 140-145 kmh on the in-stadium radar gun (upper 80s-low 90s mph).
There were a pair of international players (those born outside Japan) who I became fascinated with.
- One, Domingo Santana, batted second and played leftfield for the Swallows. This is his fifth consecutive season the 32-year-old Dominican Republic native has played with Yakult and he was clearly a fan favorite. The chanting when he arrived at the plate with a rhythmic “Do-ming-GO” was recognizable even to this non-Japanese speaker. It’s Santana’s 17th season in professional baseball and, along the way, he’s played parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues, most recently with Cleveland in 2020.
- The other, Trey Cabbage, batted fourth and played rightfield for the Giants. It’s the 28-year-old’s first season in Japan, having played 45 games a year ago for the Houston Astros in MLB. He certainly seems to be the poster child for international-born players in Japan. During 10 professional seasons (parts of nine were in the Minor Leagues), he batted .259 with 109 homers. In his MLB time (parts of two seasons), he could only muster a .209 batting average. He gave the big leagues an earnest shot, but has realized long-terms success, security and celebrity might lie across the Pacific like his opponent on night, Santana, seemed to ascertain.
The relative level of play of all the players (Japanese and international) led to an intriguing conversation later back in our rental: How much better were Ichiro, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and, of course, Shohei Ohtani than their Japanese peers when they played in the NPB?
The answer, we presumed, was exponentially better.
Meiji Jingu Stadium
Quick, when’s the last time you attended a major sporting event in a venue that’s owned by a shrine?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Jingu Stadium is, in fact, owned by the Meiji Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in the same area that honors Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.
The Emperor died in 1912 and the Shrine was dedicated in 1920. Jingu Stadium opened six years later and is part of the answer to an epic sports trivia question:
- What four professional baseball stadiums still in use today did Babe Ruth play in?
The answer is Jingu, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan. Ruth, along with fellow future Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, were part of a 1934 Japanese barnstorming tour that played 22 games throughout Japan.
There’s a bit of controversy of what’s to become of Jingu Stadium, apparently. In 2023 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government approved a plan to develop 28.4 hectacres to redevelop the both Jingu and the nearby rugby stadium (Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium) with razing of the baseball stadium and rebuilding on the rugby stadium and a new rugby stadium built on the baseball stadium. It would also include three new skyscrapers and a hotel. Shortly after these plans were announced, a UNESCO advisory board warned of “irreversible destruction of cultural heritage” if the project, which will result in the loss of 3,000 trees (many the iconic gingko trees) and open park space, is allowed to be completed.
Here’s an Associated Press story about this issue from 2023.
Food, Glorious Food
Perhaps I was still full from our gluttonous display in Seoul earlier in the week, but I really wasn’t up to taste-testing the entirety of the Jingu Stadium concessions’ menu.
My bursting beltline aside, I think a primary reason for my reluctance to turn into a gastronaut at this night’s game was the fact that we had limited access to the stadium’s interior. As referenced above, you’re fairly well cordoned off at Jingu. Further, the queuing lines were all fairly lengthy due to the narrow concourses and I was more interested in watching the game than waiting in line for whatever was being served.
An opportunity/experience missed? Certainly.
Am I regretting it? Not at all.
That said, I was once again impressed by the ability of fans to bring food and beverage into the stadium.
Like our experience at Seoul’s Jamsil Baseball Stadium, there were plenty of food vendors outside the stadium selling all variety of options. As near as I could tell it was all permitted to accompany fans into Jingu and, in fact, I later read that even beer could come with you as long as it was poured into a disposable cup before entering the stadium.
More of this would be a welcome addition at many professional sporting venues in North America.
The Fan Experience
Clockwise from upper left, our group in our seats at Meiji Jingu Stadium; the Swallow Crew is the name of the official fan club; a Shinjuku skyscraper adorns the skyline beyond the Yomiuri Giants fans in leftfield; the Swallows fans hoist their umbrellas following a home run; the view from my seat; fans in front of me enjoy the umbrella dance; the scoreboard (photo by Stephen Miller).
As I’ve reflected on my time in both Korea and Japan, I’ve found it difficult to avoid comparisons between the two in-stadium fan experiences.
While I was often-times overwhelmed by all that was occurring around me during the KBO experience, I did not experience similar feelings while watching the Swallows and Giants.
Yes, there was fairly constant cheering and chanting by each team’s set of fans while they batted, but I didn’t find it nearly as disorienting as I had in Seoul. Perhaps this was due to the lack of sound amplification emanating from the KBO’s cheerleader and DJ and drummers or, maybe, I was becoming desensitized to it all.
The overall production of the NPB product seemed more closely aligned to what I’ll call “western baseball:”
- The pregame festivities included presentations, first pitches, and plenty of chatter from the in-stadium “hosts” (in both Japanese and English languages);
- There was a public address announcer that introduced each batter, pitching changes, and the like (though, oddly, only spoken in Japanese);
- There were between inning commercials and promotions on the video board;
- There was also occasional on-field entertainment from both the Swallows and Giants’ cheerleaders. The Swallows’ team is known as “Passion.” The Giants are simply known as the Tokyo Giants Cheerleaders.
- The aforementioned Umbrella Dance during the seventh inning certainly was not unlike many of the traditions one finds in North American baseball stadiums (think “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway Park; “Sweet Home Chicago” at Wrigley Field, etc.;
- There were both chairback and bench seating options throughout the stadium. We were in the latter and, as a husky lad with relatively long legs, I’d say it was a cozy feel. My friend Tim, who at 6-foot-4 was the tallest among us, spotted several empty chairback seats a couple sections in front of us and fled for the relative comfort (and a good bit more leg room) that those provided midway through the game;
- The crowd (at least on this Sunday night) tended to skew older than what we experienced in Seoul and – observationally – seemed to be more knowledgeable in baseball than their Korean counterparts.
To compare what the Jingu Stadium baseball experience was like in terms many of my readers might understand, I’d say it was akin to attending a Triple A baseball game with a South American soccer crowd (though I’ve not yet attended a South American soccer match) in the stands. The horns, the constant thwacking of the mini-boom sticks most fans carried around their neck, the onfield between inning promotions and entertainment, and, of course, the quality of baseball being played all bring me to that comparison.
Before I Go, a Word (or Several) About the Urikos
One final observation about the atmosphere inside Jingu Stadium.
As a grizzled veteran specator of thousands of sporting events, I’m quite familiar with the “hawker.” That is, the person who lugs a tray of drinks, coolers of ice cream, or hot boxes filled with pretzels, hot dogs, and the like all over the arena and stadium.
Sadly, they’re less ubiquitous than they once were. I remember a time when I could hear them shouting “Cold beer here” or “Hot dogs, get your hot dogs” in the background of radio broadcasts when I was younger … but I digress.
In Japan there are “urikos,” or beer girls, and they are EVERYWHERE.
These spritely gals with small kegs of beer strapped to their backs, work the sections and stairs of the stadium providing, presumably, cold beer to customers. Seemingly, they do not say a word, but rather occasionally stop, raise their right hand slightly over their head, and scan the sea of people for eye contact and/or a raised hand in return and then they spring into action pulling a cup out and filling up a frothy cool beverage for the awaiting customer.
The urikos are color-coded for fan convenience. Each colored outfit carries a specific type of beer. The uriko clad in black, for example, sold Sapporo.
I felt uneasy taking a photo (though I did shoot video of the crowd and it, naturally, captured some urikos in the background) of the ladies because, well, I’m a 57-year-old American man and that might have registered on the Creespster Scale. I did find this photo from the Yakult Swallows online, however.
Also worth noting about the urikos. Unlike their North American counterparts, they did not stop serving at any designated time. As the visiting Giants took their final cuts in the top of the ninth inning, these ladies were still hoofing it all over the place presumably trying to completely drain those mini-kegs.
