In the afternoon I went with my mom to Osaka Station where there is a huge mall, and this amazing fountain!
picture and video: fountain at Osaka Station, showing time and location
Inside the mall we went to the Pokemon Center, what a store! Pokemon merchandise everywhere! It made me feel like a kid again.
Pokemon Center sign
Pokemon Center stand
entrance arcade game
My mom played a Pokemon arcade game near the entrance, but there wasn't much to it unless you could save data of Pokemon you caught. At the checkout the cashier gave me a free gift, and it was a card to save that data on. The game costs 100 yen, but I might go back and give it a shot!
In the Umeda Station Mall we went to the Hanshin Tigers shop and stocked up on some Tigers merchandise to show our support at the game in the evening. I saw some nori strips with the Tigers logo printed on it, thought that was pretty funny.
Hanshin shop sign
Tigers nori
We still had time after our shopping and before the game so my mom let me drag her to the 世界のビール博物館 (sekai no biiru hakubutsukan, World Beer Museum) I had heard about from a friend, an underground bar with a fair selection of beers, better than any bar I have ever been to in Japan before.
World Beer Museum's classy menu
六甲ポーター (rokkou pootaa, Rokko Porter)
A Japanese brewery I had never heard of called 六甲ビール (rokkou biiru, Rokko Beer) brews a porter, so I got to try my very first Japanese porter! It was on-tap at the Museum and everything. Unfortunately it tasted a bit watery to me, and it didn't leave much of an impression. It was definitely a few steps up from a standard Kirin or Asahi beer, though.
It came time for the baseball game and my mom and I had a bit of a mishap when I left my stuff with her and went to buy a beer at the stadium. We had made a mistake and sat in the correct seats but in the wrong section of the stadium, and the staff kindly showed my mom to the new seats. Me, without my phone or ticket, was fortunately approached by another Tigers supporter who told me what had happened. We were separated a little while but we managed to find each other before the bottom of the first inning.
Watching the proceedings, I learned about a few Japanese ballpark idiosyncrasies that I think are quite funny.
1. There are bat girls rather than bat boys. They wear shiny short-shorts and run out looking all cute. It strikes me as objectification, but it's also kind of amusing.
2. There are beer girls serving beer from packs on their backs throughout the stadium. If you want an Asahi you won't go three seconds with an empty cup. They run around shouting "ビールいかがですか" (biiru ikaga desu ka, would you like a beer?). Those girls run around up and down stairs with beer on their back for hours: I envy their leg musculature! I'd be tempted to give the job a shot and see how it would improve my lower body capability.
3. In the 7th inning, rather than the "7th inning stretch" there is a releasing of balloons throughout the stadium. These balloons are carried around and sold throughout the bleachers before the 7th inning. Everyone blows them up, holds them closed - and after a certain tune is played - lets them go. There were balloons all over the place after the game was over!
early innings
an Asahi beer girl
Fight, Tigers!
the cub Tigers mascot dancing with the cheerleaders
(there are 3 Tigers mascots: a male tiger, a female tiger, and a cub)
the male Tigers mascot and a cheerleader mid-backhandspring
when players came up to bat, their name and eyes would be shown on this strip around the stadium
balloons
The game was intense. It was tied 2-to-2 from midway through, and went into extra innings! Finally at the bottom of the 11th the Tigers scored and won the game! There were some really spectacular plays throughout. I'm not a big sportsball fan, but that was a great game!
home team victory!
the victors
It was a late night on the trains but many people had filed out of the game after the end of the 9th inning, so the trains weren't too crowded. One man on the train called me "外人さん" (gaijin-san, Miss Foreigner) and when I looked he said "hello" several times. I've heard of people being called Gaijin-san before, but it was the first time I've been called that, so I thought that was pretty funny.
Fantastic day, excited for the next one!
(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)
