Japan's Favorite Past Time- Part III

(From the forgotten chronicles of Fall 2005)
Ah yes, the fans. These faithful supporters are not just a few in a vast sea of fair-weather floozies- they make up an amazing majority of ticket holders, and bring an element I have seldom seen at a game back in the states (remember, I’m speaking from the background of someone whose home-team was lackluster at best). And truly, there’s nothing like soaking in genuine fan excitement for their team, no matter how lousy their performance the previous year.

As with every other area of life here, there seems to be an unwritten protocol of how to participate in rabid fan-like activities. Each side has about three chants and/or songs that they rotate through, each accompanied by trademark choreography, such as jumping up and down or waving hands in unison. These are only displayed when their respective team is up to bat. Each side also has a volunteer band that follow the team around no matter where their game schedule takes them, providing the music with which the crowd synchronizes their deep-voiced intonations.

Not a peep could be heard out of the other team’s supporters when Lotte’s players came up to bat. They kept a respectful silence as roars of encouragement and approval came from the Lotte faithful. The only time this code of silence was broken was when an error was made, which inevitably led to the Other’s horn player whipping out a mocking nya nya nya barrage of notes as his cohorts cackled. Silence would then descend upon them once more, until either the next error or the inning’s end, whichever came first. Just as the two teams would trade places, so would the fans, with Lotte remaining silent as the Other cheered their team on.

In truth, it was all very civilized as each side dutifully waited for their turn to chant, stomp, and cheer, all the while remaining silent in shared shame during painful blunders aggravated by the taunts of their opponents. In my mind, this scene defined something difficult to grasp about the Japanese psyche that I had observed around me; a compulsion to practice manners and social graces without fail, but only part of the time, or the obsession to follow the letter of the law, written or unwritten, all the while breaking those the masses have deemed unnecessary, or at least bendable. And permeating everything is the Us vs. You mentality, right down to association with and accepting the responsibility of mistakes and blame by “your” side’s representatives, whether it be a baseball team, political party rep, company CEO, or family member. I see it everywhere. Absolutely everywhere.

Seeing this mindset being displayed so blatantly was strangely fascinating, as ingrained in the game here as anything else associated with the sport. And although we might not be able to get such a complete experience watching games on TV, the spirit was still there.

So why did we caught up? Maybe it was the intensity with which the game was played. Maybe it was the fact that we innately understand baseball, and understanding anything in this strange culture was welcome. Maybe it was the way players and fans alike poured everything into the game. Maybe it was for the badly translated comments fans made on the news. Whatever the reason, I’ve now watched more baseball in Japan than I ever did in the states. Period.