Tokyo baseball trip

This weekend, we took a quick trip to Tokyo for a somewhat unusual event: The A’s were in town, playing an exhibition game against Hokkaido’s own Nippon Ham Fighters. It seemed like a tough opportunity to pass up, so we packed our things for a quick weekend trip down south.

The flight

Hakodate’s airport is relatively small, but is very convenient for getting us to Tokyo, Taiwan, or Sapporo. One thing I enjoy is the ability to get to the airport around 20 minutes before our flight and still make it on the plane with plenty of time to spare. This is due to a combination of limited flights and a much more relaxed security procedure (think pre-9/11).

One thing I’ve always found interesting about the Hakodate airport is the existence of phones on either side of the glass between the gates and the pre-security area. It feels a bit like talking to a loved one in prison (not that I’d know — I’ve just seen The Cable Guy a number of times). We’ve used these phones a few times talking with Seri’s mom or uncle while waiting to board our flight. It gives us a chance to ask if they’d like any particular omiyage, but I’m not really sure what else to talk about. I mean we were just there.

The flight itself was mostly unexceptional, although we were seated in an exit row with no row in front of us, and a woman in the next section chose to use that empty space to do various stretching and sightseeing out the emergency exit door’s window. I know it wouldn’t’ve been possible for her to open it mid-flight, I just didn’t want her there.

We landed mid-day, and made our way to Ginza to drop off our bags at our hotel. The weather was much more palatable than Hakodate, and I somewhat regretted having worn my long johns. They’d be more useful later that evening, since we’d be out late.

Ginza

I’ve been to Ginza a few times before, but not to spend an extended period of time. It feels kinda… full of itself. Our hotel was a normal, inexpensive one, but a few blocks away were huge Chanel, Cartier, and Bulgari stores drawing in crowds. I hadn’t eaten since 7am, but dinner would be on the early side, so we looked for a cafe to tide us over until then. Fortunately, there was a highly rated cafe called Il Bar with what looked like nice food… inside Bulgari.

I should have known this would be an issue, but I was clouded by hunger, so we headed over. When we got there, the impeccably dressed women at the ground floor of the 11-story building greeted us and guided us to the elevator. Had we been looking for the restaurant one floor up, I would have assuredly been turned away in my scrubby airplane clothes.

The menu immediately caused some concern, but I tried to not act too intimidated. My 12oz bottle of Asahi would run us ¥1,500 (about $13.50). Yikes. Having said that, the cheese and meat plates we ordered were super tasty, even if I felt like a.) I didn’t belong here, based on the other clientele, and b.) we could’ve just gone to Lawson and grabbed an onigiri and some coffee for a couple of bucks. Moving on…

Shopping

One thing I have trouble finding around Hakodate are stores that carry interesting clothing. Back home, I could head to Nordstrom or any number of places in San Francisco, but Hakodate’s brick-and-mortars tend to run on the “older” side of fashion. I’ve asked Seri’s cousins about this and they’ve suggested online stores like Zozo, which don’t really help when I feel like I need to try on clothes due to generally mismatched expectations of sizes.

Fortunately, Ginza has stores and malls in spades, and we ducked into a Mitsukoshi after our so-expensive-I’d-rather-forget-about-it afternoon snack. One thing we immediately noted is that there seem to be a number of Chinese tour buses that dump their guests smack dab into these shopping districts. The department store was filled with tourists at every turn, trying on every high end piece of clothing you could imagine. I found a new shirt, and Seri searched for some new shoes, but came up empty, for now.

Along one of the main strips, Seri spotted an Onitsuka Tiger store and we headed in. One of Seri’s favorite shoe brands, it was hard not to take a peek. However, immediately after walking in, we realized the multiple tour buses parked outside weren’t just for show. The main floor was almost completely packed with tourists scrambling to buy shoes, and we quickly ran downstairs to browse another floor’s worth of shoes in peace. An employee headed down to greet us and answered questions, away from the fray. I spotted another nice looking shirt, but still no shoes for Seri. We’d try again the next day, maybe with fewer people crowded around.

Yakitori with an old friend

After shopping, we headed further down the street to meet up with Seri’s friend, Tomie, and her daughter, Rella. Seri and Tomie worked together in college at Cal Poly, and Tomie moved back to Japan a number of years ago. We headed to a nearby yakitori restaurant (which Tomie had made sure didn’t allow smoking — a rarity for that kind of meal) and stuffed ourselves with grilled meat and veggies, among other things (raw horse? why not).

Tomie is great to hang around with. She’s very down to earth and friendly, and she speaks enough English that we can hold a conversation just fine without going through Seri. Rella cracked me up: whenever we needed to hail the server (usually by saying, “sumimasen!"), Tomie had her do it; her voice really travels for a 9-year-old!

After dinner drinks

We got booted from the restaurant because they had another reservation and needed our room, but were fortunate enough that Tomie and Rella weren’t done with their evening. Fortunately, Seri’s cousin, Sohei tends bar at an Australian restaurant inside an upscale department store nearby called Ginza Six. We paid him a visit to have a couple of interesting drinks, eat yummy desserts, continue the conversation, and ultimately wind down the evening.

We closed down the restaurant around 11pm and — exhaustedly — headed back to our hotel. I’d been up since 5am that day and crashed almost immediately.

Pancake breakfast

Coincidentally, our friend Rob had just flown into Tokyo from San Francisco the day before. One of his go-to “fluffy pancake” shops, Flipper’s, was a short train ride away from us, so we hopped on and met him there mid-morning. I’m not really a fluffy pancake aficionado — please refer to my lovely wife for recommendations — but I can confirm that it was indeed fluffy. Also a pancake. There were also strawberries and whipped cream.

Rob had some time to kill after breakfast, so we strolled around Shimokitazawa a bit, got some boba, and found a claw game arcade that near instantly robbed Seri of ¥500. Those things are rigged (said everyone ever)! One interesting thing we stumbled into, while trying to find some claw games, was a more traditional arcade with a floor primarily for women. Men not accompanied by a woman aren’t allowed, which makes sense given the content of the floor: mostly make-up counters and photo booths.

Back to Ginza

We had some time before the baseball game, so we headed back to Ginza to make a second stop at the Onitsuka Tiger store. Seri was determined to buy a pair of shoes, and there were a few pairs that caught my eye the day before. Fortunately, the store was a bit less busy on Sunday so I didn’t feel as stressed trying on my shoes. We each bought a pair, and made our way back to the hotel to relax a bit before making our way to the stadium.

One interesting thing about the main strip in Ginza was that, at least on Sunday, the city closed it down to cars entirely. I’m sure this has an increased effect on foot traffic — not that the high-end stores really need it — but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt. It definitely made getting around easier, even though we weren’t principally concerned with shopping at that point.

The ballgame

Pregame

I felt like we’d already done so much in Tokyo, yet the main reason we were there hadn’t even started yet. We left our hotel, having relaxed a bit with onigiri and some canned coffee after running around all morning. Tokyo Dome was about a 20-minute train ride from our hotel, and the station dumped us almost right at the exterior of the stadium. It felt a bit like going to an A’s game, minus the bridge with people selling churros and t-shirts.

I was a bit worried about what ended up being an incredibly long line outside the gate we were supposed to enter, but at the next, empty gate, the attendant assured us “those” people didn’t have reserved seats, and were waiting for a chance to get a good one. Ours had been reserved months back, so we didn’t have any problem getting right to our seats after doing a quick tour of the concession stands. One final touch that felt nice was a member of the A’s staff approaching us as we made our way to our seats, presumably having homed in on Seri’s A’s hat (I wore a Fighters hat because why not). He gave us an “away fan” pin that I’m sure isn’t as rare as it seemed at the time, but it felt nice to be recognized as Oakland natives.

There are a number of things I enjoy about Japanese baseball, but the food and drink are near the top. You can get curry, yakitori, karaage, udon, ramen, yakisoba, edamame, hamburgers, and I’m sure a number of other things I’m forgetting. What’s more, it’s all pretty good. I got a curry and some edamame, and we found our seats just past 1st base, only a few rows behind the netted-off “Excite Seats” that cost considerably more per ticket.

When we got down to our seats, a number of fans had congregated beyond the netted-off area, yelling for players to sign various baseballs, hats, and various ephemera. Security guards yelled into bullhorns asking fans to not crowd, and risk crushing other people in the process (their words, not mine). One guard got so heated that he ran into the area and forcefully pulled a fan out of the fray, scolding him for not listening to his repeated warnings. Autographs are serious business, I guess. During this time, we saw Rickey Henderson walk past the area. It was comforting to hear Japanese people instantly recognize him and ask for his autograph. Rickey smiled at the recognition but continued about his business.

Game time

Once the warmups had finished and the teams had been announced — complete with Stomper doing his thing — the then empty seats around us filled in a bit more. We overheard a group talking with a group of women who’d apparently come out from San Ramon. Small world. Then began the parade of drink vendors streaming down the aisles.

I know there are stadiums in the US that allow alcohol vended at your seat, but growing up in the Bay Area, I’d never experienced it. In Japan, it’s pervasive: College-aged women with mini kegs strapped to their backs run down the aisles proffering their wares. The big 4 are generally available: Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, and Suntory, and you pay the same you would at a concession stand (¥800). It’s an incredible convenience. They even have bags of nuts or jerky for an extra ¥200 to round out your ¥1,000 bill. Such a deal. This service ends around the 6th inning to make sure things don’t get too rowdy. There are also vendors who come by with various juices and even shots of Yamazaki for ¥1,000.

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During the game, it was tough to figure out who to root for. Even though it was an exhibition game, part of me wanted the Fighters to win to show the MLB that Japan can hold its own against them. But if the A’s were to win, well… Go Oakland. Win, win for me, I suppose. Regardless of the outcome, I was happy to see that both teams had away fans cheering them on during their at-bats (it’s common in Japan for every player to have their own chant or chants, like with soccer). The A’s fans in right field were representing with chants of, “Let’s go, Oakland!” It felt a bit like home.

Postgame

The A’s would end up winning 5-1, to the home fans’ dismay. We all filtered out of the stadium and into the nearby subway. Even though the stadium was mostly full, the station didn’t really feel too crowded. It feels like the crush of people trying to get back onto BART after a game is pretty dismal by comparison. We found a low-key bar near our hotel to wind down the night, and headed back to the hotel around 1am to end another long day.

Heading back

We started the next morning slowly, not having planned anything until our mid-day flight. We took our time at the Shinagawa Station Blue Bottle (I needed to re-supply and it was easier than paying $7.50 for shipping and waiting a week and a half for delivery), browsed some shops, and made our way early to Haneda to get some omiyage and relax.

We’d touched down in Toyko just 48 hours earlier, but it seemed like we’d managed to pack in almost a week’s worth of events into the weekend. I left satisfied with the trip, but looked forward to sleeping on my own futon (we still haven’t bought a bed).