My Japanese Baseball Stadium Odyssey (Photos)

[evilselig]

It's been years since I contributed mods on this site, so I decided to contribute in a different way! I want to share photos and stories of my quest to see all the Japanese baseball stadiums! As of posting this I'm at 9 out of 12. You can check out the photos on the link to my album and I wrote a bit about each stadium below. I hope to finish seeing all the Korean baseball stadiums as well this year. I'll post a thread about that in a few months. Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.970527543383.1073741838.52205080&type=1&l=07698e2e6c

-Seibu Dome - Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

This was my first ever Japanese baseball stadium in 2009. Saitama is a prefecture north of Tokyo. The Seibu Lions play at the Seibu Dome and make up one of the 5 greater Tokyo area teams (the others being the Yomiuri Giants, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Chiba Lotte Marines, and Yokohama Bay Stars). This open air dome was built in 1979, despite its age it's still quite futuristic! I sat in the outfield and I felt like I was playing the NES/SNES bases loaded game not only the because of the perspective, but also because of the glass walls and lack of a warning track. This is still one of my favorite Japanese stadiums, the only weak point would be poor concessions.

-Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan

The Tokyo Dome is one of the 5 domed stadiums in Japan. Well if you count the semi, open air Seibu Dome then it's 1 out of 6. The ceiling is cloth is so you can feel air flowing in, it's kind of like the former Metrodome in Minnesota but I don't think it's suspended by air. Besides the atmosphere (passionate fans) and history the Tokyo Dome is rather bland. Due to the Giants being arguably the most popular team in Japan, there is no shortage of concession stands and souvenir shops. There is also a small amusement park outside that I think is considered part of the stadium facilities. Take note of the girl with the beer "backpack." This is seen at every Japanese stadium. Cute young girls (and sometimes guys) in fluorescent clothing, walk around selling fresh draft beer out of the "beer backpacks." It's an interesting concept.

-Yokohama Stadium - Yokohama, Japan

Yokohama is a large satellite city of Tokyo along the bay south of Tokyo. Built in 1978, Yokohama Stadium is home of the Bay Stars. This is one of the worst stadiums in Japan. It's extremely bland, basically just a cookie cutter. I sat in the outfield and it's one of those stadiums where if you have outfield seats you're confined to that area only. Therefore, I couldn't see the stadium from other angles. The concessions are real poor and besides the hat I bought, I only saw keychains and other uninteresting items. Some significant events here included sold out Michael Jackson and Madonna concerts. Fortunately, the game I attended was a pretty good one, so it made up for the lackluster quality of the stadium.

-Koshien Stadium, Nishinomiya, Japan

Home of the Koshien Tigers, this classic ballpark is MUST see! It is a suburb of Osaka called Nishinomiya. The stadium was built in 1924 and Babe Ruth played here on his world tour in 1934! It hosts the National High School Baseball tournament each year, every high school ballplayer in Japan dreams of playing here. It has a natural grass surface with an all dirt softball-style infield. The Tigers are the Tokyo Giants chief rival and are considered the "Red Sox of Japan." The brick exterior of the stadium has ivy climbing the walls so I immediately got a Wrigley Field feel. Last but not the least the fans are really passionate and intense!

-Kyocera Dome (aka Osaka Dome) Osaka, Japan

This is Osaka's "other team" Most people from the Kansai region of Japan are diehard Koshien Tiger fans. The stadium opened in 1997 and is home of the Orix Buffaloes. You may remember Ichiro played for Orix when they were called Orix Blue Wave. I liked this dome a lot. It looks very futuristic on the outside and the inside has more character than the Tokyo Dome. There is a classic diamond infield like the Tampa Bay Rays use, if I remember correctly the seats were angled towards the action rather than just in a generic circle. The concessions were great and there is a huge gift shop along with Japanese baseball memorabilia (particularly Ichiro).

It's too bad the seats are usually empty here.

-Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium - Hiroshima, Japan

I can't say enough about this stadium! It's Japan's newest stadium and home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. The Carp played in a now demolished generic circular stadium from the 50s until 2008. This new stadium is a state of the art, definitely MLB influenced stadium with a touch of Japan's sometimes eccentric style. In my opinion, there are elements of SBC Park in San Francisco, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati (the Reds are the team the Carp steal their logo from), and a bit of Petco Park in San Diego.

It only holds 32,000 people so it kind of felt (in terms of size) like a very large AAA stadium, but more cozy than a massive MLB stadium. The concessions, gift shops, everything is top notch. Upon entering the stadium I noticed huge solar panels on the rafters, this reflects Japan's commitment to clean energy and promotes the stadiums futuristic theme.

-Yahoo! Dome - Fukuoka, Japan

Home of the Softbank Hawks in Japan's southern most island, Kyushuu, the Yahoo Dome is one of 5 domes in Japan.

I did a homestay to study Japanese in Fukuoka, and it's also the closest Japanese city by airplane from Korea (where I'm currently at) so I've been to about 7 games here. Unfortunately, I've never seen a game where the roof was open. I believe the roof opens in the same way as Rogers Centre in Toronto does. This stadium also opened in 1993 (not too long after the Skydome in Toronto opened) so I'm sure there was some influence. This stadium has a less cavernous feel than any other dome in Japan. This is probably due to it only having one level of seating and luxury boxes above that, however it still manages to hold 38,000 spectators. This is definitely one of the better domes in Japan.

-"The Big N" Nagasaki Baseball Stadium - Nagasaki, Japan

Actually this stadium isn't part of NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) in Japan but I decided to include this stadium since I got a glimpse of it. Baseball is huge in Japan so there are many amateur leagues, this stadium was home to one of them, the defunct Nagasaki Saints. The information I found online tells me this stadium opened in 1997 and holds 28,000 people. I actually stumbled across the stadium by accident on a visit to Nagasaki for tourism. It was open and I decided to walk in, take some photos and no one stopped me. There were high school teams practicing for the national summer tournament inside. The stadium really is nothing special, but it's a shame a 28,000 seat stadium is currently unoccupied.

-Nagoya Dome - Nagoya, Japan

Home of the Chunichi Dragons, the Nagoya Dome opened in 1997 and replaced the Nagoya Baseball Stadium which can be seen in the movie "Mr. Baseball" with Tom Selleck. Nagoya is considered a rather boring city, business-only city (leveled during World War II) however I still enjoyed it quite a bit. My feelings towards this stadium are kind of neutral. I went to a game on a weekday with two lackluster teams so it was practically empty. The stadium itself is immaculately clean (Japan is immaculately clean in general, but this stadium was so clean it felt sterile!). The color scheme inside is reminiscent of the 1970s so I thought the stadium was older than it actually is. Inside it's kind of laid out like the Tokyo Dome but more room to navigate around. The concessions here were really good with a wide variety of food. Again, I'm just neutral on this stadium.

-Sapporo Dome - Sapporo, Japan

Last but absolutely not least the magnificent Sapporo Dome in Japan! This futuristic structure is the newest dome in Japan, it retracts in a way like Safeco Field in Seattle. It is home of the Nippon Ham Fighters (Yu Darvish's previous team) and is located on Japan's northern most island Hokkaido. The stadium is just HUGE! Very futuristic inside and out, and it can morph into a soccer stadium like a giant transformer! The corridors inside the stadium are huge and wide, if I had to compare it to an MLB stadium I'd say it's like Chase Field in Arizona. I really don't know what else to say about this amazing structure, I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Hope you enjoyed my photos and reviews. The remaining stadiums I have to see in Japan are Meiji Jingu in Tokyo (home of the Yakult Swallows), Chiba Marine Stadium (Chiba, Japan, Chiba Lotte Marines - the team Bobby Valetine managed for several years). I plan to see both of those stadiums in August. The final stadium for me would be Miyagi Stadium in Sendai, Japan (home of the champion Rakuten Eagles). However, they won't be home during my next visit so I have no idea when I will be able to see this stadium, probably not any time soon. But I'm happy with seeing 11 out of 12

I also plan on seeing and reviewing all the Korean baseball stadiums by the end of this summer. Stay tuned!

[Yankee4Life]

Thank you very much for sharing your photos of these wonderful Japanese stadiums. I envy you having the chance to see them. I know I would have loved it.

I'll be following this for the updates later this year. Thanks again.

[evilselig]

My pleasure.

[AdrianHuck]

Thanks for sharing out detailed informative post regarding Japan baseball stadiums.. I hope you will share a Korean baseball stadiums update soon..

It's been years since I contributed mods on this site, so I decided to contribute in a different way! I want to share photos and stories of my quest to see all the Japanese baseball stadiums! As of posting this I'm at 9 out of 12. You can check out the photos on the link to my album and I wrote a bit about each stadium below. I hope to finish seeing all the Korean baseball stadiums as well this year. I'll post a thread about that in a few months. Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.970527543383.1073741838.52205080&type=1&l=07698e2e6c

-Seibu Dome - Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

This was my first ever Japanese baseball stadium in 2009. Saitama is a prefecture north of Tokyo. The Seibu Lions play at the Seibu Dome and make up one of the 5 greater Tokyo area teams (the others being the Yomiuri Giants, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Chiba Lotte Marines, and Yokohama Bay Stars). This open air dome was built in 1979, despite its age it's still quite futuristic! I sat in the outfield and I felt like I was playing the NES/SNES bases loaded game not only the because of the perspective, but also because of the glass walls and lack of a warning track. This is still one of my favorite Japanese stadiums, the only weak point would be poor concessions.

-Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan

The Tokyo Dome is one of the 5 domed stadiums in Japan. Well if you count the semi, open air Seibu Dome then it's 1 out of 6. The ceiling is cloth is so you can feel air flowing in, it's kind of like the former Metrodome in Minnesota but I don't think it's suspended by air. Besides the atmosphere (passionate fans) and history the Tokyo Dome is rather bland. Due to the Giants being arguably the most popular team in Japan, there is no shortage of concession stands and souvenir shops. There is also a small amusement park outside that I think is considered part of the stadium facilities. Take note of the girl with the beer "backpack." This is seen at every Japanese stadium. Cute young girls (and sometimes guys) in fluorescent clothing, walk around selling fresh draft beer out of the "beer backpacks." It's an interesting concept.

-Yokohama Stadium - Yokohama, Japan

Yokohama is a large satellite city of Tokyo along the bay south of Tokyo. Built in 1978, Yokohama Stadium is home of the Bay Stars. This is one of the worst stadiums in Japan. It's extremely bland, basically just a cookie cutter. I sat in the outfield and it's one of those stadiums where if you have outfield seats you're confined to that area only. Therefore, I couldn't see the stadium from other angles. The concessions are real poor and besides the hat I bought, I only saw keychains and other uninteresting items. Some significant events here included sold out Michael Jackson and Madonna concerts. Fortunately, the game I attended was a pretty good one, so it made up for the lackluster quality of the stadium.

-Koshien Stadium, Nishinomiya, Japan

Home of the Koshien Tigers, this classic ballpark is MUST see! It is a suburb of Osaka called Nishinomiya. The stadium was built in 1924 and Babe Ruth played here on his world tour in 1934! It hosts the National High School Baseball tournament each year, every high school ballplayer in Japan dreams of playing here. It has a natural grass surface with an all dirt softball-style infield. The Tigers are the Tokyo Giants chief rival and are considered the "Red Sox of Japan." The brick exterior of the stadium has ivy climbing the walls so I immediately got a Wrigley Field feel. Last but not the least the fans are really passionate and intense!

-Kyocera Dome (aka Osaka Dome) Osaka, Japan

This is Osaka's "other team" Most people from the Kansai region of Japan are diehard Koshien Tiger fans. The stadium opened in 1997 and is home of the Orix Buffaloes. You may remember Ichiro played for Orix when they were called Orix Blue Wave. I liked this dome a lot. It looks very futuristic on the outside and the inside has more character than the Tokyo Dome. There is a classic diamond infield like the Tampa Bay Rays use, if I remember correctly the seats were angled towards the action rather than just in a generic circle. The concessions were great and there is a huge gift shop along with Japanese baseball memorabilia (particularly Ichiro).

It's too bad the seats are usually empty here.

-Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium - Hiroshima, Japan

I can't say enough about this stadium! It's Japan's newest stadium and home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. The Carp played in a now demolished generic circular stadium from the 50s until 2008. This new stadium is a state of the art, definitely MLB influenced stadium with a touch of Japan's sometimes eccentric style. In my opinion, there are elements of SBC Park in San Francisco, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati (the Reds are the team the Carp steal their logo from), and a bit of Petco Park in San Diego.

It only holds 32,000 people so it kind of felt (in terms of size) like a very large AAA stadium, but more cozy than a massive MLB stadium. The concessions, gift shops, everything is top notch. Upon entering the stadium I noticed huge solar panel

on the rafters, this reflects Japan's commitment to clean energy and promotes the stadiums futuristic theme.

-Yahoo! Dome - Fukuoka, Japan

Home of the Softbank Hawks in Japan's southern most island, Kyushuu, the Yahoo Dome is one of 5 domes in Japan.

I did a homestay to study Japanese in Fukuoka, and it's also the closest Japanese city by airplane from Korea (where I'm currently at) so I've been to about 7 games here. Unfortunately, I've never seen a game where the roof was open. I believe the roof opens in the same way as Rogers Centre in Toronto does. This stadium also opened in 1993 (not too long after the Skydome in Toronto opened) so I'm sure there was some influence. This stadium has a less cavernous feel than any other dome in Japan. This is probably due to it only having one level of seating and luxury boxes above that, however it still manages to hold 38,000 spectators. This is definitely one of the better domes in Japan.

-"The Big N" Nagasaki Baseball Stadium - Nagasaki, Japan

Actually this stadium isn't part of NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) in Japan but I decided to include this stadium since I got a glimpse of it. Baseball is huge in Japan so there are many amateur leagues, this stadium was home to one of them, the defunct Nagasaki Saints. The information I found online tells me this stadium opened in 1997 and holds 28,000 people. I actually stumbled across the stadium by accident on a visit to Nagasaki for tourism. It was open and I decided to walk in, take some photos and no one stopped me. There were high school teams practicing for the national summer tournament inside. The stadium really is nothing special, but it's a shame a 28,000 seat stadium is currently unoccupied.

-Nagoya Dome - Nagoya, Japan

Home of the Chunichi Dragons, the Nagoya Dome opened in 1997 and replaced the Nagoya Baseball Stadium which can be seen in the movie "Mr. Baseball" with Tom Selleck. Nagoya is considered a rather boring city, business-only city (leveled during World War II) however I still enjoyed it quite a bit. My feelings towards this stadium are kind of neutral. I went to a game on a weekday with two lackluster teams so it was practically empty. The stadium itself is immaculately clean (Japan is immaculately clean in general, but this stadium was so clean it felt sterile!). The color scheme inside is reminiscent of the 1970s so I thought the stadium was older than it actually is. Inside it's kind of laid out like the Tokyo Dome but more room to navigate around. The concessions here were really good with a wide variety of food. Again, I'm just neutral on this stadium.

-Sapporo Dome - Sapporo, Japan

Last but absolutely not least the magnificent Sapporo Dome in Japan! This futuristic structure is the newest dome in Japan, it retracts in a way like Safeco Field in Seattle. It is home of the Nippon Ham Fighters (Yu Darvish's previous team) and is located on Japan's northern most island Hokkaido. The stadium is just HUGE! Very futuristic inside and out, and it can morph into a soccer stadium like a giant transformer! The corridors inside the stadium are huge and wide, if I had to compare it to an MLB stadium I'd say it's like Chase Field in Arizona. I really don't know what else to say about this amazing structure, I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Hope you enjoyed my photos and reviews. The remaining stadiums I have to see in Japan are Meiji Jingu in Tokyo (home of the Yakult Swallows), Chiba Marine Stadium (Chiba, Japan, Chiba Lotte Marines - the team Bobby Valetine managed for several years). I plan to see both of those stadiums in August. The final stadium for me would be Miyagi Stadium in Sendai, Japan (home of the champion Rakuten Eagles). However, they won't be home during my next visit so I have no idea when I will be able to see this stadium, probably not any time soon. But I'm happy with seeing 11 out of 12

I also plan on seeing and reviewing all the Korean baseball stadiums by the end of this summer. Stay tuned!

Edited April 2, 2014 by AdrianHuck