Things have been pretty busy here between classes (graduate study abroad involves a lot more work than undergraduate study abroad) and trying to see as much as possible. Life in Kyoto is slow, it's much more of a small town feel and it's fairly quiet most of the time.
But sports here are definitely something else.
This past week I had the pleasure of stumbling upon a free ticket to a Sumo event and going to a Doshisha University baseball game. I can honestly say the crowds at the two sports couldn't have been more different and neither could have been more different than any sporting event I have been to in the US. Let's start with Sumo:
Sumo, the ancient Japanese wrestling, is still a huge phenomenon in Japan, and has gained international attention. Kyoto doesn't host much in terms of Sumo, most of that is in Osaka, but it just happened that there was a tournament last week. First, upon arrival, I was given a goodie bag with FREE SNACKS, tea, brochures about the wrestlers, and more. Definitely the first time I got a gift for coming to a sporting event. When I got into the arena, it was close to full (I mean the event had been going on for about 4 hours at that point, but I had class) with the expensive seats on the floor next to the ring, less than 10 feet away from huge men wrestling each other (and a few men fell into the crowd so if you want the full experience with the added danger of possibly getting crushed by an almost-naked 325lbs man, go ahead). We didn't have the expensive seats.
This was by far the most cordial sporting event I have ever been to. There was no booze, no screaming, no arms in the air. Just golf-claps for the wrestlers before and after they fought. The Sumos even bow to each other, in true Japanese fashion, before and after their match.
All in all, Sumo is an incredible sport that has gained worldwide attention and it was very nice to see this extreme form of sportsmanship still present today. If you ever have the chance to watch Sumo, I highly recommend!
Baseball:
Through friends here who actually speak Japanese, I learned that Doshisha had a home game against another Kyoto university. So obviously I wanted to go see my favorite sport. I knew that Japan loves baseball, I would assume as much as the US loves baseball. Well, you know what they say about 'assume'...
When I got to the off-campus stadium, I was once again given a goodie bag that included a program, thundersticks, and a Doshisha Sport scarf with baseball decals. This is starting to look like an awesome trend. I got to the stands on the third base side with all the other Doshisha students, and thought that this was a pretty good showing for a college game. That wasn't even half the people who would show up by the 2nd inning. As I struggle to blow up my thundersticks, the cheerleaders (yup, cheerleaders for baseball) started coming into the crowd to amp people up.
Trust me, they didn't need to put in the effort to get people amped up for baseball.
First very weird thing: home team bats first.
Second very weird thing: When Doshisha was at bat, the entire student section is on its feet (not so weird) being led in organized chants and thundersticking by the cheerleaders. This is legitimately nonstop in English and Japanese.
Third very weird thing: When Doshisha was not at bat, the entire student section is on its feed being led in organized chants and thundersticking by the cheerleaders. This is legitimately nonstop in English and Japanese.
Fourth very weird thing: Between innings, we played Rock, Paper, Scissors with the cheerleaders.
Fifth very weird thing: No 7th inning stretch and "Take Me Out To The Ball Game". No Sweet Caroline or Dirty Water either (insert crying emoji).
Sixth very weird thing: After Doshisha won 2-1 the teams lined up and instead of shaking hands, they bowed to each other and it was so nice. I assumed they would bow to each other and to the fans and then we'd all be on our merry way. Again with the 'assume' thing...
Seventh very weird thing: Both teams turned to face the Doshisha fan side. One cheerleader (apparently he's the loudest one) dressed in traditional Japanese clothing led us through a screaming thing that was coordinated with everyone else except me. I have no idea what they all chanted but it was very loud and we unraveled a HUGE Doshisha flag that made it look and sound like we were about to head into battle. I thought maybe just the winning team does this, but NOPE, we turned to face the other team's student section and they did something similar.
All in all, sports are very different here than in the US. And did I mention that none of these events had even a single drop of alcohol? I guess that makes the events much more cordial than events back in the US but my ears were ringing from the nonstop cheering.
Thanks for reading! Any suggestions on what you'd like to hear about? Leave a comment!
Kim-san
