As seen on CNN!  Check out this weeks Offbeat iReport images to see one of my shots from the Tokyo Cow Parade 2008.

What worries the Japanese?  Earthquakes and global warming top the list of worries.

Your favorite English language magazine in Tokyo may be hard to find due to the bankruptcy of a major distributor.

Baseball legend Sadaharu Oh has announced that her will retire at the end of the season.  Did you take advantage of the opportunity to see him manage a baseball game in Tokyo this summer?

Maison de la Bourgogne offers French food and fine wine in Kagurazaka.

A kamikaze pilot volunteer turns to the tea ceremony in New York.

In other cultures there are jug-bands but in Japan they have a man who plays a spade that sounds remarkably like the shamisen, an ancient Japanese stringed instrument.  A spade is not always a spade!

Image Credit:  Wikimedia Commons, Shamisen

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Manma

How Japan’s antiquated baseball system is being challenged, again…this time by a semi-pro player.

Have you heard of Metabolic Syndrome?  It’s commonly spoken about in Japan and the government has mandated employers to counsel workers suffering from the syndrome.  Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of the most dangerous risk factors for a heart attack and one of the tell-tale signs is a bulging waistline.

Shochu, a Japanese alcoholic beverage, has made its way to Chicago in a restaurant and bar of the same name.

Mark at Let’s Japan has come up with 10 reasons to visit Japan based on the plots of movies set here.

Check out Off the Books in Tokyo for a list of things to see and do that may not be in your guidebook.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

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Exhibits include over 100 artifacts from professional baseball in Japan that include a well designed locker room setting where you can get a close-up look at the uniforms for each of the twelve professional teams playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball League today.   You will also find a great display of World Baseball Classic memorabilia and the championship trophy from the inaugural tournament that was won by Japan in 2006.

There is also a poster from 1934 that is advertising Babe Ruth’s famous trip to Japan along with displays of other historical artifacts, photos, and documents.

Make sure to take a look at the plaque commemorating Sadaharu Oh’s world record 756th home run that he hit on September 3, 1977.  Oh ended his career with 868 home runs, a record that still stands to this day and that may never be broken.

In the Hall of Fame you will find plaques for each of the 164 players, coaches and others that have been inducted since the museums inception in 1959.  Famous foreigners in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame include, Frank “Lefty” O’doul, who helped to start professional baseball in Japan, played for and managed the San Francisco Seals, Horace Wilson who  introduced the game to Japan,  and Kaname “Wally” Yonamine who was born in Hawaii, played for the Tokyo Giants and went on to manage the Chunichi Dragons in the 1970’s.

Any baseball fan will love this museum and it is well worth a visit whether you visit during the off-season or arrive early and tour it before catching a baseball game at Tokyo Dome.

The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Location: To the right of Gate 21 of Tokyo Dome (access information)
Hours: 10:00－18:00 (March through September) & 10:00－17:00 (October through February)
Admission: Adults Y500, Primary & Junior High School students Y200, Senior citizens aged 65 or more Y300.  Discounts available if you print our this online coupon.
Closed: Mondays except those during the spring and summer vacations, that fall on National Holidays, when a professional baseball game is held at Tokyo Dome.

Image Credit: Personal Collection

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Townsend Harris was one of the key figures that helped open Japan to the west, was first American consul-general in Japan and negotiated a treaty that established trade between the two countries.  A group from Shimoda, Japan makes an annual pilgrimage to his graveside in Brooklyn, New York to honor his memory.

Jim Allen writes that “Hideo Nomo changed Japanese baseball more than any player of his generation” in his weekly column for the Daily Yomiuri.

Lastly, this video from CNN offers some insight into Japanese culture and the rise in popularity of Butler Cafes, where customers are treated like princesses by western “butlers”.

Photo Credit:  Flickr, Otome Road omiyage

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Mazda will provide green electricity indirectly for this years games under the “Green Power Certification System” by purchasing a “Green Power Certificate” for 12,000 kilowatt hours and presenting it to the Nippon Professional Baseball Association (NPB). Using green power for the games is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 6.6 metric tons.

Both games are sure to provide a lot of great entertainment you may even witness the next Japanese slugger or hurler on his home turf before he makes it big in America.  If you can’t make it to the 2008 Mazda All-Star Game there are still a lot of other opportunities to catch a baseball game in Tokyo this summer.

Yokohama Stadium is located about 40 minutes from Tokyo Station and is short walk from wither Kannai or Nihon Odori stations.  Tickets for the 2008 Mazda All-Star Game range in price from 2,500 to 8,000 per ticket.

Photo Credit:  Flickr, Yokohama baseball stadium at night

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He retired after the 1980 season and became a coach and then the manager of the Yomiuri Giants. In 1988 he ended 31 years with the Giants and in 1995 he took the reins of the Pacific League Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Oh has led the Hawks to three league pennants, two Japan Series wins, and he continues to lead the team despite having had his stomach removed in 2006, due to cancer, but he claims that this year might be his last.

By all accounts Sadaharu Oh is not only a great player, coach and manager but a great man as well. The Daily Yomiuri has posted a two part interview with Oh where he discusses the current season, the game and how his outlook changed as he moved from player, to coach, to manager. (Part 1 and Part 2)

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have a few 2008 regular season games left in the Tokyo area so you still have time to see this legend in uniform at a baseball game. The dates are as follows:

• July 4-6, August 13-15, September 13-15 & 27 at Chiba Marine Stadium, and
• July 8 & 9 & August 19-21 at Seibu Goodwill Dome.

Find out how to get out and see one of these games by reading It’s a hit! Baseball in Tokyo where you will find links to the stadium locations and detailed schedule information.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection

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Don’t forget to participate in the poll in the sidebar and leave me a comment at “What do you want to know about Tokyo?“. I’ll be featuring some of the questions and providing answers throughout the month of June.

Anime and Manga are hot in Hollywood – but other American cities are getting in on this popular trend as well.

The Mob in Japan – a true tale of a foreign crime writer who now fears his safety and that of his family because of his reporting on the Yakuza.

The New Age Of Japanese Baseball Player Media Coverage is interesting reading. It provides a some historical perspective on Japanese players in the MLB and also discuss the process that those players need to go through to be eligible to play n the United States.

How Toyota used kaizen, the Japanese principle of slow and steady improvement, to sell 160,000 more cars than GM in the first quarter of 2008. In a culture where it is commonly believed that the top down approach to management is prevalent, Toyota receives and implements about 1 million ideas a year mostly from the workers on the factory floor.

Identifying underage smokers with facial recognition software could be implemented when you try to purchase cigarettes from vending machines in Japan.

Lastly,is Japan growing opium poppies?

Photo Credit: Anime Los Angeles 2008

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Even if you don’t get to see the next Fukudome you will have a great time at a Japanese baseball game. The fans here form complete cheering sections in the outfield that wave banners and flags, beat drums and cheer enthusiastically throughout the whole game and instead of singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the 7th inning stretch the fans release screeching balloons into the air – it’s quite a site! Fan participation is taken to a whole new level in Japan and you won’t regret the experience. Oh, and best of all you don’t need to leave your seat to get a beer in Japan!

A total of twelve teams, divided into two leagues, play Nippon Professional Baseball. The Pacific League (PL) teams utilize the designated hitter while the Central League (CL) teams do not. Each team plays 144 regular season games between April and October. Playoffs culminate with the Japan Series (Japan World Series) in November of each year. Five baseball (yakyuu) teams are based in and around Tokyo (estimated travel time from Tokyo station in parenthesis):

The Yomiuri Giants (CL) play in the Tokyo Dome (10 minutes).

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL) play in Jingu Stadium (20 minutes).

The Chiba Lotte Marines (PL) play in Chiba Marine Stadium (35 minutes).

The Yokohama BayStars (CL) play in Yokohama Stadium (40 minutes).

The Seibu Lions (PL) play in the Goodwill Dome (90 minutes).

Check out the Japan Times Guide to Ballparks for directions and maps to the various stadiums and use the Tokyo Transfer Guide to map your best travel route to the games. The Japanese baseball schedule in English at Japan Ball will help you find the game that best fits your schedule.

The Yomuiri Giants are the only team that offer online ticket sales in English and if you plan on attending a game at Tokyo Dome I would recommend getting your tickets in advance at the stadium or purchasing them online as the team is very popular and their games often sell out. For the other teams you should have no problem getting tickets at the gate on most game days. Ticket prices are approximately Y1,800 – 4,500 ($18-45) per person for adults.

Photo Credit: Personal Collection & Flickr, Tokyo Dome Giants

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It will cost Japan approximately $100,000 dollars to redesign a commemorative coin because of a copyright dispute with a Brazilian artist.

A new high speed train service connecting Tokyo to Kanagawa Prefecture utilizes a “secret” train track under Tokyo.

Bobby Valentine, a baseball manager for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, thinks that Major League teams in the US should send players to the Olympics.

Photo Credit: Flickr, Birra Coin, Like

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