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Published: October 1st 2009
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Who would've thought that getting on a boat to go explore Phang Nga, Thailand a year ago would help me score tickets to a sellout baseball game in Japan? Well, it did. On that trip I befriended a Japanese family, one of whom went to fair lengths to get hold of a couple of tickets to a Hanshin Tigers v Yomiuri Giants game at Koshien Stadium (the Tigers home ground) during the Golden Week holidays.
(A side note: the origin of many of the larger department stores in Japan lies with the railway companies. Department stores were built alongside major stations, and given the name of said railway company.)
Aside from securing a ticket in the first place, the Hanshin Tigers experience begins well before reaching Koshien. Walk through the Hanshin department store in Osaka (where we left from), and even without going near the Tigers shop you'll notice an increasing percentage of the crowd wearing yellow or carrying other items of supporter paraphenalia. This increases markedly the closer you get to Koshien Station.
Tigers fans are fanatical. They usually outnumber home supporters at 'away' games, even more noticeably so at their home ground. And they can
be even more entertaining than the game itself, particularly for a first-timer like myself.
--
The Curse of the Colonel During celebrations following the Tigers' one and only series win, in 1985, a statue of KFC's Colonel Sanders was removed from its rightful place, and ended up in the Dotonburi canal. Legend stated that until the Colonel was rescued from his watery grave and returned to original condition a curse would remain over the Hanshin Tigers.
On the 10th March this year (2009) he was rescued, however, both his right hand and glasses were missing, so the curse remained in place. --
White-gloved and uniformed (yes, including a whistle), crew resembling a cross between policemen directing traffic and an orchestra conductor led the fans in a rendition (make that several renditions) of the Hanshin supporters' anthem.
Across in a single lonely orange section on the other side of the stadium sat the Giants' fans. One would hope they do better on numbers at their home games ;-)
Towards the bottom of the seventh innings I worked out why my friend had insisted we buy balloons back at the Hanshin department store. All around the stadium
(apart from the lonely Giants section) an inflated sea of colour began to sprout, and the 'orchestra' wound up to fever pitch in an attempt to spur on the trailing Tigers.
Almost as though it were a pre-determined cue, the escapee balloon triggered a mass release of rainbow prayers to the heavens (all of which after their return to Earth I am quite sure were recaptured by an army of cleaners during the night).
Unfortunately the Tigers lost again to the Giants that day, but regardless of whether the Colonel's Curse is in place or not, fanatical Tigers fans will always be singing.....
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!"
誰が一年前のフェンナー(タイ)行きの船に乗り込むような感覚、日本のいつも売り切れ必至な野球試合のチケットを手にすると思っただろう。でも、そうなった。旅行中に友達になった家族の一人が、ゴールデンウイーク中に甲子園球場で開催される入手困難な阪神対巨人戦のチケットを手に入れてくれた。
「余談で日本の有名なデパートは、メインの大きいな駅のすぐ近くに建てられ、その鉄道会社と同じ名前で呼ばれてた。」
最初に苦労してチケットを手に入れるのとは別に、甲子園に辿り着く前から阪神戦の雰囲気を経験することになる。試合当日に大阪の阪神デパートを歩き回れば、黄色のユニフォームを着てタイガースグッズを持った人々をたくさん目にし、その数は時間と共にますます増え、甲子園に近づけばその数は一際増える。阪神のファンは熱狂的で、ホームの試合はもちろん、アウェイの試合でもよく敵のファンより勝ってます。
--
カーネルサンダースの呪い 1985年の阪神唯一のシリーズ優勝後のお祝いで、KFCのカーネルおじさんは道頓堀<濠>に投げ入れられ、彼が救出され元の状態に戻るまで阪神は強くならないという噂が広がった。
2009年3月10日にカーネルおじさんが発見され、濠から救出されたが、彼の右手とメガネが無くなっていた為、呪いは続いていると思われる。--
まるで警察官か楽段の指揮者みたいに白い手袋(もちろん笛も)をはめたリーダーは阪神の応援歌にファンを巻き込んで盛り上げてた。
スタジアムの向こう側に可哀想なジャイアンツのファンが座っていた。誰かはきっとホームの試合だったらもっと人数がいたのに。。。。。と思っていたと思う。(笑)
7回の裏が近づくと、どうして友達がデパートで風船を買うように!!と言ったのかが分かった。ジャイアンツファン以外、ファンの皆が選手を応援するために色んな色の風船を膨らませ、周りは虹のように明るくなった。合図と共に放たれた色とりどりの多数の風船達は、ファンの祈りとなって空高く舞い上がって行った。
残念なことにその日も阪神タイガースは読売ジャイアンツに負けたが、カーネルサンダースの呪いがあってもなくても最後まで。。。
「オウ オウ オウ オウ 阪神タイガース、フレ フレ フレ フレ」
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JonathanCampion
Jonathan Campion
Thanks!
Such a great panorama, and a really well-written blog. Thanks!