Wouldn't you know it? There's actually a group of fans that are crazier and more passionate about their hobby than gamers. We aren't talking about anime fans, either. The real, hardcore fans seem to dwell within the realm of baseball, or Yakkyu, as it's known in Japan. Let's get the history out of the way before we delve into the good stuff, shall we? 

Right now, there are two leagues in Japanese professional baseball. You have the Central League, which features mainly Tokyo-based teams, such as the Yomiuri Giants and the Yokohama Bay Stars, and then there's the Pacific League, which is made up of teams located in other parts of Japan, like the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the Softbank Hawks. The current league was started more than 40 years ago, and is just like American Major League Baseball. The Central League is much like the National League, with pitchers also doing some batting duties, while the Pacific League employs designated hitters like the American League. As you probably know, there are a ton of Japanese players who have made the jump over the Pacific. The first was Hideo Nomo, who went to the Dodgers, and he was soon followed by the likes of Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki as dominant Japanese players who have also enjoyed tons of success overseas. 

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the actual culture of this worldwide sport. You may have heard the rumors about the Japanese being exceptionally polite, so polite that foreigners may find them rude at times. Hell, even at concerts you usually don't get people jumping up and down to the music, and they only give a modest applause when a set is finished. This doesn't happen in baseball! The crowds are loud from the first pitch to the last out, but it's not the type of scene you'd see at an American baseball game. Spectators don't heckle the players, nor do they berate and irritate the hell out of those around them. Instead, the noise comes from the sound of their drums, clappers, or whatever else fans can get their hands on in order to rally their favorite players. 

I actually attended a game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Rakuten Golden Eagles a few weeks back, and the experience was pretty surreal, in many different ways. The first thing I noticed when looking for my seat was how reasonable everything was, price-wise. I don't want to say that I was getting used to the idea of being gouged at the concession stand back when I went to the good ol' Skydome in Toronto to see the Blue Jays play, but it was actually good to see that Japanese people had a little bit of decency when it came to pricing. Who would've thought that marking everything at a reasonable price would actually entice people to buy something? That, and the selection of food are undeniably Japanese. The usual selection of hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream are available, but throw in some rice bowls filled with sauteed beef or plates of rice and curry and you've got a selection of food that will make anyone happy! 

The second (and arguably much cooler) thing that surprised me was the cheers. Now, we have the usual "Defense! Defense!" cheers and such in America and in Canada and it's true that we often rally behind the team's superstar to pull through in the clutch, but never have I experienced fans cheering for every single player on a team before. There are actually individual cheers for each player on the team, and fans will usually start their chants while the player is up to bat. The crowds are a more even mix of home and away fans than your usual Major League game, since fans can easily travel to away games if they want to. When I walked into the stadium, I was asked if I was a fan of Rakuten or if I was a Giants supporter. Since we were in the Tokyo Dome, I sided with the Giants, and I was told to sit in a specific section of the stadium that was actually designated for Giants fans only.  Fans started to creep in, all of them with their Giants paraphernalia, some of them with their faces painted. If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed that this was a playoff game, but it was just game 50 of a 140-game season.  

Slowly, but surely, the fanaticism started to creep out of everyone that surrounded me. First came the jerseys, then the clappers, then the flags and then the drums! And then the chants started, and they came hard and fast. Each song had its own rhythm and lyrics, although the majority of them were encouraging the players to keep trying or to push harder. But the sea of orange and black that was the Giants fan section was something that I had only experienced during Leaf hockey games back in Toronto. This was not behavior befitting a regular season game. This is all the more puzzling given that there was no rowdiness present at any of these games, unless you're sitting beside the rowdy foreigner. Or unless you actually are that foreigner! Despite the massive amounts of alcohol consumed at these games, there aren't any problems with fans getting into fights with each other, or people just being flat out obnoxious. Rather, the whole outing is usually very enjoyable, exciting and worthwhile. 

Sure, Americans can lay claim to baseball as its national pastime, and it's obvious that Major League Baseball attracts higher quality players due to its pay, but the atmosphere of a Japanese game will really strike a chord in any hardcore baseball fan. I was constantly thinking, "This is what a baseball game should be like!" as the Giants eventually fell into the basement of the Central league with a loss, courtesy of Rakuten. Despite my newly adopted team losing, I came away with new-found love for the game of baseball. Perhaps if you travel to Japan, you may rekindle that love yourself.

And now as a special bonus, a live look at the crowd at the Tokyo Dome! You don't see people rushing the first base coach here! 

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