Our last days in Tokyo contained James’ favorite experiences of our trip. Sure the bowing deer were cool, but going to a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome was really the main draw. And we had the added bonus of getting to go to the game with his baseball friends from the Jorris family. We knew they were going to be in Tokyo at the same time so we bought game tickets together.

The concierge at the Grand Hyatt at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo got us the tickets in advance for all 7 of us. We highly recommend this hotel for a lot of reasons, but the concierge was especially good.

We left Kyoto in the morning and took the train to Tokyo. This time we exited at the Shinagawa station instead of the Central Tokyo station. It’s definitely a more chill station, but we had to wait a ridiculously long time for a cab. We were on a tight schedule to get to the game early and meet our friends. The cab system is strange and inefficient. It cues up cabs in multiple waiting lines but then allows only one cab to load at a time, even though there is plenty of room for multiple cabs to load simultaneously. Weird.

I’ll let James fill you in on the game and the full experience below.

We tried to take the train back to the hotel after the game, but we turned the wrong way out of the Dome, gave up and ordered an Uber. In Tokyo, the trains are very crowded after the games but you can easily get an Uber or taxi, because most people don’t want to spend the extra $20. But after our extremely full day, and not being anywhere need a train station, it was the right choice for us. When we got back to the hotel we were all exhausted but happy with another full day.

TeamLab

I will attach some videos and pictures but they won’t do it justice I’m sure. One of the exhibits, the lily pads, made me tear up.

There was a clever room where you got to color in the paper outline of a sea creature with crayons, then it was scanned and added to the “ocean” room, swimming around and even interacting with a touch.

James really wanted to go back to Tokyo Dome City to buy another t-shirt and a souvenir for Robert, so we did! We arrived right before the next game so the energy was electric around the stadium. After that we did some shopping for Jim and experienced more of Dome City, because we didn’t have the time to do that the day before.

James said that, if he moved to Japan he would live in Dome City. It had everything he needed: a baseball stadium, a sports complex with batting cages, an amusement park, and lots of food options including of course, ice cream.

As we were walking around James spotted a “Splash Mountain” ride and Jim/Baba said he would go on it with him. Unfortunately, Jim wasn’t allowed to go because the emergency stairs had no railings and Jim answered honestly that he can’t navigate stairs without railings, so I stepped in at the last minute to take Jim’s ticket. A Splash Mountain ride was not on the itinerary, but sometimes you just need to go for it!

We had reached the end of our day, but this time we exited directly to the train station and enjoyed a very easy train ride back to our hotel. Maneuvering through a station transfer like pros, I think we have shown James how to use transit successfully in a foreign country, which we’re sure will be helpful to him in the years ahead.

In the train I said we were going to have to grab something to eat, but we were too tired to go out. So I said let’s just go to the Italian place and get a margarita pizza (which James loves) and salad. And James said, “but we are not here anymore.” And I laughed and said, “well then where are we?” He was thinking about the Italian restaurant in Kyoto vs the one in the Hyatt. We all laughed. It certainly has been a very full trip.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day in Japan. We fly out at 9 PM and we will leave for the airport around 5:30 or 6. It should be a lovely day for our last tour at the Imperial Palace Gardens. We also want to see the super busy, multidirectional Shibuya Pedestrian Crossing. I think we will try to do that after breakfast, but before the tour. No doubt, we will be good and tired by the end of the day and will hopefully all get a good night’s sleep on the flight home.

The James Report at the Tigers/Swallows Game and the amazing TeamLab:

The whole Tokyo Dome City experience was epic. It’s hard to reduce it to just the game (although that was the best part). They have a giant amusement park, batting cages, bowling alleys, golf simulators, and more ice cream than even Baba could eat.

We went to the stadium slightly before gates opened to go to the team shop, and then went in. They did batting practice just like at home: Home team hits before gates open, while the Away team hits as gates open. Hendrick, Shea, and I were going to try to catch batting practice balls in left field, but that was the designated area for the visiting Swallows fans, and we needed a special ticket to get in.

Of course, with Japan being always respectful, the away seats were more cushy than the home ones. Their numbers were small, but they were loud. Both sides had designated chants for each player, for a strikeout, and for pregame. I would describe the atmosphere as a combination of a college football game and a soccer match. It was pretty cool.

The game started with a scoreless first and some good defense. The Swallows threatened, but couldn’t cash in. The Giants drew first blood in the second with a RBI single coming on the heels of a Trey Cabbage double (more on him in a bit). The Giants scored again in the third, putting the Giants up by two. That’s where the score stayed thanks to an impressive performance from Kazuyuki Takemaru, a rookie from Josai University. He was on the bump for five and a third innings, and really settled down after the first. The bullpen struggled a bit after him, giving up a run in the seventh that stirred the restless Yakult Swallows crowd into a frenzy. But, just as the Swallows started to gain some momentum… BOOM!

Trey Cabbage hits a freaking nuke to give some much needed momentum. It may have been the farthest I’ve ever seen a ball hit, in a real game at least. I saw some tanks at the home run derby in 2023, but that doesn’t count. It might have gone 450 feet. Cabbage is one of two Americans on the team, having come from AAA in 2024. Now, the Japanese are very strict about how you play the game: very respectful, no excessive celebrations, etc. When you hit a homer, you are expected to put your head down and run. Nowadays in the MLB, guys bat flip all the time, and always hit their trademark celebration. So, when you put a guy who has been in that atmosphere on your team, he is bound to celebrate. He did what one does when you hit a ball that far in a one run game: admired it for a while, flipped his bat, celebrated around third, and threw the home run stuffed animal (they love those here) into the crowd.

In the next frame, I was waiting for him to go out to left field, but instead I saw number 44 coming out. Well, the Giants manager is no different than the stereotypical Japanese baseball guy. It turns out he pulled Cabbage from the game for celebrating. It immediately came back to bite them too. That inning, the new guy missed a ball in left that turned a single into a standup double, putting a guy at third and most notably the tying run at second.

Thankfully for Yomiuri, their pitcher had ice in his veins and got out of the second and third situation giving up only one run. Their closer turned out the lights in the ninth with a one two three inning, giving the Giants the 3-2 win over their cross town rivals.

Oh yeah, and we also went to TeamLab. That was pretty cool, too. I liked the room with all the string lights reflected in the mirrors. That was the room that I could stay in there for a long time watching the patterns change all the time.

JIM: I loved James’ description of the baseball game! The Japanese are generally very reserved, but at a baseball game they are Super Fans. The fans in the Swallows’ cheer section had at least four trumpets and a big drum, and they sang their various fight songs over and over throughout the game. The Giants’ cheer section was twice as big and even more boisterous. It was a lot of fun.

The Giants have Cheerleaders (“the Venus”) to help root on the home fans, and there are 5 Cartoon Rabbit mascots (Dad, Mom and 3 kids). I’m not sure why the mascots are rabbits, although Dad Rabbit looks a little like the imaginary giant rabbit in the old movie “Harvey” with Jimmy Stewwart.

Unlike MLB baseball, everything was reasonably priced! Our tickets were only $40 and you could get a hot dog, curry beef bowl, or chicken skewers (and lots of other things), plus a drink for less than $10. Beer was $5.

TeamLab “Borderless” was an amazing, immersive video art experience. You should absolutely get tickets and see if if you are in Japan or if the exhibit comes to someplace near you.

We watched a bit of the Masters Golf Tournament this morning. Go Cam Young! Hopefully, we’ll be able to watch the end of the Final Round after returning to Seattle.