Baseball and the oBon Festival

I wonder when Captain Cook realized that the Hawaiians had plans for him? I am sure he was thinking things were going well to a point, but then . . .

Things are going great over here. There are many similarities to our culture, but there are a lot of differences too. For example, today we went to a baseball game at Koshien Stadium, home of the Hanshin Tigers, last years champs. They are holding a high school baseball tournament in the stadium. I have no idea how many teams are here. They begin their games probably around 9:00 am and play every 3 hours until early evening. We caught the end of one game and the beginning of another.

Baseball is very different. They play small ball. They are not afraid to bunt. I see where Ichiro developed his talent. Also the fans are very different and it isn’t just at the high school level. The fans cheer constantly while their team as at bat. The other side cheers strikes and outs. These are organized cheers, songs mostly and they are constant. The players and coaches are also very emotional. Every game has several players and coaches in tears both from the winning and losing teams. The boys are also much more willing to make physical contact with one another. American boys would have some sort of phobia about how the guys over here interact.

After our baseball outing we returned home to clean up and to go the oBon (bone) festival at Sogo Center. The large courtyard behind our office was used tonight for the festival. It was a large dance sponsored by the cho, neighborhood. The dance is just a large party celebrating the return of the ancestors for a visit. This time of year, the Japanese believe that their past ancestors come for a visit for several days. Chrissy spent much of the night dancing around the center stage, just like a local. If she didn’t have blond hair and if she would have been wearing a Kimono she would have blended right in. I know our apartment is small, but I will let you know who shows up.