Differences Between Japanese and American Baseball

Posted by Kyle Yates in Japan Related

Baseball games in America are played in a relatively quiet environment compared to Japanese games. American fans sit quietly in their seats, eating and drinking and occasionally stand up and cheer or boo, while in Japan they cheer sitting or standing almost the entire game and the only quiet time is in the toilet, and even then the noise from the stadium is deafening. Maybe that’s why most Japanese are thin compared to Americans. They expend so much energy cheering during games and burn more calories?

Japanese and American baseball fields look similar, but are not. American fields are standardized and Japanese fields are smaller and irregularly shaped. Almost all Japanese infields are dirt compared to American infields, which are all either well-groomed grass or Astroturf.

Something I consider a huge contrast and insight into Japanese priorities and way of life, is if two teams are in a tie the game doesn’t go until one team wins. They stop the game around 10pm or 10:30 and the game ends in a tie. The game tonight ended 6-6 in the 12th. This shows where Japanese priorities lie not in competition and being the winner, but in the importance in getting home. If the ballgame ends after the trains have shut down, no one would be able to get home.

Another difference most people can imagine without anyone even mentioning it is food. American baseball food consists of popcorn, hotdogs, pizza, ice cream, cokes and beer, unless you opt for chicken and sushi that has recently come to American baseball. As for Japanese baseball food, you’ll find sushi, udon, and ramen noodles, okonomiyaki (Japanese vegetable pancakes), takoyaki (similar to okonomiyaki shaped into balls and eaten with toothpicks), pizza and hotdogs. Actually, each field has a little different variety of foods, but those are the basic ones.

Japanese and American players will probably never mirror one another as long as each keeps keep their traditions and cultures. However, each can learn a little from one another to better the sport. Japanese players seem to be better sportsmen as far as politeness is concerned. You’ll hardly ever see a player act disrespectful to another player and if a poor call has been made, officials and managers will discuss it for lengthy periods of time to find a happy medium that everyone can be satisfied with without causing someone to lose face. I wouldn’t go so far as to say American players should be this way or treat bad calls in this manner, but players could tone down the steroid use a little and maybe tempers would fly out of control so quickly. On the other hand, Japanese coaches could learn to take a few more chances during the game instead of playing it so safely, a wellknown approach most Japanese coaches take.

If you are a foreigner and have grown up watching and playing American baseball, you should make it a priority to go to a Japanese baseball game for the experience. Equally, most Japanese baseball fans should go to an American baseball game to get a taste of baseball American style. Japanese baseball and American baseball are both fun to watch and participate in, but both fans will probably go away looking forward to their native style of baseball. I do.