The cheering gets nasty at a pro baseball game

By Mike DeJong

I went to a Japanese baseball game last month. Actually, I went to a fight at a Japanese baseball game.

I took my son to see his favorite team, the Seibu Lions, at Seibu Dome in Saitama. My son is only 5 years old, yet he’s already been to ballparks in Japan and North America. He knows what live baseball is all about. But this time, he learned that baseball games in Japan can be dangerous.

We decided to sit in the bleacher seats, thinking it would be fun to be part of an outfield cheering section. I’d read about the spirited antics of Japanese baseball fans, and how they made games more fun than those in North America. I thought the cheering section would be a new experience for my son. It certainly was.

The problems started shortly after our arrival. The Lions’ bleachers were full, so we sat on the other side with fans of that night’s opposition, the Yokohama BayStars. My son likes the Lions, but he wore no Lions colors as we took our seats. He cheered for his favorite players, but his voice was drowned out by four busy buglers in our section. They would have made Metallica proud.

Soon, the cheering started — actually, it was more like chanting. The fans raised their arms and closed their eyes in a mock messianic trance. I felt like I’d walked onto the set of Attack of the Killer Baseball Zombies.

The cheering zombies blocked our view for most of the game. But that wasn’t the worst part. A woman in front of us took over an entire row of benches. She had jerseys, newspapers, jackets and sweaters strewn across the seats. My son made the mistake of stepping onto one of her sweaters. The woman responded by slapping him, right in front of me.

Now, when a stranger hits my kid, I get upset. I confronted the woman and my wife joined in. We yelled and argued. My son cried. Other fans stared. The woman called security. Security officers came and, after listening to both sides, told us all to behave. They asked my wife if she wanted to call the police. We declined. In the end, we all went back to watching the game. However, I was still amazed at what this complete stranger had done.

I’ve been to baseball games in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Los Angeles. I have worn opposing team colors into some of the toughest ballparks in North America. But never in my 30 years of watching baseball have I ever gotten into a fight. And never have I seen an adult hit a child.

Japanese cheering sections are, like many things in Japanese society, exclusive clubs. Outsiders are rarely allowed in. That’s my explanation for what happened to us at the baseball game. Sure, we had tickets that entitled us to sit where we wanted. But the Yokohama fans didn’t want us in their section. I guess they felt they owned that part of the ballpark, and we were uninvited guests.

Author Robert Whiting discusses this phenomenon in his classic book on Japanese baseball, “You Gotta Have Wa.” Whiting suggests that cheering sections are not merely loose-knit groups of fans getting together for a good time. Rather, they are highly regimented organizations where supporters are told how and when to cheer. The applause is not spontaneous, but scripted, organized and rehearsed. The military-like precision of cheering sections is another example of the powerful group dynamic that rules the majority of Japanese life.

Baseball group-think might seem quaint and charming to some people. But I prefer the spontaneous outpourings of support — or derision — based on individual plays and players. In other words, I want to be free to cheer or boo as I see fit.

In the end, my son stopped crying and watched what he could of the game. Some nice Yokohama fans even entertained him with their cute toys. But I had learned a lesson. Next time, I will buy a more expensive ticket and sit in a real seat. I don’t want to be told how to cheer. And I don’t want anyone hitting my kid.

Mike DeJong is a Canadian journalist and media consultant.

This commentary originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp)

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Latest 15 of 83 Total Comments Show All

cleo at 12:14 AM JST - 22nd July

the author and his wife had already taken a mature decision not to get violent in return

If only he'd taken the mature decision not to write a whiny article about nothing.
cleo at 12:27 AM JST - 22nd July

My son made the mistake of stepping onto one of her sweaters doesn't mean he didn't do it intentionally; it means that what he did turned out to be misguided or wrong.

Mr DeJong made the mistake of sitting with the away team supporters, but it was entirely intentional.
MapleG at 12:35 AM JST - 22nd July

I took my son to a game at the Yahoo Dome last week. (His first visit to Japan. We sat, by design, in the hometown cheering section in the bleachers.

It was a different experience, and I had to take a few aspirin. Did it once, and probably won't again, but it was still fun.

Like other posters said, there's probably many sides to the story.
tuneintokyo at 07:47 AM JST - 22nd July

You let a stranger hit your kid? What a disgrace. I feel sorry for that child. My mother wouldn't have let that one slide... sorry.
chuckers at 10:17 AM JST - 22nd July

Sorry his kid got slapped and the YB lady probably crossed a line but, as has been stated, there is only one side of this story. The kid may have been being overly rambunctious and deserved a slap. Some parents aren't mindful of what their children are doing and only see them as perfect angels. Some are, some aren't and some deserve a slap.

The guy implies he has been to numerous games in both Japan and NA. Well, apparently he hasn't been to that many in Japan. If you want to "watch" the game, you sit in seats along the base lines (which side depends on home or away and at one time on stadium) but if you want to really "cheer" for your team, you sit in the outfield bleachers of your favoured team. Depending on the team, sitting in the bleachers of the opposing team can mean taking your life into your own hands.

A Seibu-Baystars game would be relatively safe, I should think and as he stated, he did have some YB fans try to play with his son to make up for the other "bad" fan. If he really wanted to "sit" in the bleachers for the Lions, he should have got there early, especially when he knew going in that there are no reserved seats.
Kwaabish at 12:14 PM JST - 22nd July

Pffffffftttt.... he should go to a game at Koshien against the Giants and sit in the Right Field seats with Yomiuri gear on.....
ratpack at 03:58 PM JST - 22nd July

I don't hit woman BUT i would make a VERY BIG exception if one ever hit my 5 year old child who is too small to defend him/herself. In any other country a woman or man hitting a 5 year old would be classed as child abuse regardless of the situation.....but in Japan!!!!!!!!
NotJapanese at 04:23 PM JST - 22nd July

Everyone should be aware that devoted sports fans in any country are idiots.
OssanAmerica at 12:14 AM JST - 23rd July

In any other country a woman or man hitting a 5 year old would be >classed as child abuse regardless of the situation.....but in >Japan!!!!!!!!

It's not child absuse, it's assault. An incident of this sort invcolving complete strangers in a public place doesn't meet the criteria for "child abuse". But in Japan what? The writer (father) failed to press assault charges against the woman.
northlondon at 12:06 PM JST - 23rd July

Pffffffftttt.... he should go to a game at Koshien against the Giants and sit in the Right Field seats with Yomiuri gear on.....

It's rough enough being a Tigers fan with Tigers gear on at Koshien...
chuckers at 12:04 PM JST - 24th July

It's rough enough being a Tigers fan with Tigers gear on at Koshien...

Heh. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Fadamor at 02:37 AM JST - 25th July

This isn't nasty. Nasty is some of the riots you find at soccer games worldwide. THAT'S nasty.
XXXXX at 04:29 AM JST - 25th July

"i wouldn`t go to a japanese baseball game if they paid me."

I wouldn't go to any baseball game period. This article discouraged me as well from ever trying to understand the hype.
ensnaturae at 05:03 PM JST - 25th July

Never understood what being a 'fan' is about. It looks dangerous in all but a few sports (I havnt seen riots or blood at swimming galas, pingpong, or badminton) but whatever it is about, nothing would induce me to take a 5 yrea old where crowds of emotional humans get together. Football around europe looks like a blood sport.
ensnaturae at 05:16 PM JST - 25th July

perhaps all sports that could translate easily into physical violence by their actual use of body with equipment, are likely to have violent supporters.... eg kicking balls and using a baseball bat (which looked like a weapon before anyone thought of the game)?