On August 22nd, 1990, I went to Harajuku, and from there walked off in search of things to videotape. When I came to the Jingu baseball stadium, I noticed people going in to see a game, so I decided - on the spur of the moment - to buy a ticket and go in myself. The game was between the Chunichi Dragons and the Yakult Swallows. The first two videos below are an edited version of the footage I took while enjoying the game.
Watching the spectators cheering on their favored team was - in a way - more interesting than the game itself. That's not to say the game wasn't interesting - it was a great game, with several home runs, a tied score, etc., which fueled the passion of the spectators.
In the second clip, I was amused at the time, and again while editing/watching the material after two decades had passed, to see how the winning Dragon's fans resisted leaving even while a bullhorn-equipped security man walked among them electronically yelling at them to hurry up and leave the stadium. As we were leaving, the security guy even walked into the restroom with the bullhorn, verbally blasting away all the while!
The last clip is of a walk through the aisles of a discount store here in Tokyo. A Facebook acquaintance who posted a photo of a narrow aisle in a store in the US didn't believe me when I said the narrow aisle reminded me of some of the stores I shop at here. The Facebook acquaintance responded with a "Ha-ha, I went to many shops in fashionable places in Tokyo and saw no such thing" response....
I hate being called a liar when I know what I'm talking about - especially when the person calling me a liar doesn't know what they're talking about! This thing where a foreigner visits Japan, spends a week or two here, sees a few things, and then thinks they know the city better than anyone, including the city's residents, is profoundly irritating. I call it "gaijin disease" (hereafter referred to as GD). So - I went to a discount store, walked around in the aisles recording video of the fact that the aisles are narrower than the posted picture of the aisle in the US store, and posted the proof that I wasn't making things up. As I half-expected, the Facebook acquaintance didn't admit their error, or apologize for insinuating that I was lying.
Oh well. Anyway - aside from that ridiculous/pathetic background to the video, I had been wanting to take some video of store aisles like that anyway, so I guess I should thank my Facebook acquaintance with GD, and in the future just let them stay ignorant about Japan, since they apparently don't want to know the truth.
"Japanese Baseball - Dragons vs. Swallows (August 22nd, 1990)-A"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH13cpKavgc
The first half of a two-video set showing the atmosphere at a fairly exciting baseball game between the Chunichi Dragons and the Yakult Swallows. The competition between cheering sections of the spectators was as interesting as the game itself.
(Since I was sitting with the spectators and not with the baseball teams, the spectators are highlighted in the video.)
1990年8月22日水曜日 - 神宮スタジアムでの野球、中日ドラゴンズ vs. ヤクルトスワローズ (A) 東京
"Japanese Baseball - Dragons vs. Swallows (August 22nd, 1990)-B"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8CROFazL7E
The second half of a two-video set showing the atmosphere at a fairly exciting baseball game between the Chunichi Dragons and the Yakult Swallows.
"Discount Shop Aisle Navigation in Tokyo"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0E_gVnRgJg
Navigating the aisles in a discount store in Tokyo. Naturally, not all stores in Tokyo have aisles this narrow, but this is not unusual in shops with limited floor space that want to have a lot of merchandise on display.
Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://youtube.com/lylehsaxon
http://tokyoartmusic.blogspot.com/
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