Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Although its popularity is slipping,
sumo wrestling
also has a high profile, with big
tournaments (
basho
) televised nationwide and wrestlers enjoying celebrity status. Tokyo
also has numerous
dōjō
(practice halls) where it's possible to watch
martial arts
such as
aikido, judo and karate, and learn about these ancient fighting methods.
Check local media for details of events. For tickets, approach one of the major
ticket
agencies
(see p.180).
BASEBALL
The baseball season runs from April-Oct and watching a
professional match
is great fun; even if you're not a fan, the
audience enthusiasm can be infectious. Tickets start at around ¥1500, and go on sale on the Friday two weeks prior to a
game. It's rare to find anyone who doesn't support one of Tokyo's two main baseball (
yakyū
) teams, the
Yomiuri Giants
and the
Yakult Swallows
; Yokohama has the Yokohama Baystars. As well as the two professional leagues (Central and
Pacific), there's the equally popular All-Japan High School Baseball Championship, and you might be able to catch one of
the local play-offs before the main tournament held each summer in Ōsaka; check with the tourist o
ce for details.
19
Jingū Baseball Stadium
ਆٶٿ
13 Kasumigaoka,
Shinjuku-ku
T
03 3404 8999,
W
www.jingu-stadium
.com/english; Gaienmae station.
One of the stadia
grouped in Meiji-jingū's Outer Gardens, this is the base of
the Yakult Swallows and hosts the college baseball Tokyo
Big Six league.
Tokyo Dome
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1-3 Koraku, Bunkyō-ku
T
03 5800 9999,
W
www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/dome;
Suidōbashi station.
This huge covered arena, affectionately
nicknamed the “Big Egg”, is home to the Yomiuri Giants, and
is a great place to take in a night game.
MARTIAL ARTS
Japan has a pleasing selection of
indigenous
martial arts, and it's fairly easy to see events at any time of year. Studying
is a different matter, however; martial arts require time and patience, meaning that it's only really going to be worth
your while taking
classes
if you're in Tokyo for an extended period. Even then, the best first step is usually the relevant
federation in your home country.
International Aikido Federation
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17-18 Wakamatsuchō, Shinjuku-ku
T
03 3203 9236,
W
aikikai.or.jp; Wakamatsu-Kawada Station.
You can
learn more about the sport by heading here - if you like
what you see and are in Tokyo for a while, it's quite possible
to participate in their classes.
AIKIDO
Blending elements of judo, karate and kendo is aikido,
which translates as “the way of harmonious spirit”.
Created in Japan in the 1940s, it is a form of self-defence
performed without weapons. For a painfully enlightening
and humorous take on the rigours of aikido training, read
Robert Twigger's
Angry White Pyjamas
(see p.254).
BATTING STATIONS
If you fancy practising to be the next baseball superstar, or just want to let off some steam,
then a trip to one of Tokyo's batting stations is what's called for. You'll pay around ¥400 for 20
balls; machines fire these your way one by one, and you're sometimes able to adjust the speed
of their flight.
Leisure Land
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Palette Town;
Aomi station.
A series of cages hidden away in the
game centre behind the giant ferris wheel (see p.85).
Daily 10am-11.50pm.
Meiji-jingū Gaien
໌࣏ਆٶ֎ԓ
W
meijijingu
gaien.jp/english/batting.html; Gaienmae station.
Set of practice cages abutting the Olympic venues in
the outer garden area of Meiji-jingū (see p.107). There
are also a couple of table-tennis practice cages.
Daily
9am-8.30pm; Nov-Feb until 7.30pm.
Shinjuku Batting Center
৽॓όοςΟϯάηϯλʔ
2-21-14 Kabukichō, Shinjuku-ku; Shinjuku-nishiguchi
station.
In the heart of Kabukichō, the Shinjuku Batting
Center allows you to choose between balls pitched at a
leisurely 70kph or super-fast 130kph.
Daily 10am-4am.
Sugō Batting Stadium
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Ϝ
1-27 Asakusa, Taitō-ku; Asakusa station.
Just what
you need in the centre of Tokyo's most traditional area -
a complex featuring several batting cages, as well as a
whole clutch of zany arcade games.
Daily 10am-2am.
