 You're in Japan, you're going
through baseball withdrawal, but there's no game in town.
So you turn on the TV, flip the channels, and eventually
stumble on the team sport you've been looking for. But
before you get too involved, you should know that there
is a 90% probability that...
a)
The game will soon be interrupted by scores of
commercials.
b)
When any given commercial break is over, you will either
see the second batter of the inning step up to the plate
or the first trotting home after presumably hitting a
home run.
c)
Even if it's the bottom of the ninth, the score tied and
the bases jammed, televised coverage will invariably end
at 9:24 PM.
d)
If the game finishes early, there will only be a brief
perfunctory post-game wrap-up (even briefer if the Giants
lose), which will include the "hero" interview.
e)
All announcements are, not surprisingly, in Japanese.
Although the locals use western numerals to write scores
and batting averages, player and team names are all
printed in Japanese script.
And
there are two other things you can count on. The game
you'll see will feature Japan's most popular team (which
not coincidentally controls a few television channels),
the Yomiuri Giants. Probably about 95% of all
nationally televised baseball games feature the mighty
Kyojin (their pre-W.W.II name).
Also,
you can safely assume that the game you are watching
began at 6:00 PM (virtually all Giants games are
scheduled to air during prime time), but wasn't televised
until 7:04. No, there is no delay. Japanese broadcasters
simply join the game in progress. Rarely will you ever be
able to see the first inning on any televised game. And
unless you tune in to the Japan
Series or an All-Star
game, you will
never see a pre-game show.
Sounds
bleak? It is.
But
there are some good points to Japanese sports coverage.
Several of the small market teams (Tigers, Dragons,
BayStars, Lions) have their home games televised to a
local audience, so if you live near one of those teams,
you can escape the Yomiuri media monopoly to some extent.
Though local coverage may not be the same quality as the
national broadcasts, games are more frequently shown in
their entirety.
Though
the rigid time restrictions may drive most baseball fans
mad, the camera work is usually excellent. Scores are
always shown in the top left corner of the screen (though
you may have to learn to read the Japanese team symbols to understand who's winning)
Still,
the language barrier can be a big problem. Reading Japanese names is difficult, and without good
play-by-play commentary, many foreign fans are left in
the dark. The more Japanese you know, the more you will
likely enjoy the program.
Several
years ago, some channels employed English announcers. By
switching the bilingual button on your TV, you could
understand what was going on. But after the
bubble-economy burst in the early 1990s, most
broadcasters cut back on their expenses, and English
commentary was an early victim of budget cuts. It appears
unlikely that English play-by-play will resume any time
in the near future.
Cable
and satellite telecasts may change that. Apparently
PerfecTV! offers a wide selection of Japanese games, but
don't expect to hear English. At least not for now. And
for many people visiting Japan, teachers on a shoestring
budget and others planning on a short stay, cable and
satellite hookups may not be very practical.
Perhaps
the best way to deal with the situation is to find one
team you like, learn as much as you can about the players
from this web site and other sources, and forget about
the other teams. If you try to master all twelve teams at
once, it's easy to get overwhelmed.
The
more you know, the less you'll have to rely on
commentators to interpret the game situation for you.
It's not easy to shatter the language barrier, but that's
one way to get around it.
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