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 For
whatever reason, the Yomiuri Giants remain the most loved and hated team in
Japan. Yomiuri fans want to see them win, and others hope
to see the Kyojin humiliated. Naturally with so much at
stake, Giants games are nearly always sell-outs. Many fans try without luck to
order Giants tickets over the phone the minute they go on
sale. Usually for about fifteen minutes, all the phones
are busy, and when they finally get through, all reserved
tickets have been sold. If you are lucky enough to be
invited to a Giants game or to receive free tickets, go.
Otherwise, you'll need a strategy if you want to get
seats.
If
you can, try to see a game on a weekday. Saturdays and
Sundays are always crowded with friends and families
enjoying their day off. Though even weekday Giants games
will likely be standing-room-only events, the pool of
people competing for seats will be substantially smaller,
thus you stand a better chance of getting a ticket. It
may also be easier to get tickets if the Giants are in
last place or if the weather appears less than optimal
Probably
the easiest place to see a Giants game is at Tokyo's Meiji-Jingu
Stadium. The
Swallows' home ballpark has a 48,000 seating capacity --
bigger than most other Central League stadiums. Since
it's an outdoor park, Jingu doesn't attract as many
peripheral baseball fans as the Tokyo or Nagoya Domes do.
If
that doesn't help, the next easiest way to buy tickets,
of course, is to negotiate with the scalpers outside the ballpark. But in
addition to this being illegal (do you really want to
subsidize gangsters?), prices are extremely steep,
usually well over 10,000 yen (about $100) for even a
mediocre seat.
If
you're still determined to see the Giants, your only
other option is to get to the ballpark about three hours
before game time. Earlier if you can. There will be a
long line for unreserved seats, and if you find yourself
a few hundred meters from the front of it, you may not be
able to find a place to sit.
Try
to avoid buying your ticket on the same day as the game.
The problem here is there are actually two lines at each
stadium. The first is to buy tickets, the second (which
you want to be in) is for people who already have tickets
and are waiting to go through the ticket gates. Often
tickets for that day's game may not go on sale until two
or three hours before the game. By that time, the line
for people who already have tickets may be too long.
Instead, stop by one of the many ticket centers in your
city, and buy unreserved tickets a couple days before the
game.
Better
yet, just stay home. The Giants have a virtual monopoly
on televised ball games, and you can see them just about
every night they play. It's a lot cheaper than going to
the Tokyo Dome, and you won't have to wait in line.
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