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  We may not want to admit it, but
it's fun. Some foreigners either look down on the way
Japanese fans cheer, or they take an objective outsider
approach ("Isn't that odd how they're all cheering
as a group?"). The only difference is between crude
and refined condescension. Don't forget the Japanese didn't
invent the wave or the tomahawk chop. Those obnoxious
cheers came from America, the land of individualism. So
let's drop the pretenses. Japanese fans are on to
something. Cheering non-stop for three hours with 40,000
like-minded people is a lot of fun.
Of course, it's even more fun if
you know the words and the motions.
Let's start with some basics. Like
the atom is the building block for everything in the
universe, the "Kattobase" (pronounced
"kah-toh-bah-say") cheer is the basis for
virtually every cheer used by Japanese teams. Humorist
Dave Barry defined Kattobase as "loudly make it
fly," but since there's really no literal
translation, it essentially means "get a hit"
or "let's go." In fact, when Japanese fans
cheer for foreign players, they'll often substitute
kattobase with "Go-go, let's go" or "home
run, home run" (all are four syllables).
Suppose that a player named
"Suzuki" comes to bat. Generally the oendan
(cheerleaders equipped with massive flags, taiko
drums and trumpets) will play a brief song for him, then
the fans chant, "ka-to-ba-se, Su-zu-ki." There
are a few variations to the theme. The Lions would follow
the song by shouting, "Ka-to-ba-se, Su-zu-ki. Go-Go,
let's go, Suzuki." But the Carp, whose fans divide
themselves into two groups, would alternately stand and
sit in this manner:
ALL: "Ka-to-ba-se,
Su-zu-ki"
FIRST GROUP [stand, clap]: "Su-zu-ki" [sit]
SECOND
GROUP [stand,
clap]: "Su-zu-ki" [sit]
FIRST GROUP [stand, clap]: "Su-zu-ki" [sit]
SECOND
GROUP [stand,
clap]: "Su-zu-ki" [sit]
FIRST GROUP [stand]: "Su-zu-kiiiiiiiiiiiii" [sit]
SECOND
GROUP
[stand]: "Su-zu-kiiiiiiiiiiii" [sit]
Of all the Japanese teams,
Hiroshima has the highest octane cheers. The Swallows and
most other ball clubs usually limit themselves to one
"kattobase" per song.
The songs in themselves can be
quite amusing. For outfielder Iwao (pronounced ee-wah-oh)
Omura,the Marines oendan play a rendition of Old
McDonald had a Farm, and when they get to the
chorus, fans chant "ee-wah-ee-wah-oh."
The Swallows use a rendition of Popeye
the Sailor Man (more about that later) while other
teams use tunes such as the Mickey Mouse theme
song and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Most songs used,
however, are recycled television theme songs or marching
band tunes and other melodies used in Japanese colleges.
The song used for Yakult right fielder Atsunori Inaba,
for example, is the same song the Hosei University oendan
played for him when he was in college.
The most famous song used by the
Swallows, however, is Tokyo Ondo, (WAV
463 kb) a
traditional festival tune. Whenever Yakult scores a run,
fans celebrate by popping open thousands of umbrellas
while the oendan plays the tune on trumpets. It's not
really clear how this ritual started, but generally it's
the way Yakult fans tell the opposing pitcher that he's
all washed up (or it might mean, "You'd better hope
it starts raining, 'cause we're gonna kick your
ass"). To rub salt in the wound, before singing the lyrics of
Tokyo Ondo,
fans do a quick Kutabare ("screw you")
chant during the song's instrumental introduction.
Another popular cheer used during
almost every Yakult game is the K-O chant. Set to the
tune of Popeye the Sailor Man, fans clap while
the oendan plays the music, then everyone chants. Though
no one sings the well-known lyrics, when the Swallows
play against the Hanshin Tigers, the chant goes like this
(WAV
225 kb):
| Music: |
I'm
Popeye the Sailor Man
I does what a sailor can
I'm good to the finish
'Cause I eats my spinach
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. |
| Chant: |
K-O,
K-O Ti-gah-soo
K-O, K-O Ti-gah-soo |
If the Swallows win, the oendan
will play the victory song, and most of the more faithful
fans, who know the lyrics, will sing along.
Man blooms as a
flower of the earth.
Baseball is drama .
. . it is life.
Take the Tiger
alive . . . catch the Whales,
Swallow the Dragon
. . . pull in the Carp,
Knock down the
Giant star.
Fly away Yakult
Swallows.
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