Friday, December 01, 2006

Japan Photos, Part 3 - Nagoya

I could have done the set of "Koshien in the Rain" photos from Sept 6 separately, but figure I'll just append a few of those for my real Koshien photo set.

This set of photos is from September 7th. By that point I was about halfway through my week of staying in Osaka. We took a day trip to Nagoya that day, went to the Nagoya Castle and some other touristy stuff during the daytime, and then made our way out to the Nagoya Dome for a game where the Chunichi Dragons played the Yakult Swallows. Here's my blog entry for that day, or you can also see a game log. Short version: Kenshin Kawakami, the Chunichi ace who got their only win in the Japan Series this year, and who tied Igawa for the Central League strikeout crown, got roughed up something awful by the Swallows, giving up a grand slam to backup catcher Masakazu Fukukawa, as the Swallows ultimately won 6-3, starter Masanori Ishikawa getting the win for Yakult. I did get to see Masao Kida and Shingo Takatsu play in that game, as well as Akinori Iwamura. But none of my pictures of them came out at all! Sorry!

I sat in the upper deck of the Nagoya Dome for this game, and actually bought a Dragons shirt and cheer sticks and everything, and learned some of the cheer songs from a girl sitting next to me. I had no idea that a month later I'd be cheering AGAINST the Dragons in the Japan Series. Oops.

Photo set with thumbnails and descriptions here:
Dragons vs. Swallows at the Nagoya Dome, September 7, 2006

This isn't a particularly huge set either due to dome lighting, though there are a few neat pictures in there, I think. I got a lot of shots of the fans in the outfield stands cheering and holding up signs.

I picked out a few randomly from the set:

Outside the dome, inside, and mascots:


Cheering banners and cheer sticks:


Kenshin Kawakami, Norichika Aoki, and a late scoreboard:


The shop, a cartoon stand, Kazuki Inoue, an Asahi Beer dude, and cheerleader girls:


I hope people are enjoying these sets. Next up will be Hiroshima Stadium, where I got a lot more player shots since I was there for batting practice and there was actual daylight. Domes are great in some ways, but not for photography.

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