Japan

Japan was the next stop on deployment for Lars. The REAGAN pulled into Sasebo Japan at the end of July and Lars took a 2 hour train ride to Fukuoka, Japan to watch a baseball game. It was kind of a small taste of America, but some parts of the game were a bit different.

For instance, the fans all wear scarves and headbands for their team....

The teams only get 2:30 minutes to warm up between innings...

There were cheerleaders on the field...

And in the seventh inning the entire stadium blows up yellow balloons and releases them at the end of a song. If the home team wins they do the same thing with a white balloon after the game is over. The weirdest part of the game was that there were men who stood in the outfield bleachers and beat out chants on huge Japanese drums and the whole crowd chanted with them. They do that for the entire game, but only when the home team is batting. Weird.

You could also get a draft beer from a little Japanese girl who wears a keg backpack for the entire game or a glass of this stuff called Sochu which is basically a local Japanese vodka. The food was pretty interesting too. You could eat real Ramen noodles, shrimp, or strawberry crepes.