The Meaning of Ichiro (59 page)

While Kelly’s article appears well-researched, to suggest that there may be more going on in the grandstand than mindless
groupthink or cathartic transformations from salaryman to screaming savage is hardly an epiphanous leap toward the understanding
of the subject. And to argue that fan behavior away from the influence of organized
endan
or cheering group sessions is no different than that of the fan in America is to dismiss the perception of individuals who
have watched far more games in both Japan and the United States than Professor Kelly and who see something else entirely.

Ask Ichiro Suzuki, a baseball player who spent nine years in Japan and three in the U.S. as of this writing. Said Suzuki,
“I think Japanese fans, like the Japanese players, suppress their emotions too. They are very
otonash
(quiet). You have the cheerleaders blowing trumpets and all. But when they’re not doing anything, the stadium is really quiet.
American fans, by contrast, do their own thing—people stand up and dance. The fans get up and express themselves, they show
their own individuality, just like the players. You get the feeling they are really enjoying themselves.” Asked why the Japanese
fan is so quiet—was it courtesy or shyness?—he responded, “I think it’s shyness. When I’m sitting in the stands in Japan as
a fan, I can really understand that feeling” (author interview November 7, 2002). Said Jim Colborn, another who had spent
years in ballparks on both sides of the Pacific, some as a coach, some as a scout, “Compared to the American fans, the Japanese
in the infield stands are polite, orderly and reserved. They save their screaming for the
endan.
In the U.S., they have got to be participants” (interview August 29, 2003).

Wayne Graczyk, baseball writer for the
Japan Times
for three decades and one of the world’s foremost experts on the game: “The Japanese are not as exhibitionistic as the Americans.
A baseball crowd is a more formal situation in Japan. They’re not as boisterous or as innovative as the Americans. Even the
vendors are monotonous. U.S. vendors are more showy. They’ll deliver the peanuts be-hind their back, or they’ll say, ‘You
want some peanuts or what?’ Everybody’s got a shtick. All in all, aside from the
endan,
stadiums are a lot quieter in Japan” (interview, November 8, 2002).

Marty Kuehnert, another longtime Japan-based writer: “In America, when you’re quiet, you’re quiet. When you cheer, you cheer.
You make noise. You really cut loose. Most Japanese fans are quiet in general. They keep things at arm’s length. I took a
U.S. TV producer to Game 1 of the 2002 Japan Series. He couldn’t believe the people in the stands were so quiet. ‘Why don’t
they get excited?’ he asked me.” In the spring of 2000, Kuehnert wrote, “In this writer’s opinion, the 2000 MLB opener in
Japan was a resounding success in so many ways. I have one gripe, however. I would like to ask Japanese fans to wake up and
learn how to cheer properly. It seems that without trumpets, drums, flags and cheerleaders, Japanese fans do not know when
and how to cheer. One of my frequent complaints about Japanese baseball is that it is too noisy, with the din of brash instruments
and organized cheering sections being constantly loud throughout the game, regardless of the score or the drama, or lack of
it, on the field… . One sportswriter from New York described his impression of the
endan-less
Tokyo Dome during the Mets and Cubs exhibition games with Kyojin on March 27 and 28 and the official MLB opening games on
the 29th and 30th, like being in a cemetery.” (MSN Japan, April 5, 2000). Kuehnert also interviewed an
endan
leader who confessed that he did not know what was happening on the field during the game because he was too busy leading
cheers. It was only when he got home and watched a videotaped replay that he saw the game for the first time (interview, November
15, 2003). MLB second baseman Jeff Kent, after an exhibition tour in Japan in November 2002 in which
endan
were not in attendance, said, “I was surprised at the atmosphere in the ballparks. My wife even noticed it. She said that
everyone was just glued to their seats. There wasn’t anybody dancing or anything” (press interview, November 16, 2002).

Masa Oshima, interpreter and longtime fan of the game in both countries: “Fans in Japan who sit in the infield seats are more
reserved than the
endan
fans, especially at Tokyo Dome for a Giants game, where you have more corporate or yuppie types, whereas the cheering section
fans are less inhibited and more willing to make fools out of themselves … there is a ‘strength in numbers’ mentality” (interview,
October 20, 2002).

Seiyu Hosono, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Senior Research Scientist at Biotech, Connecticut, and longtime fan of Japanese
and American baseball: “Americans are more participatory for sure. This is not only in baseball, but also true at a music
concert, etc. For example, I live in NY and I can never become like some American fans when I go to Yankee Stadium or Shea.
Even though I was educated in the American School and have lived in the United States for almost 21 years, I can never act
like an American”
(
japanesebaseball.com
,
posted October 15, 2002).

Ken Belson,
New York Times
reporter and longtime Japan resident: “There is a big difference between the IF [infield] stands fans in the U.S. and Japan.
Watch video highlights of people in the stands in the U.S., there are guys with beer bellies, doing dances, pumping fists.
In Japan, they just sit there. In the OF [outfield], they just follow the leader. They don’t cheer defense. They only yell
on offense. U.S. fans are much more participatory. So it really is different. Osaka, however, is one exception. Fans are a
lot more earthy there. Noisier. More vulgar ______” (author interview, October 10, 2002).

Gareth “Torakichi” Swain, a New Zealand-born, Osaka-based translator and Hanshin Tiger fan: “I speak from the point of view
of a semi-permanent resident of the right-field terraces of Koshien. While there are always exceptions, in general, the
gaiya
(OF) crowds are deafening, hyperactive, and often oblivious to the fact that our team is being thrashed, and the
naiya
(IF) are not as raucous (note I refrain from calling them ‘quiet’ or ‘subdued’ or whatever). I too have pondered this, and
while I think it’d probably take a sociologist or shrink to give authoritative answers, I draw some parallels with baseball
crowd behavior and that in other situations. The one that leaps to mind first is the ‘traffic light’ mentality,
aka-shingo, minna-ga watareba daijobu
(It’ll be OK to cross the road on a red signal if everyone crosses at the same time). While I’m sure that people in all areas
of the ground want to sing the cheer songs and whack their little skittles, perhaps the fact that the
endan,
armed with their trum-pets and drums, are concentrated in the outfield stands means that only those in the cheap seats have
the courage to do so”
(Japanese
baseball.com
,
posted October 15, 2002).