SPORTS NEWS

Baseball
Japanese League

Hanshin Tigers 5 – 1 Yomiuri Giants

TUPNews was walking through Trafalgar Square at around half seven last night when I came across a group of about forty Japanese chanting and singing outside the National Gallery. The square was otherwise deserted. I immediately assumed it was a Falun Gong demonstration; however as I drew closer I saw that it was in fact a crowd of Hanshin Tigers fans celebrating their team’s 5-1 victory over the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants. With this win, the Hanshin Tigers have clinched the Central League pennant, their second in three years. There were about twelve fans in full regalia holding a long banner and cheering for a Japanese TV crew, while the rest looked on and applauded. The fans also released Hanshin’s famous “long balloons” into the air. A large man in a mascot costume ran around hugging everyone.

Hanshin Tigers will have taken particular pleasure in beating Yomiuri Giants to win the title. The Tigers are based in the Kansai region, where folk generally despise the dominant Kanto region, which is basically the area around Tokyo. Giants fans are the prawn sandwich brigade of Japanese baseball, while Tigers fans are diehard fanatics.