Hanging Thing

As I shift from school to school, one thing I try to do is visit some of the local thrift shops. Depending on the area, I can sometimes find a lot of old, traditional Japanese things, or I come across piles of baseball knickknacks. 

The biggest one in town here in Matsumoto is a branch of a chain called BookOff. This particular location has housewares, clothing, hardware and electronics, collectibles and toys, and even an automobile/motorcycle section. And in the back of the store, I found some hanging things.

"Hanging thing" sounds really generic, but it's the literal translation of "kakemono". Japanese sometimes uses really simple compound words to describe things. But instead of getting into the language, why am I bringing this up?

Well, "kakejiku" (hanging scroll) is the more common name for a particular item in a stereotypical Japanese home. These are used to mount and display paintings and calligraphy. I found several kakejiku, and picked out one that appealed to me.

It came in this nice lightweight wooden box. 

Opening it up, you can see it is a scroll. They typically have specific sections and parts. The top is the "heaven" part, while the bottom is "earth". The bottom has a "jikugi" rod, which the scroll is wrapped around when rolled, and another rod and other pieces are found at the top, including hanging thread and tassels. 

I hung this up for the photo, and I left the tassels hanging in the front so you can see everything. The painting itself is framed by wallpaper-like gold paper, and additional fancy paper frames the top and bottom. If you enlarge the photo above, you can probably see the detail on all of the different papers, and of course get a better look at the image itself.

I chose this particular one because it has a lot of color and a very nice nature/river scene, but there is also a man in a boat, an old house, and four mythical creatures. I'm pretty sure this is an original painting (not printed), but if it's not copied from another work, it's certainly based on it. Four gods in a landscape is a relatively common theme. I didn't buy it as an investment, anyway. Eventually, I hope to have it displayed somewhere, along with my Chinese scroll that is definitely a (nice looking) reproduction.

These are often displayed in nicer homes in a Japanese-style room; most formal rooms have an alcove used for hanging these and displaying nice vases, wood, or other aesthetically-pleasing items.

It's no baseball card, but it is a nice item in my collection!

Until next time...

The (Temporary?) End of a Japanese Baseball Institution

Attending a Japanese baseball game brings with it a few differences from Major League baseball. But for the time being, at least one of the "quirks" of Japanese baseball has been banned.

Fan experience in Japan essentially means interactivity. Or at least, perceived interactivity. Japanese fans cheer in unison, chanting "unique" songs for every player (really, many of them have the same melody, and just include the player's name and a couple other words).

Fans in Japan - anime, idol girl music groups, and baseball - often feel like they are a part of the production. The word "supporter" often comes up when I talk to my students. They "support" their favorite anime (or anime character) by buying merchandise. They "support" their favorite girl by buying her souvenirs, or buying lots of CDs to give her more votes. And they "support" their baseball team by singing and clapping.

One song you'll always hear is sung when their team comes to bat in the seventh inning. Similar to the seventh inning stretch in the US, at the top of the seventh, the visiting team's fans sing their team's fight song, and in the middle of the seventh, the home team sings along.

For many teams, the song's climax is celebrated by releasing long phallic balloons into the air, resulting in a loud screeching sound as they deflate and flutter around the stands.

But thanks to fears surrounding the coronavirus, the balloon release has been banned by the Tigers and the BayStars. There are teams that don't use balloons at all anyway - the Swallows fans wave little umbrellas in the air. And I'm sure other teams, like the Hawks, Buffaloes, and Golden Eagles, will also ban the balloons in the near future if they haven't already. 

And while this ban seems to be only during the teams' spring training games, I could see it continuing on for a while into the season. And while it's a spectacle to see in person, it's quite wasteful - something like 20 million balloons (assuming 40,000 balloons at 500 games) per year. (It probably brings in some big cash for the teams, though - the balloons tend to run about $1 each.)

Oddball: 2004 Kirin Japan Olympic Team Trading Cards

I'm taking a bit of a break this weekend from the KBO posts as I'm rearranging my apartment a bit. It's kind of a disaster area right now, though I guess I could be more active in getting things done. And I guess I could have done a lot of it during that long winter vacation.

My friend lent me her pocket wifi router early this month - they signed a new contract and I'm basically running out the rest of the month's service on this one. I gotta say, it's nice to have reliable internet again. The month is almost over, though, and with my new room arrangement there will be no internet! I just gotta go get my own service, and hopefully I can do that tomorrow after my health checkup. But meanwhile, here's a post that should be pretty quick getting out but interesting nonetheless.

Until the past six years or so, there hasn't be a really reliable Olympic set issued in America. I always look forward to the sets Topps issues every other year for the respective Games. Japan has a similar issue; I think there has been only one real comprehensive Japan Olympic Team set - the 1999 MRM/Upper Deck set for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. (By the way, I need just two cards for that.)

BBM issues small box sets for successful teams - there was a curling box set a few years ago, and gymnastics shows up from time to time. And while I haven't really looked into it in detail, I know at least some of the athletes in Real Venus/Shining Venus have competed in the Olympics.

I'm really hoping something great shows up in two years when the Games come to Tokyo. As always, I'd be glad to help work on such a set! But until then, I have this release:

 For the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, beverage company Kirin issued a five-card set which must have been packaged or distributed with its drinks. Given that each pack has only one card, it's certainly likely that they were free with any of their beer or non-alcoholic drinks. The back of the pack does have a warning about drinking responsibly though, so I'm leaning towards beer instead of soft drinks.

I grabbed a 10-pack lot and ended up with a full set and of course several duplicates. One card I ended up with four copies of, eliminating the possibility of a full set. Here is the full set, front and back.

 Shingo Suetsugu

 Kouji Surofushi (Koji Surofushi)

 Mizuki Noguchi

 Ryouko Tani (Ryoko Tani)

Kousei Inoue (Kosei Inoue)

Come on 2020! Bring me a great card set!

Japan National Jersey!

Yes, it's been a long time. It's been two weeks since my last post, again not due to a lack of interest or psoting material, but due to a lack of time and other projects. Actually, I was getting sick as I was writing my last post, and that cold knocked me out for several days. I'm still trying to recover, stuck around 95%. This past week, I've been working on a project that has nothing to do with baseball, so I won't bore you with the details. I finally finished that a couple hours ago.

Meanwhile, I've picked up some great stuff off Yahoo Japan Auctions and new cards at the shops, so you'll see those soon.

But first, today.

Today starts with tomorrow, for tomorrow, I will finally go to Tokyo Disneyland for the first time. Yes, I've lived in Japan for five years, and have not been to TDR (Tokyo Disney Resort). Yes, I'm a theme park junky and a Disney fan, and have not been to TDR. Yes, I went to Hong Kong Disneyland a couple years ago, but have not yet been to TDR.

The real reason for that is crowds. The Tokyo park is probably the most consistently crowded. Lots of people visit the park at least once a year, and many have annual passes - which run about $500 each. Seriously, don't go to TDR on the weekend - wait times are consistently in the hours. Pass holders will go with friends and chat and ride one or two rides in a day, watch a show, and grab some food.

So I've been waiting for a good weekday, and between weather, money, and energy, there just hasn't been a good opportunity. But over the past few months, I've worked a shifted schedule where I have Mondays and Tuesdays off, and Tuesdays are much better days to visit. June is a good month, too, though even on a Monday - a school day Monday - Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain had over two hour waits this afternoon.

I'm going tomorrow, a Tuesday. Crowds should be lighter, but I'm still planning on long lines for the popular attractions. So I planned out my day - I made an itinerary to help me get the most important attractions as quickly as possible in the morning. People in Japan start their day early, too - the park opens at 8 AM every day and admission lines get long well before that. You can buy tickets at the park in the morning, but that's another line to wait in. You can buy tickets at convenience stores, but it looks like they need to be exchanged for regular tickets before going into the park. And you can buy online, but they need to be printed - I could do that but printed tickets wear out pretty fast.

But then there's the Disney Store. And there's a Disney Store about a 30-minute walk from here. Not having left my apartment and the one-block surrounding area (I love that I can walk to a grocery store and 24-hour convenience store both in 5 minutes) I figured it'd be a great way to get some exercise.

Not only could I get my Disney ticket for tomorrow, but on the way home I could stop at the two secondhand shops to browse around. And I found this at the first:

Yeah, that's a Japan jersey. It's not an "authentic" jersey - it's like the fan jerseys worn at NPB games. That said, the design is similar to one of the jerseys the national team has worn. And it fits - not terribly well (I need to lose my Homer Simpson stomach) but I'm glad it's wearable.

That shop has a good stock of Marines and Giants fan jerseys, and occasionally other jerseys too. I've also found a few baseball souvenirs there but the good stuff is overpriced. I didn't strike out at the second shop, but you'll have to wait to see that til later.

So until then, thanks for reading!

NOT a baseball card: Baseball Japanicana

Americana. Things that define classic America. Apple pie, the blues, baseball.

Japanicana is, thus, the Japanese version of Americana. Classic American things done Japanese. In America, in the late 1940s through 1960s, the Golden Age of baseball brought about the Golden Age of baseball card collecting. Across the Pacific Ocean, professional baseball was exploding in popularity along with a new youth base which wanted toys to play with related to their interests.

Enter: baseball kites. Very thin paper with small sticks to hold them in a flag shape.

You can see the sticks through the paper, it's so thin,. These were probably designed to fly like real kites. But given their small size and fragility I don't think they would have been very good. Instead, they do hang on a wall very well.

There is a long string coming from the middle, around the face, which secures the paper to the support stick, which would make it more durable in flight. And since kites have long strings to fly in the air, this string was either probably much longer or tied on to a long string to make a functioning kite. I took a fairly close-up picture, but the red streamers at the bottom continue on for a decent length, perhaps twice as long as the main body of the kite. And they are rainbow colored, going ROYGBIV in order.

Even Santa Claus had to get in on this party, though here he looks a little more like a sad old Asian man than jolly old St. Nick.

I really didn't know what I was getting when I bought these off YJA, as I got them from the same seller as the last two menko sets I posted about. I thought they might be some sort of die-cut menko, but these are so much cooler than most menko.

As usual, I don't know anything else about them - issue date, original cost, etc, so any information is gladly welcome!

Starting From Start to Start: Trade With NPB Card Guy Part 1

The guy who is my Stateside connection to Japanese baseball (NPB Card Guy) is one of the nicest guys I've met. He and I trade occasionally, and one of those trades just finished changing hands. There aren't many surprises in our packages, really - international shipping ain't cheap, you know. But I have a bad memory so even if he did mention everything headed my way it's like Christmas when I open my mail.

It'll take me a few posts to get through everything he sent this time, and we're already talking about the next go-round. How am I ever going to keep things straight?

When I opened the envelope, I saw a bunch of well-secured single cards, plus a large top-loader with a couple things inside. My first thought was that he had found an American card for my collection and tossed it in there.

 With the card was this flyer/postcard advertising a movie called Diamond Diplomacy. Here are the details, as presented by the back of the card.

 I haven't heard much about this project since the initial buzz and later Kickstarter project, but it's only been a few months. Hopefully the film will be released this summer!

So, to start this trade post series, here is the card I thought was a US card. Obviously, it's in the style of the old Turkey Red cabinets, and at first glance, just seeing the top-right corner, I thought it might have been a reprint or one of the Topps cabinets from a few years ago. But seeing the card I remembered that Rob Fitts ran a campaign to help fund Masanori Murakami's trip to the US, and this card in autographed form was one of the "rewards" for funding. The unsigned cards were given out during book-signing events, I believe. I wish I had been able to participate in that crowd-funding event; thankfully NPB Card Guy had an extra one of these sitting around! (I have to wonder what his card collection storage area looks like with all these great things he seems to have just sitting around...)

This card is a good starting point because Murakami was the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball. It's too large to fit in my "Japanese MLB Players Collection" but that's perfectly fine since it's more likely to end up displayed in some way instead!

So while we're at it, I'll include a second card - the first Japanese player to effectively transition from NPB to MLB baseball (Murakami was forced to return to Japan after one year in the Majors). I recently went on a Nomo spree trying to finish my 1993 BBM set, but was still missing a card for the aforementioned Japanese players collection. NPB Card Guy just happened to have an NPB-era Nomo sitting around, and now it has a nice new home!

And speaking of my collection of Japanese players in the MLB, I am now down to needing only one NPB card: Toru Murata, who appeared in 2008's Rookie Edition and First Version sets, and the 2008-2010 BBM Giants team sets. I haven't been hunting too hard yet, but his cards have remained elusive.

And on the MLB side, I still need Murata, Ryota Igarashi, and Kensuke Tanaka, all of whom have only Minor League singles, as well as Norihiro Nakamura.

One of my goals this year is to hunt down those remaining five cards. Can I do it? Only time will tell.

Thanks, NPB Card Guy, for these two awesome cards, and the rest which are coming up!

Hiroki Kokubo Pin Set

Those who are tackling a want list when it comes to baseball souvenirs might want to look elsewhere, but for window shoppers and impulse buyers, Akihabara's Electric Town district can produce some decent finds.

In addition to very occasional baseball cards, I sometimes find other souvenirs, like this box I picked up from Hobby Off, located between Yodobashi Camera and the JR train station.

If you read the title of this post, you already know what's inside. Hiroki Kokubo was one of those local favorites that are quite big here in Japan. That isn't to say he wasn't good. The box cover there gives his career stats: 2000+ hits and 400+ home runs, both of which are considered top milestones for sluggers in the NPB. (Remember, NPB has a shorter season than MLB, so it's a lot harder to reach the 3000 hit/500 home run marks.)

Kokubo got his start with the Hawks back when they were owned by Daiei. He was basically given to the Yomiuri Giants after the 2003 season, where he played for three years before re-signing with the Hawks in 2007. Since 2013 he has been the manager of the Japan National Team.

The pin set reflects the three jerseys he wore - first with the Daiei Hawks, then Yomiuri Giants, and finally the Softbank Hawks. One other pin has the Hiroki Kokubo logo. Yes, he has a logo.

The back of the pin box just has basic retail information, including the original price - 3500 yen (about $35). I paid about ten percent of that, which especially in Japan is a bargain!

A Unique Souvenir from a Unique Place

I'm not sure what you can consider unique, really, but this was an awesome find for me.

Over the New Year holidays, I mainly spent my free time wandering around various neighborhoods in Tokyo. One day, I came across a street festival of some kind with dozens of booths set up selling food and crafts. A few booths were flea-market style, with used things, and one particular booth had a bunch of bags.

I wasn't really looking for a new bag. I'm happy with my shoulder bag for my day-to-day comings and goings, and I have good backpacks and suitcases for travel. I even have some super-condensable nylon bags for shopping.

But when I walked past the booth and took a glance, the logo on this bag caught my eye. The bag itself is a nice heavy canvas which I'm sure can withstand a good bit of use. I'm not going shopping with it, though, because it serves as my first souvenir from an independent team in Japan.

The Golden Golds got their start in 2005, if you couldn't figure that out from the design on the bag. The team is still playing over 10 years later. Their biggest claim to fame is female player-manager Ayumi Kataoka, One of my hopes this year is to see some minor league (ni-gun) and independent league games, so if I'm lucky I'll see Ayumi heading up the Ibaraki nine this summer. (Wow, there's some old-style colloquialism for you.)

There are Golden Golds trading card sets, though I don't have one. I have sample cards in my type collection; autographs for most of the players can be found pretty cheap but I don't think I've come across a full set.

Booze and Baseball: Can Chu Hi

Over the past five years, I've come across a few tie-ins between Japanese baseball teams and various forms of alcohol. Most commonly, I find beer cans and bottles carrying team logos. In the past, I've found Hiroshima Carp and Chunichi Dragons beers. Honestly, I think you can buy anything with a Hiroshima Carp logo on it.

TaKaRa makes a very common cheap alcoholic drink called chu-hi. Not to be confused with hi-chew candy, chu-hi is a fruit-flavored beverage generally found in cans, and usually is priced a decent bit cheaper than regular beer. I've seen cans for around a dollar each.

This one is lemon-flavored. Chu-hi reminds me a lot of wine coolers, both in quality and after-effects. As such, I don't drink them often. This particular flavor wasn't really sweet, with a strong sour lemon flavor. That's not my style, really.

But as you've guessed, my interest was in the other side of the can. This one sports a Rakuten Eagles logo. That puts me at three team-affiliated beverage containers so far! I guess there are nine to go.

Manga, MLB, and Wrestling: Odd and Oddball Pickups from the Weekend

 In America, MLB teams retire numbers of superstar players or honorary numbers for its executives. In Japan, one number has been retired to honor a comic book. The story is best saved for another day, but this should whet your whistle.

 One of my mini-collections is that of Japanese MLBers. Most of these players got their start here in Japan, so the key is having one NPB card and one MLB card.

The first Japanese major leaguer was Masanori Murakami. Murakami doesn't have many cards, having played before the days of BBM. Those that are available from his playing days aren't cheap. However, he had a couple cards in 2005 when he threw out the first pitch at a Fighters game. This same event is found in the 2005 BBM 2nd Version First Pitch subset.

After some hunting today, I'm down to needing just two more Japanese cards. I have put off buying Hideo Nomo's card due to the cost. I'm hoping to find something for 100 yen, but I'll probably have to pay 200 yen for one of his BBM cards from 1991-1994. The second player I'm missing is Toru Murata, who was with the Yomiuri Giants for just three years before being released, meaning he has only five known regular cards, all from BBM. It might be just because of where I've been looking, but all of those cards are gone so I'll have to continue hunting. Murata signed with the Fighters in November, so he could show up in this year's team set or the flagship BBM release.

As for the US side of the collection, I need Norihiro Nakamura, whose cards are too expensive on COMC right now to justify buying one, as well as Ryota Igarashi, Toru Murata, and Kensuke Tanaka, all of whom only have minor league cards.

 I found an Alex Ramirez card I didn't have on my list, too. This is an SCM Magazine card, included with one of the magazine issues in 2004. As I come across Rami-chan cards, I check my list, and I occasionally find sets that are missing, so this wasn't surprising at all.

 Also from SCM, I had to get these two pro-wrestling cards. The one on the left is number 18, and on the right is card number 14.

Finally, while looking for cards for the Japanese MLBers collection, I saw this checklist. BBM randomly included cheerleader cards in some of its team sets in the 2000s. I have several of them but no master list to verify whether that collection is complete.

Canned Air is a Reality

How many future/sci-fi shows included a reference to canned air?

It's now a reality.

J-Pop supergroup AKB48 is starting to lose its popularity, but it still has plenty of fans. I suppose I'm one of them. Sure, I've never seen them live, but the music is catchy and the videos can be lots of fun. While most people won't admit to it, the "election" and "janken [rock-paper-scissors]" events held to choose the "center" [lead singer] for the next big song.

"Mayuyu" is my favorite. Mayu Watanabe has been with the group for a long time, starting as a teenager and now is one of the longest-lasting members.

As for the cans, about a year ago the first version of canned air was released. Supposedly, the cans were sealed above the stage at a big concert event. When they first hit the auction sites, they went for a good bit of money. Prices have fallen a decent bit.

 This is from the second edition, and contains a different label on the front. Each can comes with a lid so you can turn it into a bank and a "life photograph" - a popular product for pop stars that harkens back to the days of (generally unauthorized) bromides.

Here's all the text on the sides, talking about the janken televised event.

I'm not about to open the can. First of all, that'll make it worthless - I'm not investing or anything but I'd like my can intact. And that brings me to the second reason: what, exactly, is the air above the event like? What exactly would one smell if they opened the can? Lots of perfume? Soap and shampoo? Sweat? I'm not that obsessed that I need, or even want, that scent. This is more of a display centerpiece than anything else.

Two Balls, No Strikes

One unique aspect of NPB balls is that until a few years ago, each team supplied their own. There were requirements in terms of quality, weight, and so on, but I'm sure each team had their own little tweaks on the balls to match their team's strengths. And beyond that, each team has their own logos on the balls.

One of these balls isn't a gamer. Which one do you think?

Give up?

The Buffaloes ball is a facsimile. It has a little wear and tear, but it ain't real. Well, it's real in the sense that you can touch it, hold it, and throw it. But it never touched an NPB field. It does have some wear and tear, though, either from use or poor storage. The biggest giveaway here is the excessive shinyness giving it away as not having a real leather cover.

The Eagles ball might be a gamer, or could just have been a practice ball. But it has a more matte finish from use, and just feels right in the hands. Sorry, you can't hold a ball through your computer screen. And even if you could, I wouldn't let you. I know you just ate chocolate and have messy hands.

I have an official NPB ball already, though it isn't game-used. I picked it up when I went to a game back in 2012 or 2013. I'd like to get a couple more gamers if I can.

I have a lot of game-used balls, though I've never gotten one at an MLB, NPB, KBO, or CPBL game. I bought an authenticated MLB game-used ball at a Cardinals game, I think. And I've gotten plenty of BP balls that essentially started their life in a game. My KBO balls came from batting practice. And I don't have a CPBL ball yet. I have a handful of minor league balls that I got in-game and a couple BP balls there too.

Oh, to have more weeknight free time, and attend more NPB games...

Fuchiko's Back to Hang Around Some More

I had a successful day at the UFO Catcher on Wednesday, coming back with six more Fuchikos after lunch! Some of these are the same style I already have, but the more, the merrier, right?

Panty shot unintentional. It's kind of hard to get my iPhone to focus properly on these.

Another bikini version. I think this is a repeat.

This, too, is probably my second one. She hangs by her twin tails (double pony tail).

See what I mean about focus? This yellow Fuchiko sits facing the inside of the glass instead of the outside.

Go Japan! Though I think I have this one already, too.

Last but not least, I finally got this green lady to balance properly on the rim of the glass. The empty glass I had been using for the other Fuchiko figures wasn't wide enough, so I put her on my Jack and Coke. Luckily she never tried swimming!

This is probably the end of Fuchiko for a while. I might try to get something else next time!