Friday, August 8, 2025

Hot Food and Hotter Baseball at Hiroshima Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium

This is the third post in the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc. The day's main event (7/8/25): the baseball game between the host Hiroshima Carp and the visiting Hanshin Tigers (bias alert!). The fieldwork involved two continuing projects: 1) anthropological research of the Hanshin Tigers, and 2) the gourmet boom expanding to Japanese Professional Baseball (see "Food Terrorism and Japanese Baseball: A Hanshin Tigers Case Study.")
Welcome to Hiroshima Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, JR Station Entrance.
Advertisement for Aoyama Clothing modeled after Hiroshima Toyo Carp players featuring infielder Kozono Kaito (小園 海斗).
Warming up before the game begins.
Some of the stadium vibe. It was so hot. The cooling mist was refreshing.
The same area from a different angle. Note that there is a sports gym above the stands so that you can multitask exercising with your baseball habit.
Inside the stadium where you can find THE FOOD!
A wide variety of "gourmet": snacks in the fan merchandise shop, bento, caramel corn, strawberry floats and a whole variety of food court shops.
Even organic produce from Tottori Prefecture...
I opted for the C-Dogs...
which were not bad... But let's get to THE GAME!
The view form my seat in left center.
The closest Hanshin player was center-fielder Chikamoto.
The Hanshin Tigers fan club section; no empty seats here...
Several years ago, the Hanshin Togers started the release of the jetto fusen balloons in the lucky 7th inning. Many teams followed suit at their home stadiums. The ritual was discontinued during the COVID years. Some teams have brought it back (Hanshin has not... yet...). But here a couple of Hanshin fans hijacked Hiroshima balloons and released them before the Tigers went up to bat in the 7th inning.
Here are the Carp balloons. You might also notice many empty seats in the Carp fan club section.
The beer girls kept busy in the hot stadium...

And by the end of the game...

Hanshin Tigers VICTORY!
Hanshin Tigers supporters stay for the Hero Interview (Sato Teruaki) and to cheer some more... Hanshin fans until the end... Go Tigers!

Game details:

Hanshin Tigers Official website: https://score.hanshintigers.jp/game/score/table/table20250708.html

Yahoo Sports Navi: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021029520/text

Yahoo Sports Navi: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021029520/top

The next post of the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc will feature the sake breweries of Saijō-chō in Higashihiroshima.

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Ekinishi

This post is the second of the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc. In keeping with my recent and ongoing tachinomi project, I wanted to experience the social/drinking nightlife of Hiroshima. Rather than my usual haphazard exploration of good drinking establishments, I decided to check out a famous area supposedly full of good shops called Ekinishi, located very close to the Hiroshima train station. The websites I found made it look very attractive in terms of my shitamachi tastes.

Dive! Hiroshima Ekinishi: https://dive-hiroshima.com/en/feature/night-ekinishi/

pikabu 14 Recommended Restaurants in Hiroshima Ekinishi! Popular and affordable restaurants serving oysters, okonomiyaki, and more: https://www.bm-peekaboo.com/information/2-73/

But before the heavy fieldwork/photography/drinking, I wanted to experience the taste of Hiroshima, traditional Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. A friendly taxi driver dropped me off in front of the Ekinishi area and indicated that the shop a street over would be a good place to go.
It was still a little early in the evening so there were just a few customers. But the place looked legit. The master, quiet and stern, told me the shop was 35 years old. I told him the nature of my quest and he confirmed that my choice of the okonomiyaki special was a good one. He made the okonomiyaki with the help of one of his Vietnamese staff and soon it was ready.
Now I am no stranger to okonomiyaki, that is the original (bias alert) Osaka variety, but all I had was my enthusiasm and taste buds to judge. It tasted good! I liked the egg on the bottom and the noodles in the middle. I saw another customer add more sauce to his food, so I did as well, which added to the good taste. But my heart (and taste buds) belong to Osaka...

So now with a full stomach and a good start to my fieldwork, I checked out the vibe of Ekinishi.

At first, I liked it. There was a lot of potential for interesting photographs. I hoped that the drinking establishments would also be to my liking.
But in the end I was disappointed. Apparently many shops are closed on Monday evenings. And the shops that were open were small and crowded. I was denied entry to three shops. I was getting hotter, sweatier and tired wandering up and down the streets. I think a little melancholy of the trip to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum added to my growing foul mood. All I wanted was a cool place to sit down and have a nice drink. Kyoki-to-Ranbu was literally the last shop on the corner and appeared to be empty. It was one of those places where you have to order with your smart phone. And it was a little expensive. But the owner and staff were friendly enough. After a snack a a couple of drinks I started on my way to my hotel.
But I was not very pleased with the evening. As I got closer to the station, I found what some would call the enemy territory. This was an izakaya devouted to the Hiroshima Carp baseball team (who would be hosting the Hanshin Tigers the next evening). It was a newish, generic sports bar decked out with baseball paraphernalia and the Carp colors, red and white. The menu was standard izakaya fare, but large and reasonsble. Each dish was named after a Carp player who liked the particular dish. It was an interesting end to the evening and got me ready for the main event the next day.
The next post of the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc will be on the Hiroshima Carp vs. Hanshin Tigers game at the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, along with the gourmet food offerings at the venue.