My First Days in Tokyo 03-16-2026
Hello! This issue is coming out of the study lounge in building 3. As the World Baseball Classic is winding down; winding down in this sense meaning some of the most amazing, energetic baseball to ever be played, I wish to describe what was very likely my favorite week of my life to date. Because it was so packed with my ideal days every day, I am going to break it off into a couple parts. Today I will be attempting to put the day I arrived and first day of games into words that do it as much justice as they deserve, although it won't be close.
After my 10:30 Japanese test on which I got more than half of the questions correct, I hustled home and started packing. The essentials of course. My t-shirts of choice were 2 of Ohtani, 2 of Japanese pitchers Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1 of Orioles superstar Gunnar Henerson, and a Los Angeles Dodgers shirt, Japan's adopted MLB team. Not an untypical weekly wardrobe of mine, but it was far different than packing for school or a trip to the beach. Leaving with ample time to get lost and figure it out, I was at the Kyoto train station at 5 PM and on the train at 6. To my surprise, the train did not feel very different from a MARC ride from Baltimore to DC, and even though it travels at over 200 MPH it would be difficult to tell if we were in motion if not for the windows. But thankfully there were windows! It was dark for most of the trip, but office buildings and street lights shining off of whichever water we passed was not something you see on the Baltimore-DC line. The tournament kicked off the next morning in Japan, and 2 days later in the west, so while a majority of the hype surrounding the tournament revolved around the dominant USA and Dominican Republic squads, everybody was waiting for their first taste of meaningful baseball since October; Taiwan vs Australia followed by South Korea vs Czech Republic later in the day, or the next morning in America. My meticulously curated Twitter feed was strictly baseball as usual, but there was a different buzz. Different than before the Orioles first playoff game in almost a decade, and different than after Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. I arrived to Tokyo 4 hours after I left, got on a train, and walked 4 minutes from the station to my Airbnb, another Judy Hopps from Zootopia style room.
Even without a ticket, I was more than excited for the first game of the tournament. Luckily, my constant refreshing on StubHub paid off. I found, and purchased with credit from their mishap earlier that week, a ticket far below the next cheapest right behind home plate, almost as far up as you can get. Probably my favorite place to sit, especially in my first time in a new ballpark, and the location of my dad and I's 5-game season ticket plan in 2021 and 2022. I woke up Thursday morning to the first of my 7 alarms set, and was out the door by 8:30 expecting an hour trip to the Tokyo Dome. The metro system in Japan is far different than the light rail in Baltimore, perhaps never more evident than the 13 minute ride that spat me out right in front of the Carrier Dome-style park complete with your ears popping when entering and everyone's hats blowing off upon exit.
I was one of the first in line to enter, was greeted by a mural of the world's greatest home run hitter to ever live, Sadaharu Oh, and walked through the lower level to the Tokyo Dome's lower 6, also known as the left field bleachers. Even with a lineup lacking many MLB level hitters, Team Taiwan sent dozens of balls into the seats and those that were hit were confiscated and thrown back, while those that were tossed up by players warming up were able to be kept as souvenirs. The stands packed quickly and I was in my seat almost an hour before first pitch. The seats were far tighter together than OPACY or most other MLB stadiums and the chants were far more intricate than "Let's Go O's" or whatever they mumble out at Yankee stadium. Because it was the first game, both teams entire rosters were announced and met with large applauses. The loudest in that game were for Australian MLB prospect Travis Bazzana, the first pick in the 2024 draft, and for Taiwan's starting pitcher, NPB signee Hsu Jo-Hsi, and captain Chieh Chen-Hsien who would leave the game early after getting hit by a pitch and breaking his finger.
The game was my favorite type, a pitchers duel with the only runs coming from long balls by Bazzana and Robbie Perkins, Australia's backstop whose walk up song matched Francisco Lindor's, My Girl by the Temptations. Bazzana's was Dracula by Tame Impala. After the game, one that Taiwan effectively needed to win to advance, the hordes of Taiwanese supporters were hurried out of the stadium to give the ushers time to prepare for game two of the day. I would estimate that coming in, the fan breakdown was split 80-15-5 between Taiwan, Neutral, and Australia and by the end it was 95-5. Because of the leniant bag policy restricting only cans and metal containers, I went to a Lawson near the Dome area before taking my spot in line for the far less crowded second affair. Because I left all of my hats in America, I purchased a team Japan one after waiting in the 90 minute line outside the gates. Sadly it was not the one with Ohtani's name and number on the side, they sold out probably before the first game started.
The less than star-studded Czech Republic squad contained a lone MLB player, former Oriole Terrin Vavra. A fan favorite for both his awesome name and fun personality. After getting my spot in the left field bleachers to watch batting practice, Vavra caught a ball and tossed it to the guy who in 2022 would have sworn he would be at least a 2 time all star by now. Team Korea on the other hand was solid. Captain Jung Hoo Lee was signed for 113$ Million in 2023 and their leadoff hitter, Do Yeong Kim, is a 22 year old phenom who will sign for much more when he gets posted to the MLB. Even though he underperformed in this tournament and was injured almost the entire 2025 season, Kim had a 38 home run 40 stolen base season 2 years ago when he was 9 years younger than the average KBO player. The opening ceremony for this game contained a light show and a 1st inning grand slam. Team Korea cruised to victory helped by a Jahmai Jones home run, but Team Czech Republic put 4 runs on the board. 3 on the same swing by Vavra. After the game, Vavra and Jones shook hands and got a picture behind home plate. Cool to everyone in the building, especially those who had high expectations of them years ago. Even though they both weren't wearing Orioles uniforms for their home runs, this was probably the next coolest thing. I went to the Airbnb right after the game, reset my same alarms and got ready for day 2, still overwhelmed by the awesomeness I witnessed and the awesomeness I was about to witness.
The next issue will definitely come sooner than this stretch, I intended to write more while in Tokyo but none of the outlets fit my computer charger and have been catching up on a lot of work and studying that I missed while gone. It's surprising how much of learning a new language you miss when you skip a week! The sun is out, Spring Break starts this week, and brackets have to be filled. Thank you for reading.
Oliver
