HANSHIN TAI-GAAAAASU!!!

"I am a Hanshin Tigers fan."- half of my students.

Now I sort of understand why all my students and the entire population of my prefecture makes the above statement. Thursday night I skipped my Japanese lesson and went to Kobe with my friend Naoki to see the game. We got seats in the way outfield, next to the visitor's section. The stadium is in Kobe, with Rokko mountain towering in the background.

This was the most amazing game I have ever seen. Wait, I take that back. The game wasn't that interesting, but the fans were amazing. Now, Japan is fabulous at organizing it's population for anything, from making perfectly straight lines out of chaos to orchestrating an entire stadium of baseball fans. I'm serious. Each bleacher section had it's own conductor wearing a bright yellow shirt with white gloves. At a signal from the leader, they'd lead the crowd's chears so that the entire section is together. And they didn't just stick with one song. EACH PLAYER up to bat had their own song that everyone knew. And when the crowd wasn't singing these individual songs, they would sing just general chants.

The Yokohama Bay Star's visiting section was equally well organized. They brought five trumpets, a drum, and flashcards. The flashcard guy would hold up the right chant, and their section of 100 people would all sing it jumping up and down in temple with the whistle and band.

At the bottom of the 7th, instead of singing (which they'd been doing the whole time anyway) the entire stadium broke out packets of balloons and released them on Yokohama's last out. If the Tigers win, they release a second round of balloons at the game's last out. Fortunately, they won.

After the game, the whole stadium sings the team's song, then goes through all the players' songs once more. And everyone knows all these, well, except me!

Tiger's Song:
Rokko Oroshi

Rokko oroshi ni sasso to
Soten kakeru nichirin no
Seishun no haki uruwashiku
Kagayaku wagana zo Hanshin Taigasu
O-o-o-o Hanshin Taigasu
Fure-fure-fure-fure

Toshi hatsuratsu tatsu ya ima
Nekketsu sude ni teki o tsuku
Ju-o no iki takaraka ni
Muteki no warera zo Hanshin Taigasu
O-o-o-o Hanshin Taigasu
Fure-fure-fure-fure

---

The Wind of Mount Rokko
(The official English version, but not a direct translation.)

Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko
Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky
Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace
The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers"
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!