Baseball in Japan

As a Baseball player and fan I love the game and so do the Japanese. Baseball is by far the most popular sport in Japan.  There are 12 major league teams, the most popular is the Tokyo Giants. The Tokyo Giants are considered the New York Yankees of Japan. MLB scouts consider the players in Japan are a bit better than AAA baseball but just below the big leagues.
Ticket prices are a bit more expensive than what you would pay here in the states. Tickets are $25-$70 depending on the game and where you want to sit. Baseball tickets to the Arizona Dimondbacks games are between $11 and $200. Getting tickets to the games are rather easy except for the games between the Tokyo Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. There are some sites that will purchase the tickets ahead of time like Japanball.com for a huge fee ($59), I would personally skip it.
Now beer purchased in the stadium is about the same roughly $10, but in Japan you can bring in your own beer. Yes that is correct you can bring in your own beer the only stipulation is that they have to pour it into a cup for you, free.
The only savings that you can get here is bringing in your own beverages. But the atmosphere is an event, even regular season games are like playoff games here in the states.

TG

Next post: Tokyo Disney Sea

Getting Around Japan

Japan has so many options for getting around and seeing the country. Probably the best and most cost efficient is the Japan Rail Pass or also known as JR Pass. The JR Pass can only be used by foreign tourists. You can get one for 7, 14, or 21 days and allows unlimited use on almost every JR trains and the Tokyo monorail, busses, ferrys, and even some of the Shinkansen (Bullet Trains). Here is a website that explains a bit more of what you can use the pass on.
I purchased a 14 day JR Pass for my trip for about $453 from jrpass.com for the regular car. You can get a first class pass for about $150 more, but I stayed with the regular one. As a tourist you really need to take advantage of long distance rides to get your moneys worth. A bullet train ride from Tokyo to Osaka can cost you around $140 each way. If you are only going to stay in Tokyo and not travel around the country dont get it. You really should think about going around the entire country and seeing as much as you can.
The JR pass doesnt cover any of the subway systems that you will also probably use to get around. But you can get a 1 day metro pass for $8. Whats good about this is you can just purchase them as needed on the day. I probably only use this maybe two days our of my trip.

Saving breakdown:

Round trip from Tokyo to Osaka = $280
Round trip from Tokyo to Nagoya = $120
Round trip from Tokyo to Shizuoka= $65
Total $465
(This does not include any of the train rides within each of the cities we will be taking)

JR Pass = $453

Next Post: Japan Baseball

TG