Play Ball!

Play Ball!

In Nagoya you will find Japanese sports fans just as entertaining as the action on the field. Ask Tourist Information about upcoming events and where to buy tickets.

Baseball

The Chunichi Dragons play home games at the 40,500-capacity Nagoya Dome. Two leagues of six teams make up Japanese professional baseball, and the Dragons have won the Central League pennant six times and one Japan Series in 1954. In recent years the team is in a groove, reaching the Japan Series in 2004 and 2006. Fans here are a bit different—they sing well-drilled songs for each of the batters on their own team, but sit in stony silence when the opposing team is at bat. The season runs from April to October, and tickets for the upper-tier "Panorama" seats start at ¥1,500, rising to ¥5,800 for those behind home plate. Other than when a big team such as the Yomiuri Giants is in town, tickets are usually available at the stadium.

Soccer

Perennial underachievers Nagoya Grampus Eight always seem to hang around mid-table in J-League Division One. Despite being a founder team of the J-League, and having had star players such as Gary Lineker and Dragan Stojkovic, Grampus have managed only a couple of Emperor's Cup wins. Still, remarkably loyal fans turn up in the thousands to cheer on the team. From March to December they play half their home games in Nagoya at the Mizuho Stadium, where the running track dissipates the atmosphere, and half at the futuristic 45,000-seat Toyota Stadium.

Sumo

In mid-July Nagoya's Prefectural Gymnasium, situated next to the castle, hosts one of the three sumo tournaments held outside Tokyo each year. The arena holds 8,000 people, and you are almost guaranteed a good view of the dohyo (ring). Tickets, which cost from ¥2,800, are often available on the day of the tournament, but it's better to make advance reservations, particularly in the second half of the two-week event. The venue is a two-minute walk from Exit 7 of the Shiyakusho subway station.

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, 1-1 Ninomaru, Naka-ku. 052/962-9300 (ticket sales during the tournament). www.sumo.or.jp. AE, DC, MC, V.