Eating Matsuzaka (not Dice-K) for dinner
Last night, I ate Matsuzaka beef for dinner. It’s actually better than Kobe beef. It’s the best beef you can have. I guess Matsuzaka is a city or a region in Japan. No, the beef is not named after Dice-K! But it was very tasty.
We went down to Ginza today ?- which is like the shopping district in Tokyo — and looked at stuff. A lot of the shopping around here is stuff you see in America. It’s very Americanized here in Tokyo. It’s unbelievable when you come this far to see how similar it can be. The department stores and all that are very alike and very similar to the customs of the USA. But it’s cool.
We just tried to look for stuff, but we really didn’t buy much because we found out it’s very expensive. We saw a lot of stuff that we can get in the States for cheaper. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to get some Japanese culture stuff later on in the trip, especially on Monday’s off-day.
This city is so big, and it’s very clean. The streets are so clean. It’s very orderly. That’s the biggest thing that sticks out when you walk around.
If you say hi to someone here on the street, they’re very shy or a little nervous or timid. But down in the Ginza area, they’re not as timid. It’s just a little different.
It’s definitely the big city lifestyle here with 13- or 14-million people. There’s high rises here but it’s not as crazy as New York. It seems a little more spread out.
We’ve had a taste of playing games at Tokyo Dome the last two days against the Japanese teams, and it’s loud and a little different just to hear the constant crowd noise. It was cool. It was a unique experience that a lot of us never would have gotten if we didn’t come over here. To sit there and hear it, it was fun. When we played Hanshin, it was pretty loud out there in left field. I wonder if Manny Ramirez could hear anything out there. They chanted the whole game for their team. That’s great to see.
Hanshin threw their best pitchers at us. They’re good players and it was a close game. I don’t know if all the hitters on that team could hit consistently at the Major League level. That would probably be tough. They don’t like the hard heat.
It’s just a little different, because, I think, the pitchers here also pitch different. I was watching a baseball game here today and they use a lot of offspeed pitches. They use their fastball a little bit, but they really focus on the offspeed stuff.
The first few days here have been busy, no doubt. We got in so late Thursday night, then came to the park for the workout on Friday, and had the early game Saturday and another game today. I think a lot of us are looking forward to the off-day just to have fun and do all the things we want to do.
Once Tuesday hits, it’s the real season and we have to be on the road right after the game on Wednesday. For us, it’s just a matter of seeing the rest of the sights and getting all the good stuff we can for our family members.
Yooooouuuuukkkkk 
glad when u get your offday and do whatever u want to do, that will be a great day for the team. the flight will be a little shorter because u have to go to california, that is also great news for the team too. takecare and have fun!!! GO SOX!!!!!!!!
youk, the GAME ON restaurant is opening at 530am tuesday morning for food and fun to watch the sox!!!!! donot know how many people will be there that early, GO SOX!!!!!!!
Sounds like you’re enjoying Tokyo! And I guess it’s good you didn’t eat your Opening Day pitcher. By the way, Matsuzaka is a region of Japan. Wikipedia has an interesting article about Matsuzaka beef.
Good game so far today/this morning/tonight/whatever! (Now going to the top of the seventh with a two-run lead…)
Hey Youk, welcome to Japan! Glad to see you’re getting a chance to get out and see some sights. That Matsuzaka beef is good stuff, eh? I live in Osaka and have tickets for Tuesday’s game, but unfortunately I won’t be able to make it… it’s a bummer but I’ll be rooting you guys on anyway. Anyway, good game today (Okajima just came in) but more importantly, good luck on Tuesday against the A’s! Looking forward to another great season this year.
hey welcome to japan! i’m from massachusetts but i just moved to yokohama (daisuke’s hometown!) back in september 2007. i’m a huge sox fan and i try to catch as many games on tv as i can here. i would’ve loved to see you guys play at one of the games at the dome but tickets were hard to get so i’ll be watching on tv. glad you’re enjoying the city, japan really is one of the most different and interesting places you’ll ever experience.
glad ur doin good and enjoyin japan have fun! GO SOX!!
Bonjout Youk;
Br carreful of what you have to eat, I don’t want you to miss opening Day. You should open season in Europe 2009, so I would have the time difference all the time…
Hope you have a great season 2008…thankssssss
Your fan from Beer/Chocolate Kingdom
Anne
Hey Kevin:
Sounds like your having a grrrr-8 time so far in the land of the rising sun…
Please don’t forget to give us a full report about “Sumo” wrestling!
youk can u please explain what is the GINZA area, i would like to know what that is thank u, takecare, GO SOX!!!!!
i know u said ginza is like a shopping mall, what elsedo they have there
Welcome to Japan! It’s the great season to see cherry blossoms blooming.
I went and watched pre-season match Boston vs Hanshin at Tokyo Dome,
and did Boston vs Tokyo Giants on TV.
Are you in good condition? Is there no jet lag?
I’m going to go to Tokyo Dome 26th with my boy friend.
Now I have breast cancer and I have to take an operation April.
I have felt so down and nervous these days, but MLB makes me feel more courageous!
youk, your play style is so powerful that makes me cheerful.
Go youk, Go Red sox!!!!
Hello Youk! Welcom to Japan! I am really happy that Red Sox came all the way to Japan. I am Japanese who has been studying in US California for 5 years. I can understand that you feel so much difference between US and Japan, but I feel that it is wonderful to experience different culture in order to broaden my view. Hopefully, you have good time in Japan and have great season. You guys always encourage and excite me. By the way, you mentioned that Japanese seem shy. I think so, too. However, I wanted to appriciate your blogs and red sox, though I am shy, too.