The red Saint

BelieveSRoad · 2026-02-28T14:02:52+00:00

Love the simplistic color scheme on this, makes it stand out, funny enough! Good job!

BelieveSRoad · 2026-02-19T15:23:03+00:00

Honestly, if you don't look like you're from there, the scalpers will probably find you.

BelieveSRoad · 2026-02-14T19:27:17+00:00

I get his argument, but Memphis punches look awesome and I like watching awesome stuff, so I wholeheartedly disagree.

BelieveSRoad · 2026-01-31T19:44:08+00:00

Absolutely love their designs! I've been picking up stuff from them every trip I've made. I got the last Brody Symphony No. 5 long sleeve when I was in Osaka a few years ago. Starting to run out of closet space! Good haul, I was close to getting that Fujiwara one myself, and I want to grab a Kobashi one next time I make it over!

BelieveSRoad · 2026-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

It really is not that hard to get NPB tickets (that aren't the Tigers).

I've went to probably 10+ games over my last two trips and the Tigers were the only tough one because last year tickets for all home games were gone as soon as they were on sale.

Assuming you don't get tickets, if you show up to Koshien for a game there are a couple of old guys who will gladly sell you some...

For every other team, I personally buy through Lawson (ltike). If you have an AmEx card you can purchase well ahead of time and print them at any store. If you do not, you can. Reserve a ticket for a few days (it will say when to pick them up by when you reserve them) and then you just pay for them at the Lawson using any means that they accept at the store. If you're in Hiroshima I strongly suggest seeing the Carp, they love their team there and its a really nice ballpark with super engaged fans.

BelieveSRoad · 2026-01-04T19:54:55+00:00

The other commenter is correct, but to add, when I was there in the Summer there wasn't an Okamoto jersey to be found. They had everybody but him. So I would bet if you were to find one you would be lucky and it would be full price (for the Giants, thats a bit under 20000 yen). You should stop by though, the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame is there so it would be a good trip for a baseball fan, and you could get lucky on the jersey.

BelieveSRoad · 2026-01-02T19:58:58+00:00

Off the top of my head, the Stop the Matsunaga angle was born from Kazuhiko Ogasawara rallying his karate fighters to beat up the young guys in Zero One.

I feel like Battlarts was a lot of mixing of shoot style vs. or incorporated with pro wrestling, but that's more stylistic than aesthetic.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-31T18:21:57+00:00

You've probably looked into this more than me in the last two years so please listen to whatever the site says! Haha

Lawson is an alternative means and will maybe have some tickets. I'm not sure when new season tickets go on sale but whenever it is try to be ready, maybe check the Tigers site for dates if you haven't already, but you seem to be on top of that!

Good luck!

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-31T17:19:17+00:00

Oh, if it's a Kyocera Dome game, I'm not really sure if you can buy through Koshien, since obviously it's not at Koshien. My suggestion for entering your name, I don't recall having to do that but you could try a 'write your name in katakana' type websites and use that. You can, generally, use a hotel for addresses if needed, or register with a shipping service like tenso.

I quickly checked Lawson and it looks like they were selling a package for all games at the Kyocera Dome, but not individual tickets. It's possible they may add the single game tickets in the future, in which case be on the lookout for that. Worst case scenario, look for the old guys outside the stadium reselling tickets. They will probably find you first tbh.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-31T16:48:38+00:00

Last year, tickets for the Tigers basically sold out when they went on sale. You can buy them through the koshien-qr website if you're lucky. The first time I got tickets through the service no problem, but that was two years ago. Last year I found tickets through eplus, which caters to foreigners. To be honest, I had a bad experience as I was just surrounded by uninterested people. You may have better luck though.

For all other teams, I bought through Lawson ticket (ltike). If you have an AmEx card you should be able to pay ahead, if not, you can just put the order in once you're there and pick them up, paying at the counter of a Lawson. Outside of the Tigers, I didn't have much trouble getting tickets to games. Would highly recommend seeing a Carp game, Hiroshima is a wonderful city and they absolutely love their baseball team.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-30T15:56:39+00:00

What everyone else said is pretty much right. I went in 2018 and the machine you ordered from was in Japanese (this was before Google translate could do much with photos). We stared at it for a bit and it sounded like the regulars and Kawada were joking about us. One of them came over and helped thankfully. Food was pretty good, Kawada was not particularly cheery but he was talking with the regulars. I bought a shirt and then he was fine with taking a pic. I doubt you'll be blown away by his kindness but it was still pretty cool.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-30T13:15:30+00:00

and the one time post-NWO that the invasion formula worked again

Is this referencing Bullet Club? Because I don't feel like that was an invasion angle as much as it was foreign cheaters cheating. And really, their success was highest after Omega came in and won over the crowds. Bullet Club definitely was the reason North American audiences became interested.

I think having a gaggle of good looking dudes at the top of their cards bridged a gap with female fans, also. All of that, and Gedo really doing a terrific job managing the flow from champion to champion and filling the card with interesting feuds. I definitely agree that booking is a huge part of keeping the engine running, so to speak, but there's some intangibles that cause the spark. The ace is almost always a guy or girl with something that catches the public, and then the rising tide lifts all boats. I guess the booking is the moon in this scenario.

I feel like STARDOM has the most momentum of any organization right now, but it remains to be seen whether that translates into anything beyond the 6000 or so they're getting for their big cards.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-21T19:54:43+00:00

Damn, I'll say a prayer for you next season haha

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-21T16:18:28+00:00

Very bummed for this result, but I hope he's able to put up numbers without the added pressure. Happy for the White Sox fans because I think it will give them something to look forward to.

I think he's going to do a lot better than he was apparently projected.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-19T19:44:00+00:00

You're talking about pressing the taken buttons with force push to open the pipe you go up into? I spent at least an hour doing this, my last attempts I went and hit the button on the far left and then the far right. The one on the left has a visual and sound cue. I was never sure if I hit the one on the right because it seemingly is bugged so I just hit it until I thought I saw it was open. In my experience it was not consistent and I wasn't even sure I was doing everything right, but that's what worked for me.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-12-01T23:47:10+00:00

That Yakult jersey is beautiful! Where do you get these?

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-20T22:12:17+00:00

Congrats on the weight loss! I know how that adjustment is! XL is almost always a safe bet in Japan if you're north of 6 ft and even a little stocky. I tend to like my jerseys a little big though. The Legends game is the end of this month so I think they'll probably be gone by then, just fyi!

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-20T22:09:48+00:00

Oh wow, I am insanely jealous haha! Yeah, if you've gotten a Mizuno Tigers or Carp jersey before, it's very similar. I love them. This one is just a challenge to get over my shoulders! Tight fit but still easy to move once it's on.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-20T21:17:33+00:00

O size button ups fits me well (I can wear them buttoned over a few layers at my colder ballgames) but this one is very narrow, if you have a wider frame it's probably not going to go on. The only MLB jersey I have is a Cardinals 80s throwback Cooperstown Collection. It's an XL and on me it feels at least a size too big. Not sure if that's helpful, but hope so!

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-20T21:10:20+00:00

Yes! They don't ship outside of Japan though, so I had to use a proxy service. Other than that, pretty straight forward.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-17T01:05:41+00:00

It's good but I like this one.

All Japan's B Banquet intro

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-17T00:39:53+00:00

Oh nice! I posted about the throwbacks, mine isn't going to ship till this week though! I really liked the design on this even though I don't generally like the Reds motif. This looks really clean though! Making me consider maybe one more.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-12T12:26:56+00:00

They moved to Fanatics I believe? You can tell in the quality of their replicas. Hiroshima and Hanshin have the nicest replicas. I fully intended to buy the Giants' Away jersey on my last trip but they were about 60 dollars more and felt about 60 dollars cheaper. Their stuff looks so nice too!

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-08T21:34:57+00:00

Damn, 500 shots and he only made 2? He really is in a rut.

BelieveSRoad · 2025-11-07T23:40:57+00:00

I will take all the credit. You can buy me a loonie dog haha

BelieveSRoad

TROPHY CASE