Join us in Japan
Day 1 – The Journey Begins
The adventure to Japan is officially underway.
For most of the group, alarms were ringing well before 3:00am as players, coaches and families made their way to the airport for a 4:00am arrival. Despite the early start, excitement levels were high as check-in began, team photos were taken and everyone made their way through security, with only a few bag checks and pat-downs along the way.
The first leg of the journey took us to Cairns. The energy and enthusiasm of the players never seemed to fade throughout the flight, but once we landed there was still plenty of work to do. Suitcases, ball buckets and kit bags were hauled from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, feeling like we had walked the entire distance between the two.
Once baggage was checked again and customs cleared, there was only one thing on everyone’s mind – food. Lunch was quickly consumed before players explored the duty-free stores and counted down the minutes until boarding.
The seven-hour flight to Japan felt much longer than expected. Device batteries slowly drained, entertainment options ran out and stomachs began rumbling once more. The arrival of the in-flight meals was a welcome sight for everyone on board.
Landing in Japan was an exciting milestone, and thanks to some excellent preparation, customs and immigration were completed smoothly with all players ready to go with their QR codes. We met our tour guide and boarded the coach for the 50-minute drive into the hills.
Upon arrival, our host welcomed us and offered one final piece of advice: keep an eye out for bears. While the players took the warning in their stride, it was fair to say the adults were just a little more concerned.
After room allocations, showers and a long day of travel, everyone was more than ready for bed. Just before midnight local time, tired heads finally hit the pillows and the Japan adventure truly began.
Day 2 – Meeting Our Buddies
Arriving after dark meant we had no idea just how beautiful our accommodation setting really was.
The Seminar House is nestled amongst mountains and forest, and the morning light revealed a stunning landscape surrounding us. Before long it was time for breakfast, with players enjoying a traditional Japanese meal of miso soup, rice, fish and meatballs in the cafeteria.
While managers tackled the first round of laundry, the teams prepared for one of the most anticipated moments of the tour – our visit to Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School.
The welcome was incredible.
Students greeted our players with handmade signs featuring their names, while cheers, smiles and laughter echoed through the hallways. Our new buddies guided us around the school before sharing lunch together. Despite the language barrier, friendships quickly began to form. Bottle flipping became the universal language as students and players laughed and competed together throughout the day.
Following the school visit, it was time for baseball.
The U18 team travelled to Mikiyama Stadium to face Kobe Koryo’s A Team, while the U13 group remained at the school.
The Queensland players were immediately impressed by the Japanese warm-up routines. Every drill, every throw and every pitch was performed with remarkable energy, discipline and attention to detail. It was a fascinating insight into the dedication that has made Japanese baseball famous around the world.
On the scoreboard, the result was a challenging one, with the U18 team falling by 47 runs. However, the scoreline told only part of the story. The Queensland players never stopped encouraging one another, never stopped smiling and continued to enjoy every moment of the experience.
As the bus wound its way back through the countryside, players chatted, laughed and watched the rice fields roll past outside the windows. The result may not have gone our way, but the memories being created certainly did.
Day 3 – More Baseball
Day three followed a familiar rhythm as the group settled into life in Japan.
After another traditional breakfast of fish, rice and soup, the girls gathered for a team meeting before making the trip back to Kobe Koryo Gakuen. Lunch in the school cafeteria provided another opportunity to spend time with our Japanese hosts before the team headed once again to Mikiyama Stadium.
The mission for the day was an ambitious one: introducing the Japanese team to one of Australia’s more unique local competition rules — the six-runs-across mercy rule.
Explaining that six runs equals three outs proved a little challenging at first, but with the help of translation devices and plenty of patience, both teams eventually understood the concept. The Japanese coaching staff were incredibly supportive, even lending us two pitchers and a catcher to help throughout the game.
The contest itself was another learning experience. While the final margin remained substantial, the Queensland team showed significant improvement and competed with confidence throughout the day.
One of the biggest celebrations came after escaping an inning having allowed only five runs. It might seem like a small victory, but moments like these are what make touring so memorable. Every out, every run prevented and every improvement is something to celebrate.
Perhaps the greatest success of the day wasn’t on the field at all.
The friendships between the Queensland and Koryo players continue to grow stronger. Bus rides are now filled with singing, laughter and constant conversation, with players finding ways to communicate despite speaking different languages.
Tomorrow will be our final day with the Koryo girls, and already there is a sense that saying goodbye will be one of the hardest parts of the trip.
Fortunately, there are still plenty more memories to make before then.
Day 4 – Sad goodbyes
We had an earlier start today as we had to pack all of our belongings into suitcases. Over the next few days we will be travelling light as our suitcases make their way to Tokyo ahead of us. The players had to spend time deciding what they could say good bye to for two days and what they could carry in their back pack. This was easier for some than others.
Once packed, we made our way down the hill for breakfast and some were delighted to not see fish on their plates. Dumplings, soup, corn fritters and rice were served today.
Once our bellies were full, we got onto our bus and drove to Kobe Koryo for the final time. Our buddies were once again waiting for us and after we exchanged small gifts, we were presented with certificates recognising our participation in the baseball exchange. It was a nice ceremony and players enjoyed the celebration with their buddies for a final time.
After we cleared our trays, the younger team remained at school while the girls boarded the bus and headed to Sanda to play on a different stadium, Shiroyama. This place was legit. Full Astro turf field with dirt bases and mound. The dugout had its own toilet and access to change rooms. The score board even had our names, which lit up as we were at bat.
The grandeur of it all must have got to our heads as we played our best game so far, being beaten by only 27 runs. The highlights of this game were our first pitching strikeout, a runner making it to third, and 2 innings of making the 3 outs instead of 6 runs. These small successes sound so insignificant but as a bit of context for those that aren’t here watching how good these girls are, Kobe Koryo have won the National title 18 times in the 24 that have been played.
They are exceptional in every way, and not only the best team in Japan… probably the world being that no one does women’s baseball better than these guys.
For further info, this Koryo team trains 6 days a week. They only get Mondays off. They train from 12 – 6pm Tuesday to Friday. And on Saturday and Sunday, they play games and train for up to 12 hours each day.
It’s no wonder they are at the level they are with this volume of quality training.
They only have one coach. The captain of the team runs warm up, and the players also coach 1st and 3rd during the game. The girls do all the line marking pre game and rake full dirt fields by hand after each session. They are a very well oiled machine and it has been pretty incredible to watch our girls compete against them.
The Queensland coaches are incredibly proud of how our girls have handled themselves, they’ve not taken a backwards step in playing this team, which is awesome.
Even though the scorelines have been quite large, at no time have they dropped their head or stopped supporting each other. And each day we are improving on the parts of the game that we are discussing in our debriefs.
The rivalry on the field has been strong, but the bus rides home together on the bus have really been where memories and friendships have been made and as they got off the bus and said good bye for the last time, there was sadness in the air.
Day 5 – Sightseeing
Getting the teams up for an earlier start was pretty easy today as they all knew we were heading into Osaka for some sightseeing. And boy did we see some sights!
The first stop was Osaka Castle. This traditional 8 storey castle was built in 1583. It is a museum now to preserve the history of the castle. It offered spectacular views from the highest level and showed off some interesting artefacts, including samurai suits and swords. The teams enjoyed the displays, but not as much as the opportunity to shop for the first time in the stores beside it!
After a very brief shop, we strolled through the surrounding gardens, under the cherry blossom trees, imagining what they would look like in bloom. The stroll took us back to our bus, which drove us to Doutonbori. This place really is fascinating. The signs, the lights, the smells, the people. Incredible.
We got to first see them by cruising up the Tombori river, and then by foot as we made our way to lunch.
Lunch today was Okonomiyaki. A dish we had to cook ourselves on the teppan, which was a lot of fun. The players made an absolute mess!
The players all broke off with coaches after this and hit the shops. With bank accounts a little depleted, it was back on the bus and over to Koshien stadium, the home of the Hanshin Tigers and the school boys National titles. We were privileged to have a private tour of the stadium, including the air conditioned bullpen for the visiting team and of course, the stadium store.
We boarded the bus once more, laden with our purchases and moved to our new accommodation for the night, the Shin-Osaka Youth Hostel.
The hotel offered traditional Onsen (communal bathing house) where bathing suits were not allowed, so our players chose to line up in front of the 4 cubicle showers we had available to us, making the showering quite a long process.
The team staff were grateful when the players finally were tucked up in bed so they could begin the laundry. After 20,290 steps today and another late one, the coaches might be the ones who need to be dragged out of bed in the morning!
Day 6 – Tokyo Dome
Breakfast today was a little closer to home, with our accommodation offering little sausages, eggs and croissants as part of the buffet. Quite a number people stayed clear of the fish and rice but a few who have really settled into Japanese life, still opted for these breakfast choices.
Once we had packed up our rooms, our guide walked us through the rainy streets of Osaka to the train station to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train). This station was bigger than some airports. If he wasn’t leading the way, there is a certainty we would have become lost in the crowds and chaos. We had to board from a numbered gate onto the reserved section of our carriage. Many of our group were aware that we would pass Mt Fuji but hope faded at seeing the beautiful landmark when we realised the clouds and rain would mar our view. The ride was about two and a half hours so some watched devices, some chattered away and others had a little nap!
Once in Tokyo, we boarded a bus to head to the Tokyo Dome. The players and coaches were so excited to arrive and even more excited when we broke up into groups to check out the stadium shops and have some lunch. Lunch today for most was burger Shack. The taste of those burgers and fries were savoured by everyone, which goes to show how different food is here from what we are used to.
We eventually made our way into our seats of the indoor stadium and got to enjoy our the view. This place was phenomenal. The size, the crowds, the singing. There were groups of people with trumpets and drums. When their team was batting, whole sections sung songs and had synchronised actions to the words. For the whole 9 innings the singing and chanting did not stop. In between innings, the dressed people up as sushi and had sushi races, there was cheerleaders dancing, and other fun and games. The Giants beat the Dragons 1-0 in an extremely tight game.
After the game, it was back on the bus to our accommodation, Keyaki Gate Hotel. The players were pretty excited to get their room allocation with some of the players having a room, and a shower, to themselves for the next three days. Small luxuries.
Day 7 – FUCHU CITY BASEBALL
Over the years, the mayor of Fuchu City, Mr Takano, has built a strong relationship with Baseball Australia. His relationship with Australia has provided opportunities for Australian baseball players to train and play in Japan. Today’s games were organised by Mr Takano and his staff and it really felt like we were honoured guests of Fuchu City, playing at Fuchu Stadium. Our change room was stocked with gifts of food, the players presented us with gifts after the games and photographers and other staff were around at all times to capture the games and our interaction with players. It was almost like we were celebrities!
Both teams were once again up against some talented baseball players. We played against two local club teams, the Fuchu City Eagles and the Musashi Nadeshiko. The highlight of the U18 game today was not only scoring our first run, but also following it up with a base clearing triple to score another 3. The score finished a little closer, 17-4. After the game, the girls sat in the stands, watching the U13 team play. The players from Nadeshiko shared their Japanese snacks with us while we shared Tim Tams with them.
Once we returned to the hotel the teams hung out, some exploring the local mall before getting ready to head out to dinner. The teams had another go at cooking their own food at an all you can eat Yakiniku. The players had a lot of fun trying different meats and vegetables and putting them on the grill. The players went to bed with full tummies tonight.
