We are starting the very early rough process of planning a family trip to Japan for our son's HS graduation in 2027. Not even sure which cities we'll be going to yet but my request was to be able to go to a baseball game. Has anyone ever been to a game there and have any advice or tips? Is there any one stadium that we NEED to go to?

That's kinda what I've always thought....almost an international soccer vibe at a baseball game

I'm actually super excited

I was the one thing we didn't do in Japan. Everyone got a bucket-list item and mine was Sumo.

If you get a chance to see Sumo, do it. It us only odd months for like one weekend. It takes some planning.

The Yomiuri Giants are considered the Yankees. If you are staying in Tokyo, there are several teams around the bay.

Broader info... if you plan to go to multiple cities... get the Rail Pass. You have to get it in advance... they send it to your house to get tourist rate. The Shinkansen was cool.

Hotel is by person + per bed. Most rooms are 2adults +infant max. They are small even by euro studs.

We stayed in Odaiba at the Hilton. Odaiba was a nice place. Likely different as it was an Olympic venue site. We let our kids venture alone. 10-16, we gave them Yen and told them to watch out for each other. There is a Gundam store there and a huge Gundam. Kid's bucket-list. We also did a tour of the bay. It was a dinner theater. Awesome. We did the fish market. It was moved for the Olympics but I suspect still spectacular. I found a Sushi making experience. It included the fish market where they showed us the tuna we were going to use. He literally cut off a slab dmfrom a fish delivered that morning and by noon we were eating it. We paid extra for a Sake tasting/pairing. Did the tower whatever that was called.

We also stayed in Odawara. The Hilton resort was the knlynlmace I found tharmt we could all be in one room. Mostly Japanese speakers, but we managed. The locals asked what we were doing because that was where the Japanese vacation. From there, we did Hakone (we stumbled into it as a destination). Must do, IMO.

Nagoya (Sumo).

My youngest went back on a school trip as a Sophomore. He loved it that much. He went to Odaka and Kyoto, in addition to Hakone and Tokyo.

My oldest was disappointed we didn't do Kyoto nor Hiroshima/Nagasaki. He is a history gury.

11 days. Wasn't enough time (missed baseball), but financially, we spent about $5k per person including flights and hotels.

If you are interested DFW... Flights were $2300 from dfw to NRT. We drove to Waco, and added a Waco to DFW and the price dropped to $1800.

Kids and wife were over the moon.

Have a great time. Do research. Enjoy.

We went to a game last year in the Tokyo Dome and would highly suggest it for any baseball fan.

Tickets are odd to get as they dont have like stubhub or ticketmaster, but we bought tickets through japanball.com and they delivered them to our hotel the day before the game. Make sure your hotel has a concierge, if there is no front desk they will drop off tix at like the nearest post office.

The food is great, beer is cold, and stadium is clean (don't throw your peanut shells on the floor). Fans were very respectful and chant the entire game, almost like a soccer stadium.

Japan tips:
-Get the pocket wifi, you rent a personal wifi for like $5/day from the airport
-Download "Suica" as mobile payment and pre-load it with money, most places and vending machines (for Pocari Sweat) use it
-Get the railpass if you plan on traveling around a bunch
-Have the kids read up on the manners of Japan, lots of things considered rude like walking and eating at same time

Great advice, thank you all!

Koshien Stadium in Osaka is like their Wrigley/Fenway. Their primary tenant, the Hanshin Tigers, are the Giants' arch rival and just recently got over a curse a year or so ago. They do have to go on a big road trip every year though because the stadium hosts a massive high school tournament every summer.

When i was in 7th grade i got stranded in the Osaka airport when our flight home got cancelled. ended up buying a Tigers hat at the team store in the terminal and wore it nearly every day for 6 years until the bill split in half. I still check standings several times a year and occasionally try to find bootleg streams of games on youtube.

Thank you!

Don't take Guriel with you if you go.