October 11, 2024: Tokyo Dome （東京ドーム）

An indoor stadium in the center of Tokyo, the Tokyo Dome. I have a number of good memories of the stadium. It began when my daughter was a high school student. I went to the stadium to see a number of professional baseball games with her. She was a fan of a professional baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants, and was eager to watch their games in the stadium. So, we went to a number of games. We watched the first of them from the seats between the infield and the outfield. We were excited by and enjoyed the game. But they were so far from the home plate that we could not see what the players were playing in detail. So, we got tickets for the infield seats for the second game. The seats, which were on the third-base side, were much better than the ones in the first game. They helped us to see what was going on in the game. But we were too far to see what was happening on the first base side. So, we wished to see games in the seats behind the plate. But the tickets were too expensive for us to buy them out of pocket. So, we were hoping that one day, we would get the tickets. Then, by chance, we had the very lucky days. One day, we got the tickets as a gift from my wife’s acquaintance. So, we went to the game with more excitement than before. As we expected, the seats were perfect for enjoying the game. They helped us see what the players were doing in detail.

　東京の中心にある屋内競技場、「東京ドーム」。このスタジアムにはいくつもの楽しい思い出があります。始まりは娘が高校生の頃です。娘と一緒にプロ野球の試合を何度も見に行きました。娘はプロ野球の「巨人」ファンで、球場で試合を見たがっていました。そこで、二人で観戦しに行きました。最初の試合では内野席と外野席の間の席で観戦しました。すごく興奮し、楽しかったです。でも、ホームから遠すぎて、選手のプレーを細かく見ることができませんでした。そこで、2試合目では内野席をとりました。三塁側の内野席で、最初の試合の席よりずっとよかったです。試合状況もよくわかりました。でも、三塁側では、一塁側が遠すぎて状況がよくわかりませんでした。そして、バックネット裏の席を憧れるようになりました。でも、チケットは高額で自腹では買えず、いつかチケットが欲しいと思うばかりでした。そしたら、偶然にも幸運な日が訪れたのです。ある日、妻の知人からバックネット裏のチケットをプレゼントしてもらえたのです。ボクたちは、以前にも増してわくわくしながら試合を見に行きました。予想通り、試合を楽しむには最高の席でした。選手の動きもよく見えました。