Julie B.
Yelp
What a fun evening seeing the Carps play in Hiroshima's Mazda Zoom-zoom stadium!
First tip: you can buy tickets to the baseball at convenience stores in Hiroshima. We bought ours in the 7-11 across from Nagata-ya. You either have to speak Japanese or have some seriously helpful person assist you (thank you very much to the manager at the 7-11) in purchasing the tickets because the machine does not provide other language support. The game was otherwise sold out, but lucky for us there were some seats in the visitors section available, so off we went.
The good news about the visitors section is that it was in full shade by 6 pm. The bulk of the outfield seats for the Carps' fans had at least another 90 minutes of heavy, hot, direct sun, so if you are sensitive to that, keep that in mind when choosing the seats.
You aren't allowed to bring bottles or cans of any kind into the stadium, but you can empty anything you have into paper cups that are provided by the staff at the entry. There are tons of food vendors on the route to the stadium, or you can stop in the JR station for bento boxes...all are allowed in. However, there is a ton of fun food inside the stadium, so if you don't mind spending a bit more and want something hot and fresh, you can get it there (ice cream, vending machine drinks and shaved ice also available at the park).
There's also no smoking in the seats at the stadium (there are small smoking zones on the exterior of the building) and this was just about the cleanest ballpark I've ever seen. None of that gooey, gummy mess you often find under your seats at other stadiums. This one was positively spotless.
An easy but somewhat confusing walk from the JR station, follow the crowds for a much shorter walk. Take note of landmarks along the way - the trek back is perfectly safe but without our wifi, I ended up on the wrong side of the JR station and it was difficult to get back to the right spot.
The true stars of the night were the fans - so much fun to hear the organized singing, endless cheering, see the balloons and more. The teams were great but it just felt like a night of great wholesome fun.
I highly recommend catching a baseball game when you come to Hiroshima. Even if you've never been to a game before, or if you are a lifelong American baseball fan, you'll have a blast.