Thursday update by Lauren Hickey  

 

After the morning practice at Kawasaki Stadium, Team Stars & Stripes jumped into two buses and headed to ASAKUSA – a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan.

 

The weather could not have been more perfect for our latest adventure with very warm temperatures and a bright blue sky! When we first arrived, the players’ first mission was to find a place to get Yen so they can buy souvenirs to remember this once in a lifetime trip.

 

Next, it was time to explore. You were able to go into the temple which was an amazing sight. Many people inside were throwing money into the water to pray and make wishes. Outside of the temple was a well that you light incense to throw into the well. The smoke that this creates is supposed to heal whatever ailments or injuries you have. Stars & Stripes head coach Jeff Scurran advised his players to use this for any muscle soreness or injuries they had!

 

Shopping time! First I must say that we had at the most 1 ½ hours to shop. This caused me much anxiety! I had a list of things I wanted to get and did not want to forget any of my friends or family! In the end I feel we mastered the art of speed shopping and also made friends with this one Japanese woman that we spent most of our Yen at!

 

I was correct in my prediction about samurai swords! I think it was the favorite purchase of the day. I hope the players remember the proper technique from their high school visit yesterday. I also believe that some purchases were made for the parents, but I’ll keep that a secret! 

 

Another cool thing at the temple was a place to get your fortune. What you had to do was shake this cylinder and then turn it over until a wooden stick comes out. On the stick is a kanji which you match up to a box that contains your fortune.

 

Here is what my fortune is, and I’ll take a survey tomorrow to see what other players’ fortunes were.

 

“The moon in morning twilight still keeps on shining, it means an old man holds young energy too strong in spite of his age.   Talk with tongue entangled by your getting drunk, but gives no unpleasant impression to others.  There may be a little trouble in your family, but when you believe in God and ask for happiness, you can get calm down like to be in mid spring fine day.”

 

“Your request will be granted, but don’t hope so excessively.  The patient will get well but takes a long time.  The lost article appear later.  The person you wait for will come late.  Building a new house and removal are both well.  It is good to start a trip.  Marriage of any kind and new employment are both well.”

 

If you did not like your fortune or it said bad things you could tie it to this rod and it would take your bad fortune away.

 

After our adventure at ASAKUSA, we headed back to the buses to get the players to their host families. We thought that our day was over until Stars & Stripes coach Howell found a pick-up baseball game taking place right next to our bus!

 

He convinced the players to let him bat, and most of Team Stars & Stripes filed out of the bus to witness the event. As the cameras were flashing, Coach Howell took the first pitch that he felt was too low. After a couple more pitches and a couple missed swings, Coach Howell hit a line drive to the short stop. Not content with this hit, he asked for one more pitch, he missed! So again, he said one more pitch…this time he hit it over the fence and across the street…HOME RUN!

 

Once the team and coaches gave high-fives and said their good byes to the local Japanese kids everyone quickly filed back into the buses so we could get the players back to their host families to rest up and get ready for our next day in Japan!