09/10/2026
🇯🇵 Mini NPB Tour Days 1-2 ⚾️
Our annual Mini NPB Tour is underway in Osaka!
We started on Tuesday night with a visit to Kyocera Dome for the Saitama Seibu Lions and Orix Buffaloes. Unfortunately for the home team, NPB ERA leader Kaima Taira was in cruise control, shutting down the Buffaloes for 8 innings en route to a 2-0 victory. 🦁🐃
The next morning, we planned to explore Dotonbori together, but heavy rains had other plans. Luckily, we were still able to make it to Namba Parks to see some hidden baseball history connected to the old Nankai Hawks. We visited the site of former Osaka Stadium and the National Gallery of Nankai Hawks, remembering the club’s Osaka roots before its move to Fukuoka. 🌧️
From there, we made the short trip to Kobe, where the group enjoyed a hosted Kobe beef welcome lunch before heading to Hotto Motto Field Kobe for another Lions-Buffaloes matchup — this time at one of Japan’s most scenic and underrated ballparks. Seibu proved too strong for Orix again with another shutout victory, this time by an 8-0 scoreline.
Next stop: Fukuoka 🚆