Opening Day of the Nippon Professional Baseball season draws near after having been pushed back amid the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.
While the games are expected to go on in the quiet of empty stadiums for the time being, the voices of those who run eateries and watering holes that attract baseball fans in the Tokyo area are starting to get louder.
"If this can just be the starting point for the excitement to return," was one of the comments heard.
"I hope I can soon see fans sporting their team jerseys," said 42-year-old Hidehiko Yamamoto, who runs a Chinese restaurant near the Yomiuri Giants' home of Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. He has been waiting impatiently for the season to start.
??Masahiro?? Ito, who works at a office nearby, expects the excitement to grow if the season gets going.
"When baseball starts, the area around the dome has a buzz," the 43-year-old said.
Yamamoto's grandfather started the restaurant in 1950. The restaurant delivered food to players, team staffers, members of the media and fans at Korakuen Stadium. It also handled walk-in customers, making for a very lively atmosphere.
Yamamoto took over from his father about 15 years ago. Since that time, once the season starts, a large number of Giants-affiliated customers and fans have regularly crowded the restaurant to dine.
The inside of the restaurant is lined with signs of players the likes of Sadaharu Oh, Tatsunori Hara and Hayato Sakamoto.
This year, however, the start was delayed and then pushed back again amid the pandemic, the sound of the clock has been echoing throughout the mostly empty eatery.
The restaurant shortened its hours of operation, closing at 8 p.m. from around mid-April to late May, and sales briefly dropped as low as bout 60% of its normal take.
The regular customers, though, asked the restaurant to "hang in there," and it has continued to stay open.
"I have a newfound sense that our restaurant has a relationship with baseball that cannot be broken," Yamamoto said.
"I don't imagine the customers will return all at once, but I think this will be the first step toward [getting back to] our regular routine," he said with a smile.
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