Sunshine and Cold Sculpture !

by Kazu

In order to keep the natural lawn in the stadium sound, a plenty of sunshine can come through this big window and the roof can slide away to make the stadium open-air. Some souvenir shops, a bakery, an outdoor outfits shop, a drug store are in front of the stadium.  

On the left of the bakery, there were ice skating space and some objects that created the atmosphere of Moomin Village created by Author Tove Jassen of Finland. It was a little bit colder than in Sapporo but many kids were enjoying ice skating and going down the small slope by skid.

I found a captivating object made of ice near the ice skating space. It seemed that the object showed the "Hattifatteners" of Moomin characters.

There were many pole of ice inside the ice cage.

 

Collaboration with the animation Moomin by Tove Jansson !

by Kazu

I am not sure why the front of the company that runs the ball park Escon Field is doing the collaboration with Finland but anyway, it was curious to see the characters of Moomin were here and there in the stadium.

The company was developing "Snow Park" outside of the stadium. A skid slope and ice skating field was made around the stadium. Many kids were skating and enjoying going down with skids. 

The former team mates such as Mr. Dalvish Yu who is now in Padres, Mr. Shohei Ohtani in Dodgers were painted on the memorial wall. The former director of the team Mr. Thomas Brad Trey Hillman was also on the wall. The former and current owners of the team were at the corner.   

 

Craft Beer Special Corner in Escon Field !

by Kazu

When the baseball game of  Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters is held in the stadium, there is a special place to savor the craft beer brewed in the stadium and watch the game. "Sora to shiba" is the craft beer savoring space where people watching the baseball game alone or family and friends so comfortably.   

As you may know "sora"means "sky" and "shiba" means "lawn" in Japanese. That is the place to enjoy the scenery of sky and lawn with craft beer. I've never drunk heavy and tasteful craft beer there before because I prefer regular light beer to drink a lot.

It seemed to be so comfortable space to chat with family and friends, not caring neighbors but a pint of beer costs 800 JPY in the stadium and the craft beer requires more. I love to do chug a lug but in the stadium, I may have to sip a little bit by a little bit.

 

Special Schau Essen sausage in Escon Field !

by Kazu

I was so shocked by the photo above that showed my hair whorl loosing hair and growing natural part. But considering I am 58 years old now and will be 59 this year, I may have to accept the aging sign even though I give my head good massage after bathing in the morning and evening everyday.

Besides, we visited Escon Field that include the home ground stadium of the professional baseball team "Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters" seeking for the hot dogs made of the special long Schau Essen sausage made by the owner company of the team Nippon Ham. Nippon Ham Inc. is making and selling normal-size sausage schau essen in almost all groceries in Hokkaido but this long-size schau essen can be savored only in Escon Field.  

Thanks to the experiences and experiments to manufacture top-quality ham and sausage developed in Nippon Ham Inc. , the long sausage made for the special hot dogs in the stadium was special, juicy and tasteful. We bought two regular hot dogs and one special cheese 6 pepper hot dog on that day.                             

Some kinds of collaboration with the author of "Moomin" Ms. Tove Jassen seemed to be carried out  in Escon Field. Many air-filled figures of Hattifatteners , in Japanese  "Nyoro Nyoro" were here and there in the stadium. The main characters of Moomin were also shown in pany parts of the stadium.  

 

Mascot Efutan in Escon Field !

by Kazu

Even on off days, the advertisement on the huge screens appealed to the visitors to the ballpark Escon Field in Kita Hiroshima City adjacent to Sapporo City. 

As they were nurturing the green grass on the playground of the ballpark, the green field was limit off. The artificial sunlight was like that of magic hour sunset times. It must be tough for the staff to make the grass recovered completely. 

This is the mascot of the ballpark and called "Efutan", which motif was brown bear that habitat in Hokkaido. Many visitors took photos with this mascot on the ground. I've seen it for the first time since the ballpark was established.

 

Worship in the stadium?

by Kazu

In Escon Field Stadium, no cash can  be used to buy something. So the donation to the temporary shrine should be done with this coin per person. 

In order to get down to the playing field, we had to pay one thousand Japanese yen by credit card. I found something gold in the sacred house of the temporary shrine. 

A gold sculpture of of a salmon could be seen from outside. Escon Field Shrine seemed to be facing the northwest. A very simple scheme of color and Japanese traditional old lanterns created the sacred atmosphere of the temporary shrine. 

 

In stead of sunshine!

by Kazu

These are the artificial sunlight to raise the grass of the baseball playing ground in Escon Field, Kita Hiroshima City. They can be moved and give the gift of light evenly to the grasses.I am not sure their weight but should be light to lug around.   

Some kind of automobile may be used to drag the artificial sunlight bars but as heavy weight may give damage to the grass, they should be light enough to carry around, I think.  

The temporary shrine was still alluring many visitors and a long queue of people was controlled by the ground staff. The food court on the third floor of the stadium seemed to be open for the visitors.