May 11 , 2003 - page 2

much more of a chore. Knowing that communicating with the hairdresser could prove to be extremely difficult, I decided it would be in the best interest of my hair that I bring along an interpreter. My fellow radio co-star, Yuji Abe, graciously accepted the role. Prior to hopping in the chair, I pointed at a picture that resembled what I had in mind, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. That’s when Yuji worked his magic; he helped explained what I wanted. The end result was just what I had expected –whew. It was interesting to note that here in Japan they only use scissors to cut hair, no electric clippers like those used in America.

“America’s pastime what? Sounds more like Japan’s!” Did I mention that baseball was popular? I read a recent article in the newspaper that said a whopping 61% of Japanese people watch baseball. I too have been watching it rather frequently and I thought I would shed some light on the topic of Japanese baseball. The Japanese craze for baseball actually began in the 1930’s, and it’s been going strong ever since. I’ve recognized some differences between American and Japanese baseball. For one, there’s no seventh inning stretch and no singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” For