Even if you don’t love watching baseball, I’d recommend taking in a few games if you’re ever in Japan. The atmosphere is totally different than what you get in the states. There are four teams in Tokyo – two in the city and three in the suburbs. The Chiba Lotte Marines play in one of those suburban venues and we will be doing a ZOZO Marine Stadium review in case you fancy heading out that way.
Let’s start with the commute from Tokyo to Chiba. It is easy to get to ZOZO Marine Stadium, but the journey takes some time. You will need to get on the Keiyo Line (JE Red) and take it all the way down to Kaihimmakuhari Station. This route extends past Disneyland Tokyo and it took me like 80 minutes to get to here from Tokyo Station. There could possibly be an express train also serving this route, but I didn’t figure it out in time.
Anyway, once you get to Kaihimmakuhari Station, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the stadium. There are also shuttle buses you can take for JPY100.
In order to do a ZOZO Marine Stadium review, you have to understand that several Japanese ballparks are basically inspired by American ones built in the 1970s and 80s. The golden age of American stadium design lives on in Japan.
When you walk around ZOZO Marine Stadium, it feels a little like traveling back in time. It has the look of a Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati or the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The scale is smaller, but you will definitely feel a little nostalgic for the days when MLB was played in grossly oversized, cookie-cutter stadiums.
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The seats themselves are fairly standard unless you pay extra for the “Excite” level seating where they basically put you in foul territory with some netting guarding you. Outfield is reserved for the cheering sections and away fans.
You will be able to purchase tickets at the stadium the day of the game with some exceptions for playoff encounters or rivalry matchups. You don’t need to know any Japanese to buy the tickets. The attendants have a large, color-coded map with prices listed. You just point to where you want to sit, hold up how many tickets you want on your finger and pay.
A special mention goes to the food options at ZOZO Marine Stadium. They have all your usual Japanese fare. But, more importantly, you can get Lotteria in the stadium. What is that, you ask? Lotteria is this Asian burger chain that makes fairly underwhelming burgers. For some reason, I find this amusing and will seek out a Lotteria whenever I’m in a country that has one. Try it, be disappointed and become a Lotteria fan for life.
ZOZO Marine Stadium review score: 6.5
There is nothing special about ZOZO Marine Stadium and it’s certainly not a must visit ballpark in Japan when compared to the Tokyo Dome, Mazda Stadium or that sandlot field the Hanshin Tigers play at. However, it’s still kind of a cool place to see a game if you don’t mind the extra travel time.
The stadium gets a bonus point for having a Lotteria but loses a half point for the team’s super creepy mascot that is majorly confusing.
