The Pacific League Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters will hold their third annual Arizona Diamondbacks Day promotion on Sunday, April 18, at the Tokyo Dome. Diamondbacks Day is held so the Nippon Ham team can honor the National League club (its working partner), and the Fighters ball club is inviting 3,000 foreign fans as guests to this fun international event.

Although the Nippon Ham franchise has moved from Tokyo to Sapporo and become the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, the F's will still play 14 games (12 as the home team and two as a visitor) at Tokyo Dome in 2004. The April 18 game concludes the first series of the season for the Fighters at the Big Egg.

This will be the earliest date Diamondbacks Day (or its predecessor, Yankees Day) has ever been held, and this year's matchup is especially interesting, because the opposing team will be the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Both the Fighters and Marines have American managers: Trey Hillman for Nippon Ham and Bobby Valentine of Chiba Lotte.

Besides saluting the Arizona team, the Fighters will honor the foreign players (and managers and coaches) and you, the foreign fans in Japan.

The Fighters and Diamondbacks will offer door prizes to be won by lucky fans, and the Arizona team general manager, Joe Garagiola Jr., is expected to throw the shikyushiki ceremonial first pitch to the Marines leadoff batter.

Public address announcements throughout the day will be made in English as well as Japanese, and a message from the Diamondbacks will be read prior to the game. A pre-game ceremony will feature the presentation of floral bouquets given by American children to the managers and foreign coaches and players of the two clubs.

The American and Japanese national anthems will be performed, and fans will be invited to join in singing "YMCA" during a break in the action following the fifth inning, and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Before telling you how to get your free tickets to join the crowd, let me run down some information and answers to often-asked questions about Diamondbacks Day:

The D'Backs will not be at Tokyo Dome. You will see a regular season Pacific League game between the Fighters and Marines.

You may bring your own food and drink, but cans and bottles are not allowed inside the Tokyo Dome. There is a wide variety of Japanese and western foods and drinks on sale at the stadium, including Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, curry rice, yakisoba, bento box lunches, beer, soft drinks, coffee and ice cream.

There is no smoking allowed in the seating area at the Tokyo Dome. Smoking is allowed only in designated areas.

Unused tickets may not be sold under any circumstances. The tickets we are getting are stamped "complimentary," and anyone caught selling or attempting to sell tickets may be prosecuted by law.

It will add to the festive and international atmosphere if you wear the cap, T-shirt or jersey of your favorite major league or Japanese team, even if it is not the Diamondbacks or Fighters.

The seats are together in blocks located in the lower stands between first base and right field or third base and left field or in the upper deck behind first or third base.

Tokyo Dome is in Bunkyo Ward in the center of Tokyo, accessible from JR Suidobashi Station on the Sobu Line, or through Suidobashi Station on the Municipal (Toei) Subways Mita Line, or Korakuen Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi or Namboku Lines. There is no parking for passenger cars at Tokyo Dome, though you might find paid parking available at the Tokyo Dome Hotel in front of the stadium.

You may bring Japanese friends or family members in your group.

The Fighters have once again asked me to coordinate the event and distribute the 3,000 free tickets to the foreign community. If you would like to join us on Diamondbacks Day, you can get your tickets by following these easy-to-understand directions. Please read carefully:

Send a stamped (80 yen), standard-sized, self-addressed Japanese envelope directly to me with your request of up to four tickets. Be sure your address is complete and correct, including the seven-digit postal zip code, and be sure there is a stamp on the envelope. Do not use an air mail envelope. Indicate whether you want one, two, three or four tickets. It is not necessary to send by special delivery (sokutatsu); you will only be wasting postage money.

Send your request and envelope directly to me at this address: Wayne Graczyk, 1-12-18 Kichijoji Higashi-cho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo-to 180-0002.

If you tell a friend about this, do not forget the part about the stamped, self-addressed envelope. If they send me a post card request, I cannot send them tickets. Better to send them a copy of this column.

This is an excellent opportunity, especially for those who have never seen a Japanese pro baseball game in person or have never been to the Tokyo Dome. I look forward to receiving your mail and to seeing you on Diamondbacks Day at Tokyo Dome on April 18.

Be sure to get there early to catch batting practice and the opening ceremony and, if you should arrive real early, check out the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum next to Gate 21 at the Tokyo Dome.

See you at the Big Egg!