Despite some of its members having just completed a long season, Japan's men's national baseball team donned their Samurai Japan uniforms and took the field with a lot of energy for their first practice ahead of this week's four-game exhibition series against Mexico and the Netherlands.
Samurai Japan will take on Mexico on Thursday and Friday and then face the Dutch on Saturday and Sunday, all at Tokyo Dome.
"I feel tense to be playing on the Japanese team," Tokyo Yakult Swallows star Tetsuto Yamada said after Samurai Japan's first practice at QVC Marine Field on Sunday. "I'd like to have some fun and enjoy the moment."