Partly because it was Saturday, so many fans arrived at Mazda Stadium wearing red replica jerseys and T-shirts hours before Game 1 of the Japan Series between the Hiroshima Carp and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Almost all of them were Carp fanatics, who are desperate to see their team win its first NPB championship in 34 years.
Middle-aged fan Toru Ohashi, who arrived at the Carp's home park with his wife, Akiko, was one of those can't-wait fellas. Ohashi, a 56-year-old company employee, said with a bashful smile that they might have gotten there "a little too early," but added that they could not stay home and do nothing.