If you’re looking for baseball heaven, there’s only one name you need to know: Abusan. Named for the popular baseball manga, this Abusan – located below street level in Shinjuku City – is a beloved baseball-themed izakaya -- term for Japanese pub -- that has fed hungry baseball fans for nearly 40 years.
The owner, Kazuo Ishii, came up with the idea while playing on an amateur baseball team with the manga’s creator, Shinji Mizushima. In 1986 – the same year that Mizushima won his 200th game – Abusan opened its doors for the first time, welcoming baseball fans of all stripes to gaze upon its memorabilia-covered walls.
“What I wanted to do was make a baseball museum like they have at the Tokyo Dome and build a little museum from things that I’ve received from players,” Ishii said.
Photographs, pennants, and original art cover the walls; signed jerseys, bats, baseballs, stuffed dolls – any and all kinds of baseball memorabilia – are stacked up in corners and fill bursting bookshelves. NPB stars from Ichiro to Ohtani have stopped by the izakaya, while plenty of Major League ballplayers have made the pilgrimage to the restaurant during trips to Tokyo.
Ishii has two pieces that stand out in his memory:
“A commemorative bat from Hiroki Kokubo’s [the current SoftBank Hawks manager] 2,000th hit [is my favorite],” Ishii said. “Only 2,000 were made, and I have one. Also, I have a ball signed by Ohtani when he was on the Nippon-Ham Fighters.”
The flow of drinks and food from the small kitchen in the back streams out endlessly, the patrons ordering spicy fried horumon (intestines) and mozuku (seaweed) tempura and fried noodles. Of course, the fans aren’t here just for the food; they’re here for baseball – to be surrounded by it, immersed in it. Naturally, then, baseball is always on the television, even in winter.
“During the offseason,” Ishii says, “we show throwback footage from old games and enjoy them together.”
Abusan is less of a restaurant and more of a clubhouse for the baseball-crazed. It doesn’t matter which jersey or shirt you come in wearing: This is not a place for arguments. This is a place to find community with people who care about a game with the same devotion that you do.
“I just want people who love baseball to come,” Ishii said, “so we can talk baseball together and have fun.”
For more on Japanese cheering culture and on Abusan, watch the video below: