b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #5

#5: Kleenex Stadium Miyagi　クリネックススタジアム宮城
Location: Sendai City, Miyagi Pref.
場所：仙台市、宮城県
Team: Touhouku Rakuten Golden Eagles
チーム：東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス
Capacity/定員: 23,000
Opened: 1950

At #5 on our tour we head to the most northern stop on our journey to the city of Sendai (仙台) in Miyagi prefecture (宮城県). Until the last moment Kleenex Stadium Miyagi was sitting pretty at #2. what, you ask, caused me to knock it down to #5 then? well, it was a tough decision. I guess it comes down to accessibility. it's just in a far off land that most people wouldn't care to visit normally. I think it's a wonderful stadium with a longer history than you would guess (especially because there was not a pro team there until 2005?). After the Touhoku Rakuten golden eagles(東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス) moved there, the stadium went through several renovations to create a very unique stadium. There are more seating choices than any other stadium in Japan and also unique is that the home fans' main cheering section is in left field. The stadium is a short bus ride from Sendai station and buses are frequent. What makes k stadium stand out also is the number of quality restaurants around and in the stadium. There are tons of great choices and i recommend the beef tongue curry (牛タンカレー), a local specialty. Security... Kleenex Stadium Miyagi is the only stadium that I've sat anywhere besides the outfield and if you sit in the infield, be ready for a strip search! they are serious! i also sat in the outfield and that is pretty average as far as security goes.Also, it should be noted that you can freely come and go from the stadium after receiving a simple hand stamp, something i haven't seen anywhere else.
Eagles fans are good. They've really rallied around their new team and are very supportive however, because it is still a new team, most of the cheers are pretty generic and the team song (sounds very classically right-wing-ish) is played over the loud speakers complete with words during the 7th inning stretch. Another reason i knocked this one down, lack of tradition. Still, one of the best/most interesting/unique baseball stadiums in Japan. Oh, did I mention that it is named "Kleenex Stadium Miyagi"????????

location: +1
history: -0
fanmasphere: +2
concessions: +5
smoking: -1
bathrooms: +2
sight lines: +3
field surface: +1
outside: +2
surroundings: +5
seats: +3
atmosphere: +2
security: -0

total: +25