Tokyo Dome Queuing

Last night as I was walking on my way to a convenient Subway station I passed Tokyo Dome, the huge oval sports arena and home to Tokyo’s famous baseball team, Tokyo Giants. I don’t come to this area very often so I took a long way around the dome just to check it out in the the stillness of the night. It was very near the magic “last train” hour but I still figured I could make it. And if not, it’s only about 50 minutes walk from my home. But I noticed something strange, some weird pieces of paper and card board taped to the ground around the dome, each paper had a name or tag on it. It went on and around the dome, in triple! I saw a middle aged couple tape one of the papers to the ground in front of a small group of guards, and I just had to stop and ask them what this was all about. I turns out this is what the Japanese have invented to stop that wasteful queuing we westerners seems so thrilled about. They were lining up to buy tickets for the baseball game between Tokyo Giants and Yakult Swallows at the end of March! But who wants to spend a month in line? Enter, a very smart solution. And naturally, the guards around the dome don’t mind patrolling the papers to make sure no one messes with the system. Not that these honest fans would ever do something like this. One of the young guards made the effort to share the rules of the system with me, and so now, you dear readers, can implement this in your own home towns! But I think it might now work as well in other parts of the world…

Tokyo Dome is between Korakuen and Suidobashi stations and is a favorite for young couples and young families, thanks to the toy stores and carnival rides attached to the Dome! Enjoy!