Sophie Navarrete - May 24, 2026

On May 24, 2026, we had a free morning and were able to immerse ourselves in whichever way we wanted. I decided to get an iced coffee from the hotel’s lobby to get the energy needed for today’s activities. I was very excited for today since we were watching two basketball championship games. 

Before we saw the two championship games, we had lunch first. This lunch was very delicious and was a family style lunch. We enjoyed foods such as duck, beef, and chicken. There were also some American options such as pasta and french fry wedges. Once we concluded our meal, we had some time on our hands to shop. 

Some of us went to the Nike store to see the different styles of clothing they were selling. There was a lot of commotion in the store as there was a famous Chinese basketball player who played in the United States. His name is Yao Ming. He also attended basketball games. After checking the Nike store, we saw a Miniso store and decided we needed more blind boxes. I picked a couple of Winnie the Pooh blind boxes, as they are sold out in the U.S. I opened them as soon as I checked out due to the excitement. I got a tiger Winnie the Pooh plushie and a bunny Winnie the Pooh plushie. I was satisfied with the results of both blind boxes as I got the one I wanted. 

Following our shopping trip, we headed toward security to start our basketball game experience. These were the National Finals of the Nike China High School Basketball League. The first game was the girls’ final game and the second game was the boys’ final game. It was very fun to watch all the excitement fans had towards the teams. There were bright lights and cool video edits of the high school players. The environment felt like it was a college or professional basketball game. In between the games, we met with a Syracuse Alumni who helped with the preparation of the games and their amenities. It is fascinating to see the Syracuse network expand so far! 

Once the games were done, we decided to eat in the surrounding area for dinner and get dessert afterwards. I have been obsessed with Tanghulu and decided to buy the grape one. It was the perfect way to end the day and I cannot wait to experience the Great Wall tomorrow!   

This blog entry was delayed as the wifi connection in China can be a bit unstable and there are certain sites blocked. 

Jeremy Shatzer - 5/27/2026

   We started the day with a visit to the MLB Japan office, which has been around since roughly 2004. The whole reason it exists comes down to Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. Their success in the early 2000s made MLB realize they needed more than just advertising from overseas, they needed an actual office in Japan doing real work. They walked us through how they license merchandise, manage sponsorship rights, and grow their younger fan base through youth baseball events aimed at elementary and middle school kids.

     One thing that really stuck with me was learning about the financial side of the Tokyo Series. When a team plays games abroad, MLB has to cover the lost home gate revenue for both clubs. That means flying over 120 employees per team to Japan, which adds up fast when you factor in flights, hotels, and food for over 200 people. Since games tip off in the morning Tokyo time, the office has to find creative ways to get fans who are commuting or already at work to think in the back of their head that a game is happening right now. They lean on radio, apps, and some genuinely cool marketing moves. The best example was a collaboration with Demon Slayer, where they made an anime style advertisement to connect with Japanese audiences on their own turf. They also compared how their approach differs across China, Korea, and Taiwan. Japan focuses on highlights and on field plays, while Korea leans into bringing out K pop celebrities to generate buzz at games.

    After MLB we headed over to the PGA Tour International Japan office. Honestly I did not know what to expect walking in but it turned out to be one of the more interesting stops of the day. The office itself was on the smaller side, but the guy running the presentation did a great job breaking down how the PGA Tour actually functions as its own separate operation from Augusta and the USGA. They are not the same thing, which I think a lot of people assume, and they each run their own events while still finding ways to work together when it makes sense. We got to see each department up close including sponsorships and international media, and learned how tightly they work with the JGTO to give Japanese players a real competitive ladder to climb beyond just dreaming about a PGA Tour card someday. He also pointed out that youth interest in golf across Japan has been climbing steadily since COVID, and the office here is trying to turn that momentum into something lasting. The challenge is that golf in Asia is just expensive, Korea even more so than Japan, and both are pricier than what you would pay in the States, so bringing younger people into the sport is genuinely difficult work.

We wrapped up the day at Tokyo Dome to watch the Yomiuri Giants take on the SoftBank Hawks. Right before the game we made a stop at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, and as someone who grew up playing and watching baseball their whole life, that place was something special. Seeing decades worth of Japanese baseball history displayed like that was genuinely cool, not something you come across every day. The Giants pulled out the win and the crowd energy inside Tokyo Dome was on a different level than anything I have seen back home at a stadium.            

Viktor Allen 5/29

The day started with a little chaos. The subway line we needed was completely shut down for maintenance, so we had to walk to a different station that was already slammed with everyone else who got rerouted onto the same line. We shoved our way onto the train and were packed in like sardines the whole ride. Not the best start but honestly kind of funny looking back on it.

Once we got to the kendo lesson we changed into the gi and met on the mats. Kendo goes back centuries in Japan, rooted in the swordsmanship of the samurai, and you can feel that history a little when you are actually doing it. The instructors walked us through the basic strikes and footwork first and we got to practice on them and the other kendo students there. After drilling the basics for a while we got suited up in full armor. It is bulkier than it looks and moving around takes some getting used to, but once you figured it out it was a lot of fun.

They finished the lesson by tying two balloons to each of us, one on the wrist and one on the head, and we just went at each other for fun. First to pop two balloons won, they got replaced after each pop. I beat Ryan in my first one 2-1 then lost to Dalton 1-2 in the second. After that Ryan and I got asked if we wanted to go against one of the instructors together, so we did a 2v1. I got one of his balloons but he was just way better than us and won pretty easily. Still one of the more unique things I have done on this trip.

Lunch after was at a sushi place with a conveyor belt where you could also just order and have it come straight to your table. I tried sushi for the first time, not the biggest fan honestly.

From there we went to the Samurai and Ninja Museum. Got a walkthrough of the history of both and saw actual armor and weapons up close. The two are pretty different when you learn about them side by side, samurai were built around honor and open combat while ninjas operated completely in the shadows and were typically farmers or merchants. They ended the tour by letting us throw plastic ninja stars into a foam target which was a pretty fun way to close it out.

Had some free time after and then headed to dinner with the group to wrap up the night. It was the last dinner of the trip and you could feel it a little. We went around talking about favorite moments and the funniest memories from the past few weeks, and pretty much everyone ended on the same note, that we could not wait to see each other again back at Syracuse next semester. Good way to close out the trip.