Hello everyone, this is Roy from LFC staff.

Last week, I went to "Hiroshima" for the long-awaited visit from September 10 (Sat.) to 13 (Tue.)!

As I have mentioned several times in my blog, I have been rooting for the professional baseball team "Hiroshima Toyo Carp" since I was a high school student! However, I have never been to Hiroshima, let alone to the Carp's home stadium "MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima", but this time I made a trip alone for the first time!

It was my first time traveling alone, but when I went to a restaurant called "Carp Tori" where Carp fans gather on the first day, I saw many Carp fans cheering for the team while watching the game on the big screen and eating delicious food! The staff at the restaurant asked me, "Where are you from? I was surprised when I said, "I came from Okinawa today! The staff and the customer next to me were surprised when I said, "I came from Okinawa today! Tomio Kinoshita, a Carp alumnus, also worked at the restaurant, and we had our picture taken together at the end!

The next day, I went to the MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima to cheer for the Carp, which was my number one goal this time! The weather was beautiful, and the stadium's beautiful green grass, red soil, and red seats looked very beautiful! Inside the stadium, we had a variety of food and drinks! My seat neighbor was a family of four Carp fans! The family had already been to over 20 games this season and were very passionate! We talked a lot about the Carp while watching the game with the family and had a lot of fun together.

The game was against the Yomiuri Giants, who are both currently battling for third place! The game started with a home run by Yoshihiro Maru, who was a member of the Carp until 2018, and the Yomiuri Giants scored a total of 7 runs including 4 home runs, resulting in a 7-0 loss! On the other hand, the fact that we lost gives me a reason to go back for revenge, so I will definitely go back!

I was also able to enjoy visiting Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima), Peace Memorial Park (Atomic Bomb Dome), Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine, Hiroshima Castle, Hiroshima Hondori Shopping Street, and many other sightseeing spots in Hiroshima! It was a very nice city, so if you have not been there yet, please go!

That's all for this Hiroshima Travel Diary! Thank you for reading.