Photo/Illutration An aerial shot of the parade held in Kobe on Nov. 23 celebrating the Hanshin Tigers’ first Japan Series title in 38 years (Toyokazu Kosugi)

Celebrations were held in the Kansai area on Nov. 23 for the Hanshin Tigers’ first Japan Series title in 38 years and the third straight Pacific League pennant of the Orix Buffaloes.

A parade started at 11 a.m. in Kobe’s Sannomiya district, just west of the Tigers’ home stadium in Nishinomiya.

At the same time, a parade was held on Osaka’s main Midosuji Street for the Buffaloes.

Players and coaches boarded three buses that slowly moved down the streets packed with elated fans.

The two teams changed places at 2 p.m., and the Tigers paraded through Midosuji while the Buffaloes moved through Kobe.

The Tigers, winners of the Central League pennant, defeated the Buffaloes in a tough seven-game Japan Series.

Hiroteru Itabashi, 53, a resident of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, started camping out along the parade route in Kobe from 11 p.m. on Nov. 22.

The route ran about 2 kilometers from Kobe East Park near JR Sannomiya Station to Meriken Park.

He said he also secured good spots for eight other baseball fans whom he met on Facebook.

“We’ve got a good spot,” Itabashi said in the morning. “It was worth the wait.”

One of his friends, Hiromi Nakamura, 54, booked a hotel for the previous night near the parade route and woke up at 4 a.m. to join Itabashi and the others.

“It’s not often you get a chance to see the coach and players up close, so I’m looking forward to it,” Nakamura said.

Reiko Ito, 48, an office worker from Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, who has been a Tigers fan for 40 years, took her place in the front row of the Kobe parade route at 6 a.m.

She said she thought, “I’ve gotta go!” and left her home by car the previous night.

She wore a Tigers uniform with the name of star outfielder Koji Chikamoto.

The parades for both teams were hosted by a committee consisting of the Osaka and Hyogo prefectural governments and business organizations.

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