WBC Champs!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11937384

Fans packed sports bars to cheer on the team, and streets in the downtown Shibuya area, on weekends usually jammed with young people, were notably quieter than normal.

“I just wanted to say that we proved that Japan’s the best . . . hell, yeah,” said Kentaro Watanabe, speaking in English.

“It’s great, just fantastic,” added the 25-year-old advertising agency worker, who draped himself in the Japanese flag after watching the game at a Shibuya sports bar.

Watanabe and around a hundred others at the bar watched avidly until Japan finally edged Cuba 10-6, cheering when their team scored and groaning, heads in hands, when Cuba scored.

When the game ended with Japan the inaugural world champions, they jumped to their feet and set off crackers, shouting and chanting “Japan, Japan.”