Pregame ceremonies

And, yes, here they really are like ceremonies.

They had more than a hundred black- and white-robed people on the field before the game, using swords to faux fight, as a drum banged between first and second base.

After that a second group came out armed with sticks, to perform a similar ceremony. Then a calligrapher came onto the field, near home plate, and wrote a word on a giant piece of cloth (I think) in black paint.

No one clapped. Apparently that's not what you do...