Golden Week has always been a golden time for Japanese baseball. That series of consecutive holidays between April 29 and May 5 usually sees capacity or near-sellout crowds at all games scheduled during the period.

"If every week was Golden Week, we would never have an attendance problem," said one team official.

Obviously, every week cannot be a GW, but the next best thing comes up Sept. 21-23, thanks to a shift in the Japanese holiday calendar this year.