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It was a Friday night.
After work, I was drinking at my usual place.
Somewhere into my second draft beer, my friend suddenly said:
“Hey, wanna go watch a pool match tomorrow?”
“A pool match?”
“Yeah. A pro tournament. It’s on in Yokohama.”
“Nah, I don’t even know the rules.”
“Doesn’t matter if you don’t. I just want you to see it once.”
Picking at the edamame, I was only half listening.
“No, it’s just different, seeing it live. Not like on video.”
My friend was strangely fired up.
Not usually the type at all.
“It’s hot. I don’t want to go out.”
“It’s indoors. Air-conditioned.”
“…What time?”
“Nine in the morning.”
“No way.”
“Then come in the afternoon. You can watch from partway through.”
Somewhere around ordering a third, I gave in.
The next day.
Honestly, I still wasn’t keen.
Stepping out of Kannai Station, the summer air wrapped around me all at once.
The glare off the asphalt stung my eyes.
Cicadas were singing from the gaps between buildings.
I followed my friend into the elevator of a mixed-use building.
The moment the doors opened, cool air wrapped around me.
The cicadas outside went silent.
Several tables stood in a row.
People had gathered around one of them.
It was quiet.
Someone was murmuring something.
A chair creaked faintly.
The low hum of the air conditioner never stopped.
Into that stillness came the sound of a ball dropping into a pocket — tok.
I didn’t really know what was going on.
I didn’t know the rules.
I couldn’t even tell who was winning.
My friend explained a little, in a low voice.
But after a while, rather than hearing it explained, I just wanted to watch.
A player was walking slowly around the table.
Footsteps sounded softly on the floor.
Looking at the balls.
But it seemed different from just looking.
It was the face of someone thinking something through.
The player stopped and pressed a small blue square to the tip of the cue.
Round, and round.
For some reason, I loved those few seconds.
Down into the stance.
The upper body lowered quietly, face close to the cue.
The room seemed to go a little quieter.
A short, sharp crack.
The ball was drawn into the pocket, and the white ball rolled slowly and stopped on the far side of the table.
A small, scattered round of applause.
Why it stopped there, I couldn’t tell.
But the people around me were nodding.
I can’t quite say what was so cool about it.
Maybe it was the beautiful form.
Maybe it was that face, so focused.
Maybe it was that quiet pause before the shot.
Maybe it was all of it, or none of it.
Only, that player seemed to be thinking something, and passing it straight into the ball.
And that, somehow, was cool.
On the way home, my friend and I walked toward the station.
It was still hot. The evening heat lingered on the asphalt.
“So, what did you think?” my friend asked.
“It was kind of… cool.”
That was all I could say.
My friend laughed.
“The finals are on tomorrow, too.”
On August 22, the qualifying rounds of the All Japan Ladies Pro Tour are being held at POOL LABO and MECCA Yokohama.
And tomorrow, August 23, the final tournament takes place at POOL LABO.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the rules.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t tell who’s winning.
That stillness, that sound, those focused eyes — just watching them is enough.
At first, that alone is plenty.
Surely, watching someone, you’ll find yourself thinking:
“That was kind of cool.”
👉 Yokohama Open Official YouTube channel
👉 See the Yokohama Billiard Hall Guide
👉 Billiards resources from Japan and around the world, organized by purpose: Billiards in Depth (latest updated hourly)
