Keio Shiki Senior High School Rugby Football Club's First Hanazono Appearance and Top 16 Finish

Akira Takei

Keio Shiki Senior High School

Director of the Rugby Football Club, Physical Education Teacher  

In its 68th year since its founding, the Keio Shiki Senior High School Rugby Football Club finally achieved its long-held dream of making its first appearance at Hanazono. Even on this first major stage, the players fought without hesitation, achieving a Top 16 finish—the first for a debut school in 22 years. Supporting this breakthrough was the joint practice sessions with the university Rugby Football Club, which continued once a week for four months starting in September. The experience of continuing these joint practices with university students became a great source of strength for maintaining our own style at Hanazono.

In the first round against Aomori Yamada High School, our tactics clicked, and we were able to play rugby exactly as we intended, winning 48 to 12. In contrast, the second round against Kagoshima Jitsugyo was a series of difficult situations where we were unable to establish our rhythm for a long time. However, everyone continued to persevere, and in the end, we managed to bring the game into our preferred style to win. That tenacity symbolized our growth over the past month and a half (winning 31 to 17).

In the match against Higashi Fukuoka High School for a spot in the Top 8, we were momentarily overwhelmed in a desperate situation with a score of 0 to 69, but with 15 minutes remaining. Even under circumstances where the outcome was decided, the players did not give up and focused on the "maul" they had been strengthening, pushing forward with grit to score two tries characteristic of the Keio Shiki Rugby Football Club. At the moment of No Side, their expressions were filled with both regret and the refreshment of having stayed true to Keio Shiki rugby (ending 14 to 69).

Looking back, in the high-pressure Saitama Prefecture qualifiers, the players' expressions showed stiffness and tension, but at Hanazono, they were like different people—tough and purely "enjoying" playing rugby. From the victory in the Saitama qualifiers won through suffering to the defeat at Hanazono on New Year's Day. For the Keio Shiki Senior High School Rugby Football Club, these one and a half months were truly a "dream-like time," and a period during which the players achieved phenomenal growth. When the new team started a year ago, the sight of them playing against Higashi Fukuoka at Hanazono Ground No. 1 on New Year's was a scene I could not have imagined at all.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone whose cheers filled the stands from the first round and enveloped Hanazono with an excitement like that of a home ground. The experience gained at Hanazono, where we stood for the first time in our 68-year history, has become a great asset for the club that will lead to the future. The Keio Shiki Senior High School Rugby Football Club will continue to move forward, step by step, aiming for Hanazono once again.

Junichi Kawakami

Keio University Athletic Association Rugby Football Club

Chairman of the Kokukokai (Alumni Association)  

Founded in 1958, despite being a team with a long history as the sixth high school registered in Saitama Prefecture, during the Showa era, they were not permitted to wear the Tiger (Black and Yellow) jersey used by the university Rugby Football Club and the Keio Senior High School Rugby Football Club. Their official uniform was a black jersey with two yellow lines on the chest, commonly known as the "Cat Jersey." Later, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the club's founding, it changed to the Black and Yellow jersey. This time, the Kokukokai presented a newly made Black and Yellow jersey as a commemorative gift for their appearance and sent them off to Hanazono. At Hanazono, there were old ruggers in Shiki High School Cat Jerseys from previous generations who had passed the ball along the long and difficult road of evolution from cat to tiger. The newly made Black and Yellow jerseys, which they won for themselves with a spirit of enterprise, looked radiant on the national stage.

In the 1974 Saitama Prefecture qualifiers semi-final of the National High School Rugby Football Tournament against Gyoda Kogyo High School, I played as the No. 8 in my third year of high school. We were expected to be the team closest to Hanazono in history, but the result was a narrow 6-12 loss, and the dream of appearing at Hanazono vanished. However, in the same year, we achieved our first-ever victory in the regular match against Keio Senior High School. Shiki High School, which had accumulated strength in the decade or so since its founding, showed its presence and had already turned into a young tiger in cat's clothing, beginning to roar.

This season, by commuting to Hiyoshi every week to learn from the university and Keio Senior High School members, they acquired a toughness that is not easily intimidated. Before the prefecture finals, University Head Coach Aonuki treated the Shiki High School students to encouraging katsu-sandwiches, and they were inspired by the taste of the Keio rugby bond. Furthermore, Doshisha Kori High School, with whom we have had a long-standing exchange through regular matches, made a kind offer to let us use their ground in preparation for this Hanazono appearance, making us realize once again that we are here today thanks to friendship and the support of those around us.

During the Showa era, the directors were Mr. Masashi Shimbo for a long time and now Mr. Akira Takei, providing continuous guidance. The synergy between the director and the head coach appointed by the Rakushikai (Shiki High School Rugby Football Club Alumni Association) is a strength unique to an integrated school. The Kokukokai, which oversees all Keio rugby, works closely with each integrated school to maintain a consistent system across elementary, junior high, high school, and university. While utilizing the individuality of each team, we continue to strive to integrate tradition, innovation, and diversity to maximize the strengths of the Juku's integrated education.

This is a congratulatory message from President Tadao Ishikawa for the 30-year history of the Shiki High School Rugby Football Club: "When I think of the tradition cultivated over many years by people who love and nurtured rugby at the Juku, I feel strongly the exquisite harmony of it all. This is because the factor that creates tradition is not physical 'time' itself, but 'people,' or to put it more precisely, the accumulation of 'souls.'"

In the land of Shiki, we have accumulated a free-spirited and wild soul, nurtured a Keio rugby soul slightly different from Hiyoshi, and after a 68-year maturation period, we were able to share it with the nation. I am confident that in the future, as a driving force for all Keio rugby, we will surely advance new history like a driving maul.

"The soul of a cat remains until a hundred." Congratulations, Shiki High School Rugby Football Club! And kickoff toward 100 years!