Shinzo Koizumi and Sports: On the 125th Anniversary of the Athletic Association

2017/11/01

Image: Shinzo Koizumi at the opening ceremony ceremonial first pitch of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League (April 10, 1965, collection of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

I am Soji Kanki, as introduced. I am honored to have this opportunity on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Athletic Association.

I graduated from the Juku in 1992, marking my 25th anniversary this year. Rather than saying "I graduated from such-and-such faculty," I feel more like "I graduated from the Tennis Club," as I feel I was truly raised by the Athletic Association. We only beat Waseda once in four years, but the days of my youth, fighting as one team with the goal of defeating a strong Waseda, will never fade.

Today's theme is "Shinzo Koizumi and Sports." Speaking of Shinzo Koizumi, his commemorative lecture at the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Athletic Association 55 years ago is incredibly famous. For me, who was born after his passing and did not know him directly, being able to participate in this 125th anniversary ceremony of the Athletic Association—where that famous speech "Practice makes the impossible possible" was delivered—is deeply moving.

Recently, on April 23, Keio Foundation Day, the "Keio University Athletic Association 125th Anniversary Ceremony" was held at Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall. The Keio University Athletic Association began in 1892. It unified the previously individual clubs of swordsmanship, jujutsu, baseball, and rowing, and newly established and organized clubs for archery, drill (military gymnastics), and walking, launching with the aim of "the healthy physical development of all Keio students."

Yukichi Fukuzawa believed in "first forming the animal body and then nourishing the human heart," and incorporated Western physical education philosophy into the education of Keio University. In the rulebook of the Juku during the Shiba Shinsenza era, it is written: "After dinner in the evening, students should engage in various play such as tree climbing and ball games according to the methods of gymnastics, and strive to exercise the body." There were exercise tools such as swings, seesaws, and horizontal bars on the premises, and he even went on excursions with the students. Even after moving to Mita, he encouraged students to exercise, equipped the premises with various mechanical tools, and hired experts to teach students exercise. I feel Yukichi Fukuzawa's foresight in incorporating the idea of athletic sports into education, rather than the traditional training of martial arts and discipline that involved enduring pain to acquire skills.

In the March 23, 1893 issue of Jiji Shinpo, the year after the Athletic Association was founded, Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote an article titled "Do Not Forget the Purpose of Physical Education." He stated that education is not just about knowledge but also the development of the body through exercise, and while it is good that students tend to value physical education, he wanted them to never forget its original purpose. Physical training creates a strong body free of disease, and the spirit also becomes active and refreshing. If one is healthy in mind and body, one can act to overcome all the difficulties of society, but this is merely "a means to success in life." He argued that making physical education the goal of life would be confusing the means with the end.

There is a close relationship between the body and the spirit. One engages in physical education because making the body healthy through athletic activities is necessary when striving in academic studies. Therefore, it is out of the question to do only physical education while neglecting academics, and then to engage in unhealthy or immoral behavior relying on a robust body. This is likely why Yukichi Fukuzawa did not make physical education a regular subject but kept it as an extracurricular activity.

The phrase "the literary and military arts" (Bunbu Ryodo) can be said to have inherited this thinking of Yukichi Fukuzawa. It is the idea that "before being a member of an Athletic Association club, one is a Keio student." Since then, the Keio University Athletic Association has played an important role in the Japanese sports world as a pioneer of numerous sports.

During the 125th anniversary ceremony, a video titled "Messages from 43 Clubs Carrying the Future of Student Sports" was screened. Photos of each club during competition were projected on the screen one after another, and the captains showed their club's slogan written on a board. I empathized and resonated with the various slogans of each club, was moved by the desperate expressions of the students, and tears overflowed many times. Among them, it was also very impressive that only the Tennis Club wrote Shinzo Koizumi's "Practice makes the impossible possible" on their board.

The nameplate for the "Tennis Club" at the entrance of the club room is taken from characters written by Shinzo Koizumi himself. While seeing that nameplate and the monument of "Practice makes the impossible possible" next to Court No. 1 every day, I am ashamed to say that I knew nothing about what kind of person Shinzo Koizumi was during my student days. The phrase "Practice makes the impossible possible" was perhaps too close to be truly understood.

A major turning point for me was being involved in the 100th anniversary events of the Tennis Club in 2001 and editing Shinzo Koizumi's essays for the commemorative book "100 Years of Keio Tennis." This work became a precious opportunity for me to come into contact with Koizumi's literature. Then, at the 100th anniversary celebration, we were honored by the presence of the current Emperor and Empress. As a member of the guest reception staff, I was able to greet Their Majesties up close at the venue's reception. I still cannot forget this thrill. Why were Their Majesties able to attend a commemorative event for a single sports club of a private university? I felt once again at that time that it was undoubtedly because of the existence of "Shinzo Koizumi." With this excitement as a catalyst, I began to read Shinzo Koizumi's works and became attracted to his writing.

Later, when I wrote an article for the Yochisha publication "Ko'uma" while being very conscious of Shinzo Koizumi's style, I was contacted by Professor Keita Yamauchi, whom I had never met before, and we decided to edit Shinzo Koizumi's essays together. This led to the book "Practice Makes the Impossible Possible" (Keio University Press, 2004), a collection of essays related to sports. Subsequently, in 2008, I conducted and edited interviews with his second daughter, Ms. Tae Koizumi, over a period of two years, and published it as the book "Talking about My Father, Shinzo Koizumi" (Keio University Press).

In May 2008, at the "120th Anniversary Shinzo Koizumi Exhibition" (Old University Library, Mita Campus), I served as an executive committee member along with Professor Yamauchi and Professor Takeyuki Tokura of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center. We welcomed the visit of the Emperor and Empress, and I explained the exhibition booth related to tennis. After viewing the exhibition, I was granted the honor of chatting with the Emperor and Empress over tea. Watching them repeatedly say "Shinzo-sensei," mentioning how "Shinzo-sensei really helped us at that time (at the time of their marriage 50 years ago)" and "Shinzo-sensei supported us," I felt strongly that Shinzo Koizumi was indeed the teacher of Their Majesties.

Then, in the summer of 2014, I published my first work, "Biography of Shinzo Koizumi" (Keio University Press), and presented a copy to the Emperor via the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency. This book received many responses from the generation that knew Shinzo Koizumi directly, and seniors who had been under his influence read it fondly, as if stroking precious memories.

After Shinzo Koizumi's death, in 1967, the "Shinzo Koizumi Memorial Keio University Academic Promotion Fund" was established for the purpose of promoting academic affairs at Keio University and related projects. The "Koizumi Sports Awards" system was established with the aim of "honoring groups or individuals belonging to the Athletic Association who are outstanding in character, healthy, and have enhanced the reputation of Keio University through sports." The Koizumi Sports Award is given for achievements in all-Japan or international matches, and the Koizumi Sports Encouragement Award is given for similar good results or winning the Kanto student championships. I think the students of the Athletic Association are doing their best in both academics and sports, trying to beat Waseda and become number one in Japan. However, while current members aim for the Koizumi Sports Award, they do not know who that "Koizumi" is. I was appalled to hear that some students think it is Junichiro Koizumi's award. However, it cannot be helped that today's students do not know Shinzo Koizumi. I myself belong to the generation born after Shinzo Koizumi's death, and no one taught me about him during my student days. Therefore, I believe it is our responsibility to convey to the next generation that a person named Shinzo Koizumi existed in Keio University and in Japan.

Last month, I conducted a survey of all 844 Yochisha students, excluding absentees, asking if they knew "Shinzo Koizumi." For those who knew him, I asked them to write "what kind of person he was." One first-grader knew him (0.7%), and 46 sixth-graders (32.0%). In total, it was 139 students (16.5%). I am not sure if this number is high or low.

At Yochisha, we do not dogmatically teach about Yukichi Fukuzawa in classes, but it is a school that conveys the various tangible and intangible spirits left by Fukuzawa. However, Shinzo Koizumi is even less likely to be used as teaching material in class, and except for the classes I am in charge of, students do not learn about Shinzo Koizumi in school life. I hope to convey his legacy to the Yochisha students, who are young Keio students, whenever I have the opportunity.

Yukichi Fukuzawa was born in 1835, and Shinzo Koizumi was born in 1888, a difference of 53 years. Shinzo's father, Nobukichi Koizumi, came to Edo from Wakayama, studied at the Fukuzawa Juku, and was deeply trusted by Fukuzawa, eventually being entrusted with the position of headmaster. Nobukichi died at the young age of 45 on December 8, 1894. Yukichi Fukuzawa visited the Koizumi residence in Sakuragicho, Yokohama, to check on him around that time. It is speculated that the first time Shinzo met Yukichi Fukuzawa was at the Koizumi residence at that time. Shinzo was about 3 or 6 years old and had almost no memory of it, but he apparently remembered that Nobukichi called Yukichi Fukuzawa "Sensei," and wrote, "I naturally knew through a child's intuition that this was a person my father respected."

After Nobukichi's death, Yukichi Fukuzawa had the Koizumi family live in one of the buildings on his estate on Mita Hilltop Square. At this time, Yukichi Fukuzawa was 60 and Shinzo was 7. At 60, Yukichi Fukuzawa engaged in a surprising amount of exercise. It was his daily routine to wake up before dawn every morning and take a walk, and he even built a rice-pounding hut on the estate, where he pounded rice every morning while groaning "un-un." He also practiced Iai (quick-draw swordsmanship). He would quickly draw and swing a large sword with a blade length of 2 shaku 4 sun 9 bu (approx. 75 cm) and a weight of 310 monme (approx. 1.2 kg, much heavier than a baseball bat).

Shinzo wrote as follows:

"I have also seen the Master perform his favorite Iai in the garden. In the evening, while I was in the garden, the Master appeared wearing a yukata with a sash, his hem tucked up, wearing sandals, and a sword at his waist. The Master stopped, adjusted his posture, and then, with a shout, drew his sword, swung it over his head, stepped forward, stepped forward, and made a cutting motion. Then, in an instant, he returned the sword to its scabbard. I watched in surprise as the blade flashed white in the air. The Master repeated the same motion many times." ("My Residence")

In Yukichi Fukuzawa's diary, it says: "Performed 1,000 Iai draws. Finished between a little after 8:30 AM and 1:00 PM without rest." During this time, if one steps forward and moves back and forth in a certain place, the distance covered would be two and a half ri (approx. 10 km).

Shinzo inherited Fukuzawa's scholarship and business, adored Fukuzawa from the bottom of his heart, and protected the Keio University that Fukuzawa built with his life. Yukichi Fukuzawa was Shinzo's lifelong goal. Shinzo read Yukichi Fukuzawa's books, spoke Yukichi Fukuzawa's words, and studied diligently to get even a little closer to the Master. In other words, Shinzo Koizumi lived his life deeply conscious of Yukichi Fukuzawa.

"I believe the fact that I grew up in Mita, and moreover in the neighborhood of the Fukuzawa residence, dominated my life. Even setting aside difficult matters of scholarship and thought, in trivial points of daily living attitudes, I have been unconsciously transformed by the atmosphere of Yukichi Fukuzawa or the Fukuzawa household." (Ibid.)

he wrote. This was the original landscape of Shinzo Koizumi's sports, and it might be considered that the image of Yukichi Fukuzawa as an athlete was unconsciously imprinted on him. I believe it is not at all wrong to think that "Shinzo Koizumi loved sports because Yukichi Fukuzawa was a person who loved sports."

In 1902, the year after Yukichi Fukuzawa's passing, 14-year-old Shinzo transferred into the second year of the Keio Futsubu School. His house was at the foot of the hill, having moved from the Fukuzawa residence on Mita Hilltop Square in 1895. It is where the wooden Horikoshi Orthopedic Clinic is now, next to the fire station on the way from the main gate to the Chutobu Junior High School.

At that time, the Keio Futsubu School was on Mita Hilltop Square. Leaving the house and opening the back gate, he was already on the premises. Running up the slope, he was immediately at school. Shinzo joined the Tennis Club the year after it was founded. "I was the one who put away the nets last when the sun went down, and I was the one who rolled up and removed the frost-protection mats on winter mornings." ("My Residence"). After all, since his house was just down the cliff from the tennis courts, he stayed on the tennis courts all day practicing. "My rise as an athlete was fast. In exchange, the practice was unimaginably intense." ("Tennis and I").

Tennis at that time was soft tennis. The pioneer was the Tokyo Higher Normal School ("Koshi," later Tokyo University of Education, now University of Tsukuba), which founded its club in 1886. That was 15 years before Keio. The Tokyo Higher Commercial School ("Kosho," later Tokyo University of Commerce, now Hitotsubashi University) followed. The two schools began dual matches in 1898. Keio followed with its club founding in 1901, and Waseda in 1903. At the time of founding, the strength of "Koshi" and "Kosho" was overwhelming, and even if a school like Keio applied for a dual match, they were rarely taken seriously.

Two years after joining, 16-year-old Shinzo was active as the captain of the entire Juku while still a Keio Futsubu School student. This means he had become stronger than the university students. In 1904, when they beat "Kosho" for the first time, Shinzo played a major role as captain. As he wrote, "1904 should be remembered as the year of the advance of private school sports against government schools" ("Our Era"), in this year, Keio defeated Kosho for the first time, and Waseda also defeated Koshi.

Shinzo's practice was intense. Shinzo was given the nickname "Tadon" (charcoal ball). This was because the moment he tried to hit a hard ball, his eyes would bulge and round, resembling a black tadon ball. In Jiji Shinpo, it was recorded: "Koizumi's backcourt play was flawless, the hot balls flying stronger than bullets" and "a formation so tight not even a drop of water could leak through."

However, when Shinzo turned 17 and progressed from the Keio Futsubu School to the university preparatory course, he began to find interest in studying. Furthermore, upon entering the college, he became absorbed in listening to lectures and was completely captivated by the charm of scholarship. Around that time, the Keio Tennis Club became strong as a team, and they would win before it was even time for Shinzo, the captain, to take the court. Against those "Koshi" and "Kosho" teams, they fought five times in the year from 1907, when Shinzo entered the college, and did not lose once.

Thinking "Keio wins even if I don't play in the match," he became even more enthusiastic about scholarship. Furthermore, since his skills had originally been forged through intense practice, when he became more enthusiastic about studying than practice, his tennis skills naturally declined. In the year he turned 20, when his turn finally came in matches against "Koshi" and "Kosho," Shinzo lost consecutively.

After this, citing responsibility for the defeat as captain and his own poor performance, he resigned from the Tennis Club to take responsibility. Because of his stubborn personality—hating to lose, not being satisfied unless he mastered something to the end, and being unable to do things halfway—he probably could not do both tennis and study half-heartedly. There is his later phrase "Hard fighter, good loser," and this was exactly its practice. However, the "spirit" cultivated in tennis became flesh and blood in his scholarship as well.

Shinzo remained at the university after graduation, becoming a teacher and continuing his scholarship. In the year Shinzo graduated and became a teacher, there was a debate in the Tennis Club about whether to switch from soft tennis to hard tennis. Since Keio was sufficiently strong in the soft tennis world at the time, it was difficult to throw away the skills and status they had acquired and challenge the new hard tennis. Shinzo also opposed it, as it was just after the defeat in the Kosho match, saying, "Doing hardball in such a spiritless state will come to nothing. At least wait until we have pacified the realm," and the move to hard tennis was postponed. Later, the Keio Tennis Club won big in all dual matches against Koshi, Kosho, etc., and finally decided to adopt hard tennis. In 1913, it was the first switch to hard tennis in the Japanese tennis world.

It was during this period that Shinzo studied abroad in Britain and Germany. Shinzo joined a tennis club in London and experienced hard tennis. The intense strokes of hard tennis he saw at Wimbledon were so incredible they seemed beyond human capability, and he was greatly surprised. He then realized that his thinking in opposing the switch to hard tennis had been wrong. He wrote and sent a Wimbledon spectator report to his friends from his Tennis Club days, and encouraged the Tennis Club by sending a book titled "The Art of Lawn Tennis" by the player Wilding, who had won four consecutive men's singles titles at Wimbledon.

Shinzo felt proud that the students had taken the step to switch to hard tennis. Due to this switch, they temporarily had no opponent schools to play dual matches with, but eventually other universities followed suit and adopted hard tennis one after another a few years later.

Shinzo served as the Tennis Club Director for ten years from 1922 until the year before he became President in 1932. Between the ages of 34 and 44, as Director, he shared much time with the club members. Even when they lost the Waseda-Keio rivalry, while he was in a position to soothe the students as Director, the young Director in his 30s empathized and resonated with the members. Therefore, a united team came to be formed.

He humbly said, "The method by which I encouraged the players was simple; it was nothing more than the single fact of always being with them," but during the Director Koizumi era, he raised the club from Waseda's golden age to being called the "Tennis Kingdom Keio." Initially, they lost six consecutive times in the Waseda-Keio rivalry, but he was the Director during the turning point when the history of consecutive losses shifted to a history of consecutive wins. He reportedly called this period of perseverance, which laid the foundation for later glory, the "Glorious Six Consecutive Losses."

One summer vacation, Shinzo, who was busy with six hours of translation and writing work a day, would put down his pen even if he was in the middle of a line when the clock on his desk hit four o'clock, and go from his home in Gotenyama to Omori, where the courts were located at the time. He would watch the final smash practice, hear about the day's situation from the players, and sometimes treat them to Chinese food. On the day before the Waseda-Keio rivalry, he made a lot of potato salad and brought it to the members who were at a training camp near the Omori courts.

The Waseda-Keio rivalry in the fall of 1926, which became the last of the "Glorious Six Consecutive Losses," was decided 5-3 in favor of Waseda, and as the sun set, the match of number one player Koichiro Ishii remained for the following Monday. It was a five-set match and he was two sets down (0-6, 2-6), and the third set was 3-3, so he was at a considerable disadvantage. Shinzo, who had a lecture at Mita the next day, drove from Tamachi to the Waseda courts in Totsuka. In the end, this match was won by taking three consecutive sets in a great comeback from two sets down. The significance of winning this number one showdown was great, and it became the foundation for the consecutive wins starting the following year. Even though the match might have ended with three games lost, one can feel the spirit of Director Koizumi who rushed to the court. The students were inspired by the Master's actions. It was that match that created "Tennis Kingdom Keio." Director Koizumi may have known the greatness of the meaning that match held.

I would like to mention Japanese tennis here. So far, only six Japanese male players have been ranked in the world top ten (Ichiya Kumagae, Zenzo Shimizu, Takeichi Harada, Jiro Sato, Jiro Yamagishi, and Kei Nishikori). Among these six, besides Zenzo Shimizu of Kosho, Jiro Sato of Waseda, and the currently active Nishikori, the three players Ichiya Kumagae, Takeichi Harada, and Jiro Yamagishi are all from the Juku Athletic Association Tennis Club. Isn't the fact that 50% are Keio-related a feat that Keio University can be proud of?

Kumagae, who joined the Tennis Club the year Shinzo Koizumi graduated, worked for the Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha Banking Department after graduating from Keio and moved his base to America as a New York representative. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, he won silver medals in both singles and doubles, becoming the first Japanese Olympic medalist. However, for Kumagae, a silver medal was a loss. In his book "Tennis as a Lifelong Friend," he states, "I have never been moved to tears of indignation and bitter resentment as much as on this night (the night of the final)" and "It is no exaggeration to say it was the blunder of a lifetime in my tennis life." When Kei Nishikori won the bronze medal in men's singles at the Rio Olympics last year, the commentator said, "It is the first medal for a Japanese in 96 years," and the player 96 years ago was Ichiya Kumagae.

Tennis Club members were greatly stimulated by having an alumnus like Ichiya Kumagae. In 1927, the members playing in Tennis Club matches included six All-Japan players. Kumagae reportedly played two sets of singles against each of these six players and won all 12 sets. I believe there is no doubt that having such an incredibly strong alumnus raised the awareness of the spirit of practice and the actual ability of the entire Tennis Club. It can be said that Keio University's switch to hard tennis produced the world-class Kumagae, created a Japanese team that could compete globally, and created Tennis Kingdom Keio.

In 1933, at the young age of 45, Shinzo became President. He reportedly hesitated a great deal when recommended for the presidency. However, having known the happiness of sharing joy and sorrow with students and educating them through winning and losing against Waseda during his ten years as Tennis Club Director, he told himself, "It's like a large Tennis Club." Shinzo conveyed a message to the students as President: "I want you to train both mind and body, and to be strong and robust people who say what they believe, always carry out what they say, and do not falter." One can see his determination to put forth his full effort with a new resolve toward the aspirations that Keio University has cherished since Yukichi Fukuzawa.

When the Pacific War began on December 8, 1941, the government and military put pressure on the free education of universities. Keio University was particularly targeted by the government. The founder, Yukichi Fukuzawa, was the person who had introduced the culture and civilization of the West, the enemy they were now fighting, and they made false accusations that the school Fukuzawa built was outrageous. Shinzo desperately protected that Keio University.

On October 22, 1942, the year after the war began, his son Nobukichi Koizumi, who had gone to war as a Navy Lieutenant, was killed in action. He was hit by a shell during a decisive battle with enemy ships on the front lines of the South Pacific as part of the Navy. Over a period of more than a year starting the following spring, Shinzo wrote a memoir for Nobukichi, looking back on his 25-year life, titled "Navy Paymaster Lieutenant Nobukichi Koizumi."

In the following year, 1943, the Ministry of Education issued an order to dissolve the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League on the grounds that it was a sport of enemy countries. Member schools of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League were gradually forced to suspend activities. Furthermore, with the worsening of the war situation, an imperial decree was issued in October to suspend the deferment of conscription for students in the humanities, and "student mobilization" began. Many students at Keio also had to go to the battlefield in the middle of their studies without waiting for graduation. Hearing the students' desire to play baseball one last time, to have a Waseda-Keio rivalry match, Director Shin Arata Hirai proposed the holding of a Waseda-Keio match to President Shinzo Koizumi. He worked hard to realize it as a send-off for the students.

When Mr. Choichi Aida, who was the manager of the Waseda University Baseball Club, tried to invite President Koizumi, who was at Totsuka Stadium on the day of the "Waseda-Keio Match to Send Off Mobilized Students," to a special seat, he was told, "I have more fun being with the students," and Professor Koizumi sat in the student section. Mr. Aida wrote as follows:

"I felt my eyes involuntarily grow hot. Thinking of the consistent and splendid attitude of the Keio side under the Master's brave decision in holding this send-off match, and the Master's consideration for the students, I had never felt that the Keio students, who had such a splendid person as the Master as their President, looked so happy and enviable."

When President Koizumi went to Hiyoshi once a week to see the state of the preparatory course classes, he would go down to Mamushidani and make a round of tennis, judo and kendo halls, sumo, karate, boxing, and archery. The students would stop practicing, line up, and bow. While there are 43 clubs in the Athletic Association now, there were 23 clubs at the time of President Koizumi. Shinzo saw most of those Waseda-Keio matches. "Among the Japanese university presidents at the time, there was probably no one who appeared on the athletic fields as much as I did" ("Sports in General"). During his time as President, he reportedly wanted to win all the Waseda-Keio matches, and his dream seems to have been to have a grand celebration if that happened (laughs).

As for the current activities of the Athletic Association, looking at the 2016 Waseda-Keio Periodic Match Win-Loss Table ("Athletic Association Journal" 2017), the men have 13 wins and 33 losses. The women have 1 win and 17 losses. They are being beaten quite a bit by their arch-rival Waseda. In our Tennis Club, the men are on a 39-match losing streak in the Waseda-Keio rivalry since the fall of 1997, having been away from victory for 20 years. In other words, in these 25 years since I became an alumnus, it's 2 wins and 49 losses. But they are really doing their best.

Most universities have a Director's recommendation quota without exams. In the Kanto University Tennis League, Keio is desperately trying to stay in the top of the first division and aiming to be number one in Japan, but among the first and second division schools, Keio University is about the only one without a Director's recommendation quota. Within that, I think the Keio students are doing really well.

"The Tennis Club is not content with merely producing excellent tennis technicians. Through the refinement of technique, we aim to cultivate a respectable character and to be the source of elegance and integrity in our athletic world" ("Tennis Club Report," from his time as Director in 1929). Shinzo left these words.

In March of this year, a fire broke out from the garden of a house neighboring the Mamushidani tennis courts, and the Tennis Club was honored by the Kohoku Fire Station for performing the initial firefighting. All the Tennis Club members gathered 14 fire extinguishers from all over the campus and put out the fire by performing a bucket brigade over a distance of 70 meters from the club room. Even if they haven't become number one in Japan for now, I think the team power to put out a fire is wonderful. I want to give a big round of applause to the students of the Tennis Club. I think Professor Shinzo Koizumi would have been quite pleased if he were here.

I would like to introduce a few examples of how Professor Koizumi viewed sports other than tennis. At age 12, Shinzo was learning archery at the archery range on Mita Hilltop Square. Actually, this was during his Mita Elementary School days before entering the Keio Futsubu School, so he was not yet a Keio student, but as the son of a former President living in Mita under Fukuzawa's protection, he probably used the premises as a playground specially. Shinzo hit the golden target at the tournament in his introductory year and won the first-prize gold medal. That article also appeared in Jiji Shinpo, and he cheekily became the subject of an article as a player who won a gold medal despite not being a Keio student. Actually, it was a sport he did before tennis.

Next is baseball. Shinzo was a fanatical college baseball fan and watched the first Waseda-Keio match held at Mita Tsunamachi in November 1903. Even after the war, he would carry binoculars and watch matches other than Keio's, calling it reconnaissance of the enemy situation. "To a biased eye, he looked like a commander, but he also seemed like a spy chief," wrote his second daughter, Ms. Tae Koizumi. When he was in a bad mood after losing a Waseda-Keio match, he would console himself saying, "It can't be helped. Even Japan lost," and eat munchingly, and when they won, he was in a good mood and ate well.

In Shinzo's student days, there was no Sailing Team yet, but he wrote, "If there had been a club, I might have been asked to join." In the foreword to the first issue of the revived Sailing Team report, "Following Nature and Controlling Nature," he wrote:

"'Following nature and controlling nature'—nothing makes one feel the appropriateness of these words more than yacht sailing. In any case, a sail cannot go against the wind, but we can go against the wind simply by following the wind. Humans might listen to unreasonableness, but nature never does. Nature is generous only toward those who are obedient to it. It could be said that herein lies the severity and kindness of nature. This exquisite principle or philosophy is unconsciously mastered by those who maneuver a yacht."

I think it is a masterpiece of writing. I believe it is certain that Professor Koizumi never raced yachts as a competitive sport, but he had this much insight into a sport outside his specialty; I am very attracted to his sharp insight and writing ability. He also wrote, "The technique of maneuvering a sail is a device that humans can be proud of" ("Sports in General"). Changing the angle of the sail to run in a zigzag and advancing from downwind to upwind seems to be called "magiru" in boatmen's terminology, and Professor Koizumi was interested in this "magiru" yacht sailing and loved the scenery of white sails moving on the sea or lakes.

Another sport he expressed with literary excellence is ice hockey. "Brilliant lights are shining on the ice surface. Occasionally, mist rises from the ice surface, and the players' faces appear and disappear. It was truly beautiful" (Ibid.). Regarding swimming, he wrote: "A match of a competition is decided. The cheers, applause, and the roar of the entire venue do not stop for a while. At this time, on the water surface disturbed by the swimmers, the shadows of the lights are scattered into pieces and sparkle. Soon, as the roar quiets down, the surface of the water also gradually settles, and each light shadow is reflected clearly, long, quietly, and sways" (Ibid.). Regarding soccer, he wrote of the goalkeeper's appearance, "There is an air of facing national crisis with one's own body, which is truly good" ("Miscellaneous Talk on Sports").

Regarding the Alpine Club, he wrote that a special spirit and style can be felt, perhaps because they spend their days embraced by the bosom of nature. "I loved the special elegance of the Alpine Club members, but from their perspective, I might not have been a very talkative principal" ("Sports in General").

Professor Koizumi viewed sports with such sharp observation and outstanding insight.

A good example of the Koizumi style of viewing sports is baseball. When an infielder hits a ground ball and is out at first base, one sees the catcher running back to home, but the sight of the catcher throwing off his mask the moment the batter hits the ground ball in that play and running to back up first base is a play that no one sees or notices. Also, even if prepared for support, the first baseman probably won't miss the ball even once in ten times. Preparing for this low-probability but possible case, not neglecting the play of the unsung hero as a team—this is what he considers teamwork and the sportsman's spirit. "In countless scenes of real life that are not sports, we must make this catcher's preparation and effort" ("On 'Teamwork'"). He states from his sharp insight what valuable lessons sports give us and what teamwork is. This "On 'Teamwork'" is one of my favorite Koizumi essays.

Shinzo also had this view. In baseball, it is now natural to take a double play on an infield grounder with a runner on first, but in the past, such a play did not exist. It was enough to get one out. When someone boldly tried for a double play, they were able to get it. In this way, plays discovered by chance by people who refuse to give up and are enthusiastic about research have now become common sense. For Shinzo, it was not just watching sports, but seeing the world of scholarship, such as the progress of human technology, in sports. It can be said that he had outstanding insight into sports.

In my class at Yochisha, we now play dodgeball every day after school. I tell them that if one of our teammates is hit, try to catch that ball before it bounces. If you can catch the ball that bounced off them before it hits the ground, you can make the teammate who was out safe. I call this beautiful technique of saving a teammate a "super fine play," and if they can do it, I praise them immensely and give them a reward sticker. People might just be impressed by seeing this accidental play, thinking "That's lucky." But I think it's precisely because they were prepared to catch it that they were able to catch it. Without the mindset of "I'm going to catch it," the body cannot react. In fact, in my class, this super fine play has appeared 27 times by 16 people in this half year. I also think of the evolution of sports in the super fine plays of the children in my class.

As a theme of "Shinzo Koizumi and Sports," there is one episode that must not be forgotten. In the spring of 1952, learning that patients at a leprosy sanatorium, who were isolated and felt lonely with little entertainment, wished to see a baseball match of top-class players, Professor Koizumi mediated, and the Keio Baseball Club held an intra-squad match at Tama Zenshoen in Higashimurayama. The players were moved by this project, and it reportedly became a good game.

The person who was pitching well at this time was Yukichi Maeda, who later served as the manager of the Keio Baseball Club for a long time and passed away last year. It is said that when a home run was hit, seeing the residents sending their utmost applause to the batter with their disabled hands wrapped in bandages, he whispered "Thank you" to the batter.

Maeda later wrote, "I still cannot forget the emotion of that time," regarding the heart of the Master who, while being in a disabled body himself after suffering major burns in the air raid of May 25, 1945, thought of the unfortunate people suffering from illness and with little comfort. Professor Koizumi gave a precious experience not only to the patients but also to the baseball club members. He probably created such an opportunity precisely because he knew the great power that sports possess.

Exactly 55 years ago, in the commemorative lecture "Three Treasures Given by Sports" at the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Keio University Athletic Association in 1962, Professor Koizumi preached three things: "Practice makes the impossible possible," "the spirit of fair play," and "lifelong friends."

Professor Koizumi believed that by "practicing" and training the spirit and body, there are countless things that can make the impossible possible. For example, if you compare someone who has never ridden a bicycle with someone who can, their abilities are vastly different. Also, a person who does not know how to swim will drown and die if they fall into water. Drowning and dying versus floating and living is as different as being a different species of creature. Furthermore, seeing a small child fall into water before one's eyes, a person who can only watch silently because they cannot swim and a person who jumps in to save them are, he says, different kinds of human beings even morally. What separates them is "practice."

The confidence acquired by repeating practice, that strong heart, is the elegance of a beautiful human being. We must not think that the spiritual and physical abilities we are equipped with now are all the abilities we have. Shinzo believed that "if you practice, you can become a person who keeps time; if you practice, you can become a person who values integrity." Humans are born with a heart that loves, but there is a huge difference between polishing and strengthening it and neglecting it. The character for "practice" (shu/narau) is written as "wings are white." It is a character that represents a flightless fledgling learning how to fly by flapping its wings, and just as a fledgling flaps its wings, I think there are things we might forget if we do not flap the wings of our hearts.

Yochisha is a school that really does a lot of exercise, with athletic meets, school tournaments, swimming lessons in summer, and morning running and jump rope in winter. There are many scenes of performing various exercises, and sometimes children write essays using the phrase "Practice makes the impossible possible." Certainly, it is true that they won because they practiced, became able to do a back hip circle, or became able to swim 1,000 meters, but the true meaning of "Practice makes the impossible possible" that Professor Koizumi is talking about is actually not just about exercise. I want to convey to the children that it is about our dignity and elegance.

For example, giving greetings, tidying one's appearance, not forgetting things, being kind to friends, and being careful about manners when commuting to and from school. Whether or not one can give up their seat saying "Please, have a seat" when an elderly person or a person with a disability gets on a train or bus is a matter related to our dignity. I think that always telling oneself to have that tiny bit of courage is what becomes possible through practice. Only by continuing to think about giving up one's seat on a train or bus does the word "Please" come out instantly. That strong heart is the beautiful elegance that can be made possible through practice.

Professor Koizumi said, "Through practice, we can also enhance our dignity." Valuing appearance and etiquette was Shinzo's conviction and what he considered the mission of the Juku. Knowing what is right but not doing it is the same as not knowing what is right. Training the heart, morals such as appearance and etiquette, nobility of heart, the elegance that exudes, courage, kindness, patience—I believe those qualities of character are the true meaning of "Practice makes the impossible possible."

The IOC (International Olympic Committee) expresses the values of the Olympics with three keywords: Excellence, Friendship, and Respect, and asks young people around the world not only to understand these intellectually but to act upon them personally. Aren't these "Excellence," "Friendship," and "Respect" exactly the same as Professor Shinzo Koizumi's "Three Treasures Given by Sports"? The Olympic Charter's "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" states that the Olympic spirit requires mutual understanding based on friendship, solidarity, and fair play. I believe the essence of sports lies in such things, and the culture of the Juku Athletic Association, where the atmosphere and spirit of Fukuzawa and Koizumi's teachings remain, can be said to be a truly blessed environment.

Professor Koizumi left various writings at the time of the previous Tokyo Olympics (1964). He said we should strive as a nation to show "how kind the Japanese are, how they know courtesy and welcome guests warmly, how well-equipped various Japanese facilities are, and above all, how clean the land of Japan is and how well-cleaned it is." On the other hand, he wrote that in the depths of the hearts behind all that, there is a desire to win matches, to record even one more win, and to look up at the national flag and hear the playing of "Kimigayo" even one more time ("Message").

However, Professor Koizumi's idea was not to win at any cost. Practice not only makes the impossible possible but also adds a mysterious elegance to the attitude and movements of a sportsman. For example, in sumo, there is a kind of radiance in the body of a wrestler who has practiced sufficiently, while on the contrary, a certain dullness is felt in a sumo wrestler who has neglected practice. He wrote, "I hope that all Japanese athletes in the coming Olympics will be only those who possess the special elegance that comes from training and training" (Ibid.).

This is it, Shinzo's wish. It's not just "get a medal." It's that he wanted them to possess elegance by accumulating rigorous practice. As the Olympics approached, Shinzo felt the atmosphere in the country changing. It was a very natural, fair feeling of not only praying for the good fight of Japanese athletes but also wishing for the good fight of foreign athletes. Shinzo rejoiced that the Japanese people as a whole were learning the spirit of fair play through the opportunity of the Olympics.

The Tokyo Olympics ended successfully. The Olympics taught the youth of Japan what the national flag and national anthem of Japan are. When the national flag was raised, they naturally straightened their posture and "learned to think that this is our national flag and our national anthem. At the same time, people also came to know the national flags and national anthems of other countries, and learned that just as we love our country, they also love their countries" ("Confidence and Lessons of the Tokyo Olympics"). Professor Koizumi was satisfied that it was a truly precious opportunity for the Japanese people to think of Japan and to experience respecting the feelings of people from other countries.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are three years away. If Professor Koizumi were alive, I would like to ask him what he expects from these Olympics.

Sports were inseparable from Shinzo's life. It can be said that they had a great influence on his personality and character formation. For example, after the war, when he was involved in the education of the current Emperor during his time as Crown Prince as a regular participant in the education of the East Palace—covering everything from scholarship to manners and matters related to elegance—he gave the Crown Prince intense special tennis training for three to four hours once a week. Koichiro Ishii, an alumnus of the Keio Tennis Club, became the tennis instructor for His Highness. Professor Koizumi did not give His Highness special treatment and instructed him to always pick up the balls he missed himself. He also made him act as an umpire for the next match if he lost a match. This was because he believed the heart could be trained by knowing the severity of winning and losing.

After the war, Shinzo wrote in the "Tennis Club Report" that the decline in Japan's tennis strength was due to a lack of study. Valuing rigorous practice had been a strength of the Japanese, but as a reaction to the defeat, the idea arose that being strict about practice and discipline was feudalistic, and being willful or lenient was democratic, and people stopped being strict about the enforcement of practice. He wrote that such "democratic slackness" was the cause of the slump.

During his time as Tennis Club Director, he told the members, "I want you not to be satisfied merely with winning matches, but to cultivate a respectable character through the refinement of technique, and to show through your own actions what a true sportsman is—sturdy and sincere, brave and calm, and yet one who dares not consider self-interest for the sake of integrity." This was the ideal of student sports held by Professor Koizumi. Shinzo learned the meaning of "effort" as a tennis player. And he learned the experience of not being discouraged in adversity. He mastered the fact that "nothing in sports can be done by being lazy." Also, through being the Tennis Club Director, he learned the joy of seeing the growth of youth. He loved sports, and in his everyday way of thinking, he always rejoiced in the harmony of spirit and body, valued fair play, and did not approve of grandstanding. This can be called Koizumi's great theory and philosophy of sports.

Shinzo had the conviction that "a match should not be neglected until the very, very end; never give up." In the World Series, there was a case where the defensive side was leading by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, bases loaded, and a count of three balls and two strikes, and the batter struck out swinging. It should have been game set, but while the catcher missed the ball, all the runners and the batter returned home for a great walk-off comeback. "This is, of course, a rare example. However, it is possible in the world of winning and losing, and it actually happened" ("Sports and Education"). He seemed to hate the words of giving up, "It's no use anymore," the most.

Professor Koizumi was an athlete in his student days and remained a deep understander and defender of sports thereafter, but he was never a bystander; I believe he was always a participant. The "win-loving" Master was a brave fighter who made efforts to grasp victory without giving up until the end. What rouses one's weak self when one's heart is about to break in a disadvantageous situation is the confidence and courage cultivated through practice, and that "courage" that does not lose to difficulty was the elegance mastered through practice.

Therein one can feel Professor Koizumi's spirit and humanity, and see his way of life. Having the courage to do good, valuing truth, not permitting falsehood, having feelings of gratitude, and also having the courage to admit one's own faults. I believe these were exactly the treasures of "elegance" that the sport of tennis gave to Professor Koizumi through rigorous practice.

Thank you very much for your kind attention today.

(This article is based on a lecture given at the Shinzo Koizumi Memorial Lecture held on June 27, 2017.)