Keio-Waseda Baseball Games Support Committee

2019/09/09

"Members with a simple love for the Juku and a sincere, albeit small, spirit of service are drawn together and unite." A student group that offers this response is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the first year of the Reiwa era. This is the Keio-Waseda Baseball Games Support Committee (hereafter, the Support Committee).

The Support Committee is a student group dedicated to supporting various operations for the Waseda-Keio rivalry games of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. Its activities include selling cheering section tickets on each campus, public relations for the Juku baseball club's games, and guiding spectators and managing security around the venue on game days. It shares a brotherly relationship with the Keio University Cheerleading Team, as both are part of the student welfare organization—an institution comprising five groups that support the student life of Keio students from the perspective of student autonomy.

Why do we feel such a sense of unity when watching the Waseda-Keio rivalry games at Meiji Jingu Stadium? And why, each time Keio wins the championship, are we still able to parade with lanterns from the glittering districts of Jingu, Aoyama, Roppongi, and Azabu-Juban all the way to Mita Hilltop Square, singing "Wakaki-chi" and "Under the Sanshokuki" while receiving cheers from people along the route? It is all thanks to the underlying support of the Support Committee.

Past and present members of the Support Committee frequently visit the Meiji Jingu Gaien area and relevant police stations, and they learn safety manuals by actually working part-time at the company that manages games at Jingu Stadium. They strictly adhere to the rules. This accumulation of trust over many years has earned them recognition from related parties as being "in a class of their own," allowing them to accomplish things that no one else can.

While there are various theories about the 50-year roots of the Support Committee, current members say it began with the male students who provided security at the very back of the championship parades. At the time, watching college baseball at Meiji Jingu Stadium was extremely popular, but on the other hand, there were many instances of poor manners among student spectators, and a considerable number of Keio students ended up needing help from the police or emergency services. In response, members of the Support Committee at the time brought a handcart from the university to Jingu Stadium and used it to transport Keio students who had collapsed from drinking from the stadium to the nearby Keio Hospital. Furthermore, they paid visits to the Yotsuya, Marunouchi, Shibuya, and Tsukiji police stations, waited in front of police boxes in the areas where Keio students would gather, and rushed to resolve situations before police officers arrived.

Even in the Heisei era, according to alumni, there was an incident where the line from the former Meiji Park stretched all the way to the ticket gates of JR Sendagaya Station, preventing people from leaving the station. The police were said to have been deeply impressed by the sight of the Support Committee managing the situation with their signature techniques of forming six lines and coordinating crossings at traffic signals, orderly guiding the Keio crowd with only a limited number of members.

These unglamorous activities of the Support Committee may seem plain compared to those of its brother organization, the Keio University Cheerleading Team. However, as you will find when you speak with the members, every one of them has excellent posture, carries themselves with dignity, and is a pleasure to interact with. Within the Support Committee, detailed guidance is still passed down from senior to junior members, covering everything from how to greet others and proper language to email etiquette and rules about acceptable times to make contact.

I feel that having the Support Committee is a great strength for Keio University. I truly hope it continues for the next 50 years and beyond.

(Akimasa Tomoda, Manager, Hiyoshi Office of Student Services)