Vol. 6: Keio University Olympians / Hockey Club

2021/01/19

Image: Hockey players on a ship bound for Los Angeles. Hamada is on the far left of the front row, Asakawa is second from the right. Nakamura is fourth from the right in the back row. (Collection of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, donated by Mr. Taizo Hiranuma)

The silver medal won by Japan in hockey at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics was the first-ever medal for a team sport. While three Juku students and Keio University alumni contributed directly as representative players, it is no exaggeration to say that, in the long run, the very existence of the Juku Hockey Club itself was a major contributing factor.

Among the various modern sports in Japan, many have their roots in the Juku, and hockey is a prime example. It began in 1906 (Meiji 39) when missionary W.T. Grey (William Thomas Grey) introduced the sport in a lecture at the Mita Hilltop Square. He personally took up a stick to teach Juku students how to play, leading to the establishment of the Hockey Club. The following year, they played their first match in Yokohama against the YC&AC, a club for foreigners. However, their path was a thorny one. As a latecomer club, they were not granted permission to use the Tsunamachi Field and were forced to practice in vacant lots full of stones. Furthermore, because their admission to the Athletic Association was not readily approved, they had to cover all expenses themselves. Since no other Japanese teams existed, their opponents were exclusively foreign clubs in Yokohama and Kobe or teams of Juku alumni. This situation persisted for over 15 years.

After joining the Athletic Association in 1919 (Taisho 8), the Juku Hockey Club took the initiative to popularize the sport. In 1922, they introduced hockey to the Army Toyama School, where a hockey club was subsequently formed. The following year, hockey clubs were established at Waseda University and Meiji University, leading to the founding of the Japan Hockey Association and the first All Japan Hockey Championship. This wave of popularization continued with the start of the Keio-Waseda regular matches, the establishment of the Kanto Student Hockey Federation in 1925, and the commencement of league matches.

With the foundation of the sport established, competitive strength improved, and in 1932, a national team was finally dispatched to the Los Angeles Olympics. Thirteen representative players were sent, including three from the Juku: Masayuki Asakawa (Captain), Shunkichi Hamada, and Eiichi Nakamura. While some prominent players could not be selected due to various circumstances, Asakawa (Class of 1926) was a regular office worker at the time and reportedly participated despite opposition. The players trained on board the ship to stay in shape and arrived in Los Angeles after a journey of about two weeks.

The Los Angeles Olympics was a highly successful event for Japan, which sent its largest delegation to date. However, on a global scale, the number of participating athletes was about half that of previous and subsequent games, largely because many European teams declined to participate due to the long distance to the host city. In the end, only three teams competed in hockey: the previous champion India, the host United States, and Japan. A medal was guaranteed; the focus was on its color.

Japan's concern was the ground. For players accustomed to playing on dirt fields, playing on unfamiliar long grass was a significant handicap. In the actual competition, they were overwhelmed by India's superior strength as expected, losing 1–11, but they defeated the United States 9–2 to take second place. Although there were only three teams, it is not hard to imagine the joy that participating in the Olympics and winning a silver medal brought to the members of the Juku Hockey Club, who had pioneered an empty field and built its foundation.

At the following Berlin Olympics, European teams returned, and the number of participating countries increased to 11. From the Juku, Yasuo Ueno, Michihiro Ito, Takehiko Yanagi, and Shunkichi Hamada (appearing in his second consecutive games) were selected. Japan had never faced European teams before, and it was unknown how well they could compete. Placed in Group A of the preliminary round, Japan won consecutive matches against the United States (5–2) and Hungary (3–1) before facing India. While it was a chance to avenge their loss in Los Angeles, they were no match for India—the strongest team at the time—losing 0–9 and failing to reach the medal rounds after being eliminated in the group stage.

Yanagi recalled the tournament, saying, "We had no choice but to fight every opponent with our maximum strength. We didn't even have the luxury of changing our tactics depending on the opponent." Ueno was also shocked by India's ability but summarized his analysis of the match to inspire his juniors. Nevertheless, because they fought well against top teams during the tournament, they were considered to have the strength equivalent to 5th place. They were just one step away from the world's top tier, but the opportunity to try again was lost due to the war.

The return of Japanese hockey to the international stage after the war was delayed compared to other sports, and they had to wait until the 1960 Rome Olympics. The last appearances from the Juku Hockey Club were in Rome (Ken Iijima, Kunio Iwahashi) and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (Kunio Iwahashi).