Publication of "The History of Keio Senior High School Baseball Club" — A History of High School Baseball from Meiji to Reiwa

2024/07/30

Last summer, "Wakaki-chi" echoed many times across the sun-drenched Koshien Stadium. The Keio Gijuku Shachu celebrated and cheered for the Keio Senior High School baseball club's victory as national champions.

Keio Senior High School was formed in 1949 through the integration of Keio Gijuku First Senior High School and Second Senior High School, which were established the previous year following the 1947 educational reforms. However, after the victory, newspaper headlines proclaimed it a "victory after 107 years." In other words, looking at the baseball club as the central axis, Keio Senior High School can be seen as having developed and been born from the Keio Futsubu School (Boys Junior High School) and the Keio Gijuku Commercial and Technical School. In fact, Keio Senior High School's Koshien appearances—10 in spring and 19 in summer—are a combined total including the 3 spring and 11 summer appearances of those two predecessor schools.

However, tracing its history further back leads to the Mita Baseball Club formed in 1888. This is because this baseball enthusiast group was started by boys in their mid-teens. The reason the early days overlap with the origins of the Keio University Athletic Association Baseball Club and are difficult to distinguish is due to the fact that the structure of schools with long histories was not the same from the beginning as it is today.

It was quite regrettable that our baseball club, which boasts the oldest tradition in the world of high school baseball, did not have a full-scale "club history." However, this spring, we were finally able to publish "The History of Keio Senior High School Baseball Club" (Published by: Keio Senior High School Baseball Club / Hiyoshi Club, 2-volume set in a slipcase). Looking back, it is a history of Japanese baseball spanning the Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa eras; it is a sports history, a cultural history, and above all, a history of the educational system.

As a work titled a "club history," I strove for accuracy in the records. At the same time, I aimed to make it an interesting read. For example, many roundtable discussions were included to deliver "real voices." The timeline was also designed to stimulate historical imagination. Results of practice matches were included as much as possible. However, the greatest feature is that it starts from the pre-history era of the Mita Baseball Club and connects it to the present day. Furthermore, to provide a deeper reading of the club history, I wrote a new "Introduction to a Brief History of Baseball," which traces the history of Japanese baseball from the birth of baseball in America to the post-war period. In creating this club history, the editorial committee and I worked with passion and a spirit of inquiry, aiming to be the "best in Japan" in this field as well.

In the preface of the club history, I wrote, "Baseball is a 'sport of numbers and records' that records and connects the present, past, and future," and concluded that "therefore, a 'club history' is most appropriate for a baseball club." I believe the significance of publishing this book is by no means small. I hope many people will take a look at it.

【Inquiries / How to Purchase】

*Telephone Contact:

Hiyoshi Club Secretariat (within Okada, Imanishi & Yamamoto Law Office), Attn: Mr. Okada

03-3254-1666 (Please call between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays)

*Online Orders:

http://www.hiyoshi-club.jp/