Around-Japan Waseda-Keio Automobile Race
2022/02/24
The Around-Japan Endurance Race was held 13 times from the 1st race in 1953 to the 13th in 1966. The first race was a circuit of Honshu, but the second added Kyushu, and the third added a circuit of Hokkaido. For the first race, Waseda started clockwise (eastbound) and Keio started counter-clockwise (westbound), with an inspector from the opposing school riding along. From the third race onward, both schools started together heading east.
Image: The start of the 2nd race in 1954. The Keio car is on the right (Hibiya Park).
It is a great honor, and I am writing down these incredibly old memories at the request of Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press).
In August 1953, a plan for the 1st Around-Japan Waseda-Keio Endurance Automobile Race was implemented as a trial for new Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. trucks (weapon carriers), and I participated as a fourth-year student. The Automobile Club, which started as a motor research group in the early Showa era, had joined the Athletic Association the previous year. I would like to report on a small part of this extraordinary event—the first around-Japan trip by the automobile clubs of both Waseda and Keio.
Unlike today's era where everything is well-prepared, these stories may be hard to understand. It was a mix of fun and fear, as we were test-driving new gasoline-fueled vehicles that wouldn't break down, aiming to complete a new project for the sake of the country. At the time, general vehicles ran on wood (firewood) and emitted smoke from the back, but since this was a run in new gasoline-fueled cars, we drove long distances with half interest and half anxiety in these unfamiliar vehicles. The around-Japan race ended as a mix of good experience, fear, and novelty.
The starting point was Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Driving for long hours through cities and countryside we had never seen or driven before, using gasoline fuel, was an indescribable world of the unknown. While driving through city centers was smooth and fast, the country roads were rough, and we constantly had to navigate narrow paths where cars could barely pass or couldn't pass each other, all while avoiding the protruding roof tiles of private houses. Although the "Waseda-Keio Gasoline-Fueled Automobile Club Endurance Race" sounded prestigious, we spent several days in fear and exhaustion. However, there were also pleasant moments; when passing through major cities, we received hospitality such as dinner parties through the kindness of resident alumni, providing a moment of comfort and physical recovery. The entire journey was driven in three shifts, and I was a passenger in the first group for the section from Hibiya at the start to Shimonoseki. From there, we went along the Sea of Japan side to Aomori, then returned to Tokyo via Sendai. In this 10-day journey around Honshu, we competed for points based on fuel efficiency, driving time, and the presence or absence of accidents, and we were able to achieve a brilliant victory. I have many more happy memories of people's names and the different daily drives, but these are the notes of a very old man who cannot remember everything.
(Athletic Association Automobile Club Alumnus [1954 Law] • Yutaka Uchida)