Stained Glass

September 1, 1996

From "Juku" No. 200 (1996)

Baseball, a sport introduced in the early Meiji period by elites returning from America.
From the First Higher School (now the University of Tokyo), which led the Japanese baseball world in its early days, the two private university giants, Keio University and Waseda, eventually seized supremacy.
The beginning of the Keio-Waseda rivalry, the series of games between these two schools, was the catalyst for baseball becoming so widely popular in Japan.
It is no exaggeration to say that the glorious history and tradition of the Keio-Waseda rivalry is the history of Japanese baseball itself.

Baseball at Keio first spread among Keio students around 1884 after being coached by an American, Mr. Stoermer. The first step was the organization of the Mita Baseball Club in 1888. Gradually building its strength, Keio accepted a proposal from the rising Waseda University Baseball Club, and the first Keio-Waseda game was held in 1903. Thereafter, the two schools played each other annually, and the reputation of the Keio-Waseda rivalry grew ever stronger.

In the fall of 1906, before the third game after a 1-1 tie, the fervor of both schools' cheering squads reached a fever pitch, creating a dangerous situation. After deliberation, the two schools reluctantly canceled the game. The rivalry was subsequently suspended for 20 years.

The Keio-Waseda rivalry was finally revived in the fall of 1925. With the establishment of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, it became part of the league games starting in the spring of 1926. The Big6 Baseball League, and especially the Keio-Waseda games, were the biggest sporting events of the time, so much so that a game was held in the presence of the Emperor in the fall of 1929. However, as the cheering by general students and unofficial cheering squads became increasingly flamboyant and unruly over the years, the Keio University Federation of Student Societies established the "Keio University Ouendan (Cheering Squad)" as a permanent, official organization in 1933. The President gave them a conductor's baton, hoping for their sound development.

However, in the third game of the Keio-Waseda series that fall, the so-called "apple incident" occurred. Keio's third baseman, Shigeru Mizuhara, who was fielding in the top of the ninth inning, threw back an apple core that had been thrown from the Waseda cheering section. Furthermore, because Keio came from behind to win in the bottom of the ninth, a portion of the excited Waseda cheering squad rushed the Keio side after the game and snatched away the conductor's baton.

In the fall of 1943, during the war, the "Farewell Keio-Waseda Game for Students Heading to the Front" was held as a send-off for students going to war. Although there were many twists and turns due to the circumstances of the time, the efforts of officials from both schools who were eager to hold the game made it a reality at Waseda's Totsuka Baseball Stadium. The result was a victory for Waseda, but after the game, the song "Umi Yukaba" spontaneously rose up and enveloped the entire stadium, and the game would be remembered as the last, dramatically moving game during the war. Furthermore, it is recorded in the "Fifty-Year History of the Waseda University Baseball Club" that the conduct of the Keio students was "truly admirable," as they placed the newspapers they had been sitting on into trash cans as they left the stadium after the game. On November 18, 1945, the All-Keio vs. All-Waseda game was held as the first game after the end of the war, and Keio won the championship in the Big6 League, which resumed the following spring in 1946. From then until today, the Keio-Waseda rivalry has produced numerous classic games and continues to carve a brilliant history in the world of student baseball.