A Century of the Keio-Waseda Rivalry

2003/10/17

Published in "Juku" No. 240, 2003

The Keio-Waseda rivalry boasts a century of history, forged through friendly competition between the two universities as worthy rivals.
This history of battling for the honor of both schools can be seen as the origin of Japanese baseball and a journey in pursuit of the ideal of student sports.
This article looks back on the history of the Keio-Waseda rivalry, focusing on the period from its early days to before World War II.

In 1888 (Meiji 21), the Mita Baseball Club, the predecessor of the Keio University Athletic Association Baseball Club, was founded [Photo <1>]. Thirteen years later, in 1901 (Meiji 34), the Waseda University Baseball Club was established.

The first Keio-Waseda game was held in 1903 (Meiji 36), the year before the Russo-Japanese War. On November 5 of that year, a formal letter of challenge from Waseda was delivered [Photo <2>], and it was decided that the memorable first game would be held on November 21 at the Mita Tsunamachi Ground in Tokyo.

The weather on game day was clear. After a hard-fought battle with 17 hits for Keio and 13 for Waseda, Keio defeated Waseda 11-9. After the game, the two teams [Photo <3>] agreed to play one Keio-Waseda game each spring and fall starting the following year and promised to meet again. This single game marked a turning point, and the "Keio-Waseda rivalry" between the two private university giants quickly captured the hearts of baseball fans and garnered significant public attention.

However, the Keio-Waseda rivalry was soon forced into a long hiatus. In the fall of 1906 (Meiji 39), the extreme fervor of the cheering squads from both Keio and Waseda made it impossible to continue the games, and the Keio-Waseda rivalry was suspended for the next 20 years. Its revival had to wait until 1925 (Taisho 14), when the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League was established [Photo <4>].

In 1927 (Showa 2) [Photo <5>], the first live radio broadcast of a Keio-Waseda game took place. Keio achieved its first consecutive championships after the revival, and in that year, the cheering song "Wakaki-chi" was created at the suggestion of Keio students. As you know, "Wakaki-chi" was enthusiastically embraced by all Keio students amidst the excitement of victory and continues to be sung to this day.

In the fall of 1933 (Showa 8), the "Apple Incident" occurred. Shigeru Mizuhara of Keio, a star of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League (who later became the manager of the Yomiuri Giants) [Photo <6>], took his position at third base in the top of the ninth inning. Mizuhara remained calm, unfazed by the fierce heckling. Then, a large, half-eaten apple was thrown onto the field from the Waseda cheering section. Mizuhara picked it up and "while still in his fielding stance, threw it back toward the wall" (from Shigeru Mizuhara's "Karai Naru Haran" [A Splendid, Turbulent Life]). This was condemned by the Waseda cheering squad as a "hostile act," and when Keio won with a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth, the Waseda fans stormed the field, causing a major commotion. While the incident itself was not commendable and could be considered a stain on the history of the Keio-Waseda rivalry, it is an episode that well illustrates the earnest struggle for the honor of both schools. Incidentally, since then, Waseda has set up its cheering section on the first-base side, and Keio University on the third-base side.

The era soon progressed from the Sino-Japanese War to the Pacific War. Student mobilizations began, and baseball players, too, faced the fate of leaving their studies midway to go to the battlefield. Sensing the feelings of these Keio students, then-President Shinzo Koizumi arranged for the "Farewell Keio-Waseda Game for Student Soldiers" [Photos <7> <8>] to be held in October 1943 (Showa 18) at Waseda's Totsuka Stadium. The game was a crushing 10-1 defeat for Keio. But after the game, regardless of victory or defeat, a moving moment occurred when everyone in the stands became one. The solemn singing of "Umi Yukaba" suddenly rose from behind the backstop and spread throughout the entire stadium. During the subsequent war years, not only the Keio-Waseda rivalry but all of baseball entered a blank period. Many of the players who participated in that emotional game at Totsuka Stadium headed to the front lines, never to return to the ballpark.

In the fall of 1945 (Showa 20), immediately after the war's end, the "First All Keio-Waseda Game for the Revival of Baseball" was held, marking the first step toward sports, peace, and reconstruction. After the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in the fall of 1960 (Showa 35), a time of the Anpo Protests, Keio and Waseda played an astonishing "six-game series" [Photo <9>] with neither side yielding, producing numerous memorable games that have been etched into postwar history.

In the 1960s, the core of baseball's popularity shifted to professional baseball, but the pride of the players who stake their youth on this traditional game, and the unique thrill of the Keio-Waseda rivalry—the sense of unity between the field and the stands—remain unchanged today. We hope that all Keio students will experience the moving drama that unfolds each spring and fall.