Deans' Relay Talk: "Cheering Makes the Impossible Possible!" (Or is that just wishful thinking?) | Keiichi Yoshino (Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care)
2004.06.10
When it comes to the question,"What is one thing you absolutely must do during your student years?"my answer, without a doubt, is to attend theWaseda-Keio rivalry baseball game(oops, or should I say the Keio-Waseda rivalry?).
This fun and excitement is a special privilege for Keio students. Once you become Keio University alumni, the feeling diminishes somewhat, but even so, Mr. Kojima, who was mentioned in Mr. Kumasaka's previous diary entry, looked like he was having a great time. Of course, Waseda students can enjoy this as well. However, it seems to me that the school spirit, not just during their time at the university but also after graduation, is stronger at Juku. I can say this because my second daughter happens to be a Waseda graduate. (Sorry, Mr. Kumasaka.)
During my student years, I was on the rowing team and did nothing but row. When I asked a senior why we had to do such long, grueling practices for such a simple task, they all gave me the same, somewhat cryptic answer: "You row a boat with your brain. That's why academically stronger schools tend to be better at it. To achieve perfect coordination between the brain and body, long and substantial practice is necessary." Looking back now, I wonder if that was the Shinzo Koizumi-ism at play.
Rowing is great too (although, to be honest, it's such a grueling sport you wonder if anything could be tougher), but when it comes to cheering, with its sense of unity and sheer scale, it has to be baseball.
In the Keio-Waseda rivalry, winning doubles the fun (I recall thinking back then that it was a bit of a pity for Waseda, because the first school song sung after the game was the Juku-ka, and it's a long one). This season, although we had to settle for second place in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, we managed to win the series against Waseda for the first time in seven seasons. As I was in the School of Medicine, I was enrolled for six years, during which we won the league championship three times. Each time, I participated in the lantern procession from Jingu to Mita. We would first rally at Mita Hilltop Square, and then we would all head out to Ginza to drink and sing boisterously. Because of this, the general public disliked the nuisance caused by such crowds, and it was said at the time that foot traffic in Ginza would decrease when Juku won the Keio-Waseda game, and in Shinjuku when Waseda won.
The legendary six-game series in the Keio-Waseda rivalry also happened toward the end of my student years. Since I was in the School of Medicine, I commuted to the Shinanomachi Campus, which was a five-minute walk from Jingu Stadium, so I rushed to cheer at all six games. We ended up losing, but it's a wonderful memory. However, now that I'm a faculty member, I shudder to think of the immense damage that must have been caused by the long class cancellations at the time.
Turning to the present, our third-year students in the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care spend one year at the Shinanomachi Campus. In every class, I would update them on the league's progress and encourage them to go and cheer, which they did. I'm proud to believe that their cheering contributed to the long-awaited feat of winning the series against the second-place Waseda.
For Juku, which has no specialized sports faculty and a very limited Athletic Association recommendation system for admissions, it will be a real challenge to continue achieving results like this. Professor Shinzo Koizumi, please help us somehow. (End)
(Date of publication: 2004/06/10)