Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry 100th Anniversary Monument
Many ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ alumni may have never entered Tsunamachi Field. Located near Mita Campus and behind the Tsunamachi Mitsui Club, its origins date back to 1903 (Meiji 36). Because the athletic field on Mita Hilltop Square had become too small, President Eikichi Kamada purchased land owned by Marquis Shigeaki Hachisuka and established it as the Juku's athletic field.
Today, it is home to the Tsunamachi Budokan¡ªwhich houses a Judo Gymnasium, Kendo hall, and Kyudo range¡ªas well as Sumo and Karate dojos. It serves as a base for various clubs of the Athletic Association, and is also used for physical education classes and club activities for Chutobu Junior High School.
The Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry 100th Anniversary Monument stands at Tsunamachi Field. The first Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ baseball game was held here on November 21, 1903. On the 5th of that month, the Juku baseball team responded to a "challenge letter" from the Waseda University baseball team, which stated, "Your school and our school must by all means hold a match." ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ won the game 11¨C9, thanks to the performance of captain Kiyoshi Miyahara (who later became the first president of the Japan Amateur Baseball Association [now the Japan Baseball Federation]) and ace Yaichiro Sakurai. This victory marked the beginning of a long-standing battle between the two rival schools.
Attracting a crowd of about 3,000 people and proving to be a great contest, it was decided that starting the following year, one Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry game would be held each spring and autumn. However, in 1906 (Meiji 39), when the series changed to a best-of-three format starting from the previous autumn, the teams were tied with one win and one loss. On November 11, the day the third game was scheduled, the enthusiasm of the cheering squads from both schools reached such a fever pitch that it was feared a dangerous situation might arise. After consultations between ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ and Waseda University, the game was cancelled.
At the time, there was reportedly a huge uproar on Mita Hilltop Square. According to the memoirs of Sei'ichiro Takahashi, who was a student and the head of the dormitory at the time, the issue escalated to the point where President Kamada demanded the dormitory head leave the residence to take responsibility for the students' restless behavior after the cancellation of the Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry game (included in "Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Press)" in the "New Essay Collection: ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡"). Subsequently, Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ baseball games were not held for about 20 years until their revival in 1925 (Taisho 14).
As for the Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry 100th Anniversary Monument, an unveiling ceremony was held on November 21, 2003 (Heisei 15), exactly 100 years after the first Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ game. At the ceremony, the exchange of the challenge letter from Waseda and the reply from ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ was reenacted, and a commemorative game was held at Meiji Jingu Stadium on the 26th.
While Tsunamachi Field was the origin of the Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ rivalry that has carved such a history, the first Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Rugby Games were also held at Tsunamachi Field on November 23, 1922 (Taisho 11). The ban on sports exchanges between Waseda and ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡, which had been in place since the 1906 baseball game, was lifted with these Waseda-ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Rugby Games.
There is no doubt that Tsunamachi Field is a place that remains significant in Japanese sports history. (Editorial Department)
*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.