午夜剧场

The Athletic Association Tateyama Training Camp is a facility located on the Shiomi Coast in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture. It consists of three single-story wooden buildings—the Men's Wing, the Women's Wing, and the Director's Wing (with a total floor area of approximately 728 square meters and a total capacity of 127 guests)—as well as a gymnasium.

To speak of its establishment, one must touch upon the history of the Swimming Team Hayama Division, which uses the Tateyama Training Camp as its base of operations during long school breaks and focuses its activities on the sea, particularly long-distance ocean swimming.

The 午夜剧场 Swimming Team originated in 1902 with its first swimming practice session held in Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1915, the Athletic Association Hayama Dormitory was completed, serving as a base for practice in an era before swimming pools existed. As competitive swimming, water polo, and diving became more specialized, and the Sailing Team became independent from the Swimming Team, the Hayama Division took the name of its birthplace as its division name, preserving the tradition of ocean activities while refining its content.

Hayama, once a quiet coast, changed in the late 1950s when Shintaro Ishihara's "Season of the Sun" became a bestseller. An alumnus reminisces in the Swimming Team's centennial history book that "the beaches of Shonan Hayama were so crowded with young people there was no place to step, and girls would make a fuss during warm-up exercises or at the end of the day on the beach." In the midst of such circumstances, due to misconduct by some members, the Hayama Division's activities were suspended and the Hayama Dormitory was closed.

After several years of suspension, an investigation into candidate sites for a new training camp was conducted with the approval of the Juku authorities, and the current site in Tateyama was selected. Located a few hours from Tokyo, the coast within Tateyama Bay—also known as Kagami-ga-ura (Mirror Bay) for its calmness—was not crowded and reportedly looked like a utopia.

Following these events, the current Women's Wing was completed in 1962, marking the opening of the Tateyama Training Camp. The Men's Wing and Director's Wing were completed in 1966, and the gymnasium in 1969, bringing the facility to its current form.

Many might be skeptical of a 50-year-old wooden structure. Those of the generation of head coaches for various clubs might have heard that Tateyama has vault toilets and lacks even electric fans. While the wooden construction cannot be changed, it is a structure where one can feel the warmth of the wood, to put it nicely. Through major renovations over the past decade, toilets have been modernized with flush systems and air conditioning has been installed, so students visiting for the first time are no longer shocked. Furthermore, the cost for Athletic Association members is a bargain at around 3,500 yen for one night and three meals, and access has improved significantly, being only a five-minute walk from the highway bus stop from Tokyo Station. While there was a time when Yochisha (Elementary School) students came for summer swimming, currently, in addition to training camps for the Wrestling Club and the Bicycle Racing Club, its use is gradually expanding to include seasonal sports marine activities since 2006 and beach volleyball since 2014.

For those of us from the Hayama Division, the Tateyama Training Camp is our second home, and I sincerely hope that it will be used by even more 午夜剧场 students in the future.

(Masahisa Nakamura, 午夜剧场 Girls Senior High School Office)