Baseball players from Kyoto International High School celebrate with joy after winning the finals of Japan's national championship, commonly known as Koshien, held on Friday in the Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the western city of Nishinomiya. Yonhap
A small Kyoto-based high school with Korean roots made history on Friday by securing a dramatic victory in the finals of Japan's national baseball championship, known as Koshien, which is held twice each year in spring and summer.
Founded in 1947 to serve ethnic Koreans in Japan, Kyoto International High School has 138 enrolled students. Approximately 30 percent of the students are Korean, while the remaining 70 percent are Japanese. Courses are taught in Korean, Japanese, and English.
The atmosphere at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya was electric, as the school song, sung in Korean, echoed through the stands. Players and fans were visibly moved, some wiping tears from their faces.
Kyoto International High School's dramatic 2-1 victory in the 10th inning, after nine scoreless innings against Kanto Daiichi High School in the nail-biting finals, continues to be the talk of the town, even days after the game.
"I saw the finals on TV," Shimizu Kenta, a Ph.D. student, said in an email interview with The Korea Times. "I believe the players from both schools performed exceptionally well, with each team demonstrating a high level of skill and dedication."
Shimizu played baseball in high school and spent several years as a playing coach in Korea for a high school team made up of children of North Korean defectors, known as the Challengers, while pursuing a doctoral program in sociology at Korea University. After finishing his coursework, he returned to Japan in February and is now working on his dissertation.
On social media, he noted that baseball fans and experts shared their insights and opinions about the eventful finals.
"Kyoto's starting pitcher Rui Nakazaki, among others, became the talk of the town and people are praising him for his exceptional pitching skill," he said.
He said advancing to and competing in the finals of the national championship is a dream-come-true moment for baseball players. "Some ambitious students leave home at the age of 15 to attend high schools with strong baseball teams in other regions to pursue their dreams," he added.
LA Dodgers' designated hitter Shohei Ohtani once compared Koshien to Japan's high school equivalent of Major League Baseball's World Series, where the champions of the National and American Leagues compete for the title.
Ohtani played in Koshien in 2012, but his alma mater, Hanamaki Higashi High School, fell short of winning the title.
To reach Koshien, baseball teams must endure and triumph in a series of intense and competitive preliminary games.
President Yoon Suk Yeol poses with the players of the Challengers baseball team, which is composed of children of North Korean defectors, at the Yeongbingwan state guest house in Seoul on July 14. Shimizu Kenta, left in front row, who worked with the baseball team as a playing coach, attended the event. Yoon invited the baseball team to commemorate the first North Korean Defectors' Day. Yonhap
Shimizu said competitions are already fierce even in the preliminary matches.
"This summer, a total of 3,441 schools nationwide participated in the competitions. In Kyoto alone, 73 teams competed in the preliminary games and only one, the Kyoto International High School, was chosen to represent the prefecture in the national tournament," he said. "As the saying goes, it's not the strongest who survives, but the one who survives is the strongest. It's not uncommon for teams considered favorites to win the Koshien title to be eliminated in the local competitions."
Koshien has evolved into a fierce race to the top. Shimizu noted that in recent years, there has been significant improvement in the overall performance of the players, with pitchers throwing the ball at 150 kilometers per hour becoming increasingly common.
Kyoto International High School's victory in Japan's national championship has stirred excitement in Korea, with the news making headlines across local media outlets. Korean media described the win as a miracle achieved against all odds, highlighting the school's struggle with a limited budget.
The presidential office welcomed the news. In a press release on Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol lauded the students of Kyoto International High School for their dedication and hard-won victory.
"Baseball is great because it creates a lot of drama," he said. "The students clinched a miraculous victory against all odds and Koreans in Japan feel proud of them."
Yoon expressed hope that Kyoto International High School's championship victory could help further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
The South Korean president, an avid baseball fan, invited the Challengers baseball team to Yeongbingwan state guest house in Seoul to commemorate North Korean Defectors' Day on July 14. The visit occurred just days before the Challengers' trip to the U.S. Shimizu, as a former playing coach, attended the ceremony.
Since taking office, Yoon has worked to repair Korea's relations with Japan, which reached a low point during the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
Players of Kyoto International High School sing their school song in Korean after winning the championship on Friday. Yonhap
Reactions within Japanese society to Kyoto International High School's victory have been mixed. While many celebrated their epic win, discontent also emerged, leading to racist comments and slanders.
A backlash against Kyoto International High School and its students erupted shortly after their school song was sung in Korean, which was broadcast live on NHK.
Soon after the victorious ceremony, some Japanese individuals criticized the students and their school, posting racial slurs and discriminatory comments on X and other social media platforms. The source of their hateful comments was the use of the term "East Sea" in the lyrics.
The term refers to the body of water between Korea and Japan. Koreans call it the East Sea, while the Japanese refer to it as the Sea of Japan. This body of water has been the focal point of a longstanding naming dispute between the two countries, with each side conducting diplomatic campaigns to persuade other nations to adopt their preferred name.
"Some critics argue that the lyrics are anti-Japanese, while others, focusing on the term 'East Sea,' accuse the school authorities of using politically charged lyrics in the school song and are calling for them to make changes," said Shimizu. "There are also people who slandered the school as they didn't understand properly about the school's history."
As the hate speech went viral, Kyoto Prefecture Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki held a press conference on Friday, urging those who posted such comments to remove them from the internet.
"There must not be discriminatory posts and I urge people to stop them," he was quoted as saying during the news conference, adding that he requested local law enforcement agencies and website owners to delete those hateful messages.
Japanese society is divided over the school anthem. Some view the lyrics as a reflection of diversity rather than a contentious issue, urging the Japanese public to show respect for ethnic minorities and their culture.
Hiroshi Watanabe, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said the song is an indication of the diversity of Japanese society today. "It actually fits the trend quite naturally," he was quoted as saying in a column published in the Asahi Shimbun on Aug.24.
One Instagram user expressed regret over the overreaction to the school song sung in Korean. "I was a baseball player in high school and experienced Koshien once. Seeing the comments from J-netizens about this year's Koshien winner makes me sick," he wrote.
Another wrote, "I find it really sad. The song wasn't written to provoke Japanese sentiments."
Students of Kyoto International High School cheer after their school won the national baseball championship on Friday. Yonhap