Summer national high school baseball starts at Koshien Stadium on the 6th of this month.

This year's third-year students have devoted themselves to club activities under various restrictions due to the new coronavirus since the beginning of their enrollment.


Under these circumstances, Nihon Bunri High School decided to participate in the summer Koshien for the 12th time, and at the Niigata tournament that ended, the brass band was allowed to perform in the stands for the first time in three years, and at the opening ceremony held on July 9, , The players marched in and the brass band played.


I was in charge of Niigata Meikuni High School's brass band club, which is also known as the model for the popular baseball manga "Dokaben".

The performance that resounded in the stadium was filled with the promise of a brass band member and a baseball player who had once given up due to the spread of infection.

A high school's "traditional tone" that became a model for a baseball cartoon

Niigata Meikon High School in the suburbs of Niigata City.


The baseball team has participated in the Koshien eight times in the spring and summer, and is known as the model for the popular baseball manga "Dokaben".


The brass band is also a regular performer at the top of the prefectural tournament, and has performed at the opening ceremony of the National High School Baseball Tournament in Niigata for over 10 years.

A traditional sound that has colored the beginning of summer for baseball players in the stands every year.


There are quite a few members who longed for this performance and knocked on the gates of Akinori Niigata's brass band club.



3rd grader: "When I was in junior high school, I saw the performance of the opening ceremony on TV, and I wanted to be part

of


it."


Director: “Are you going to graduate without even being able to perform at the opening ceremony?”

A certain promise between a baseball player and a brass band member

There was a member who had a particularly strong feeling about the performance at the opening ceremony.


The person who exchanged the promise is Mr. Souyou Araki, a third-year student.

Araki's promised partner is Yuta Takahashi, a member of the baseball club.


The two were classmates from junior high school, and only two of them went on to Niigata Akinori from the same junior high school.

Three years ago, before graduating from junior high school, we made a promise.



Mr. Takahashi "I said, 'I want

Soyo


to perform at the opening ceremony of the Niigata tournament, and I want to march in.' Although the club activities are different, I will do my best to stand on the same stage."



A person entered Niigata Akinori.


Each of them started working toward their dreams, but at the same time, the new coronavirus spread in Japan as well.

The promised stage did not materialize two years in a row.

Mr. Araki:


“I was sad that I couldn’t do it, but gradually I started to think that just being in Niigata Akinori’s Sui club (brass band club) was a great thing, and in my heart I thought I had already performed at the opening ceremony. I gave up on it."



I don't think I can keep my promise this year...



Good news suddenly arrived for Mr. Araki, who was about to give up.


It was at a meeting after club activities in June, one month before the opening ceremony.



Mr. Araki:


“I was given a schedule for future club activities, and it said ‘Opening Ceremony’ in the July schedule.

The first and last "promised summer"

The stage promised by the two finally came true in their third year.

Mr. Araki pulls the trumpet as the party leader.



The challenge is how well each sound can be resonated in an unfamiliar outdoor performance.

I expanded my image in my own way, and while receiving advice from graduates, I practiced hard for the performance that was just one month away.



Mr. Araki


"I think it would be nice if I could play step by step, feeling like I'm climbing stairs. I'd like to put in the feelings of not being able to support you for two years, and I want to perform gorgeously."

Mr. Takahashi also joined the team as an infielder in the tough competition of the powerhouses and decided to walk the entrance march as promised.



Takahashi:


"I'm happy to think that my dream has finally come true. I'm expecting a powerful performance, and I want to live up to that."

3 years old promise fulfilled

On the day of the opening ceremony.

Araki's fanfare announcing the opening of the summer echoes through the stadium.



Then the entrance procession started.

Riding the melody of the brass band club, all participating teams, 71 teams from 81 schools, made their way to the stadium.

Among them, of course, was Mr. Takahashi.

The traditional sound pushes the backs of Takahashi-san and all the baseball players.

Mr. Takahashi:


“I could see the brass band while marching, and it was amazing.

Mr. Araki


“I think it was the best performance I have ever played. I am very happy to be granted.”

The promised summer of two people who came over three years ago.

Due to infection measures, the support of the match by brass band was from the semi-finals.

Akinori Niigata's baseball club lost in the quarterfinals, so the two never played on the same stage again this summer.



However, this summer, which they continued to run for their promise and finally arrived at, became an irreplaceable treasure that continues to shine in their hearts.

Interviewer

Current affiliation: Sports news department (Niigata Broadcasting Station until the end of July)


Reporter Yoshio Homma


Joined the station in 2015 Mito station → Niigata station since August.


He played basketball until high school.

Postscript

In the third year of high school, the infection of the new coronavirus spread from the beginning of admission, and many students said that their school life, including club activities, was different from what they had envisioned, and they could not do what they wanted to do.


While following the two in this interview, I felt that this summer is filled with the thoughts of third-year students all over the country.


Two summers ago, I interviewed the Niigata Akinori brass band.


At this time, instead of the performance at the opening ceremony that was canceled due to the spread of infection, the brass band invited the baseball club to the concert.


Two years since then.

I heard that "I will perform the opening ceremony for the first time in three years this year", and I applied for an interview without being able to stand still.


I am very happy to have the opportunity to interview the bond between the brass band club and the baseball club again in this way.



The new coronavirus is still raging, but I hope that the students will do their best and have a summer without regrets.