Another Korean school song rang out in Koshien, a sacred place for Japanese high school baseball. Kyoto International High School of Korean descent in Japan beat 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the National High School Championship held at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture on Sunday. As usual, the winning school song flowed into the stadium as the game ended, and viewers listened to the Kyoto International High School song, which started as “The land of Yamado is a holy place for our ancestors’ old dreams across the East Sea.”
With this victory, Kyoto International High School, a Korean-ethnic school in Japan, has made it to the semifinals for the first time in three years at the National High School 안전놀이터 Baseball Championship in Japan, called “Summer Koshien.” Kyoto International High School confirmed its victory by scoring two points at the end of the fourth inning, one point at the end of the fifth inning, and one point at the end of the seventh inning, respectively. After the quarterfinal victory, the players sang the school song in Korean, which was broadcasted through NHK across Japan. In Koshien, the school song will be played, and NHK will broadcast almost all games. Earlier, Kyoto International High School won 7-3 in the first round, 4-0 in the second round, and 4-0 in the third round, respectively. The semifinal match will be held on the 21st.
Marking its 106th anniversary this year since 1915, Koshien is Japan’s representative high school baseball tournament, which is considered a “dream game” for local high school players. This year, 49 of Japan’s 3,715 schools that passed regional preliminary rounds made it to the finals. Hanshin Koshien Stadium marks the 100th anniversary of its construction this year.
Kyoto International High School joined the Japanese High School Baseball Federation in 1999 and advanced to the Koshien finals for the first time in the summer of 2021 and achieved the feat of reaching the semifinals. In the summer of 2022, they lost the first round of the Koshien finals and failed to advance to the finals last year. “I am happy to create an opportunity for school development and Korean community to become one through baseball,” said Baek Seung-hwan, principal of Kyoto International High School.