As seen in Daily Sports Online (Japanese) / トレバーの虎場（デイリースポーツ）から
Ah, Koshien… how we missed you last year. It’s so great to have high school boys back at the best ballpark in Japan, leaving everything on the field for a chance at glory. It truly is a beautiful tournament and set-up, and damn you, Covid-19, for taking it away from us for a whole year.
The spring tourney, which ended today, rings in the new school year and celebrates the beginning of a new baseball season, not to mention the beautiful cherry blossom season. The summer tournament is the final chance for some of these boys to play baseball – at least with something at stake. Its end represents the beginning of the end of summer and of pure youth for the baseball boys.
I mean, we as a nation really took the tournament for granted. Late March and early August came around every single year without fail. The stands were buzzing with crowd noise and cheerleaders and brass bands. Every game finished with the losers scooping Koshien infield dirt into their cleat bags and the winners proudly belting out their school song in front of tear-filled fans. In 2020, none of these things came about. This year, many of the traditions have also been modified: no brass bands, no infield dirt being scooped up, and the stands are only partly filled.
Still, the absence of national high school baseball was a jarring awakening for this baseball-crazed nation. Incidentally, a movie made about the summer tournament could also unintentionally jolt the nation out of its deep-rooted traditions. Interestingly, though, Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams was never intended to be consumed by a Japanese audience. Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki set out to use the 100th Summer Koshien tournament as a backdrop to open the world’s eyes to Japanese culture on the whole. There are so many things about high school baseball (and Japanese culture) that are taken for granted by residents of Japan, but are truly extraordinary phenomena.
The documentary was created with cooperation from NHK (who broadcast the tournaments every year), under the condition that it only be broadcast overseas. It truly opens a window into a nation that many are curious about but few truly understand. How is it that every train arrives on time, and people line up so perfectly while waiting? Why is everything so clean? What makes Japan so peaceful? The answers are all found in some way or another in baseball, and Yamazaki captures it all perfectly.
The documentary primarily follows two high schools whose aim is to reach the prestigious Summer Koshien tournament. Yokohama Hayato High (Kanagawa Prefecture) is managed by Mizutani kantoku, whose old, tradition-laden methods result in well-disciplined (but slightly intimidated) students. One of his former assistants, Sasaki kantoku, has moved back to his hometown to coach Hanamaki Higashi High (Iwate Prefecture), which has produced such stars as Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi. Sasaki kantoku is not nearly as strict as his counterpart, and represents a new wave of change that appears to be on the horizon in Japan.
No spoilers here! You must watch this one yourself! It will open your eyes to a lot of the wonder that the world feels about Japan, while also leaving you asking yourself, “In what does Japan need to make itself even better? Will those changes necessarily bring about positive results?” And that’s the thing. Since baseball is a microcosm of its culture, can we truly say that the innovative Sasaki is a better coach than old-school Mizutani? Which is producing better cogs for the Japanese workforce machine? It all depends on how you see the big picture.
Speaking of big pictures, you need to make sure you see this one! If you are outside of Japan, go to iTunes and/or Amazon and spend a few bucks to be entertained, informed, moved, and forced to think a little while you’re at it. Ema Yamazaki is on the rise, and is definitely a director to keep your eyes on for future works.