1. Hakone Ekiden : Why Aoyama win for the seventh time?
（You can both listen to the audio and read the manuscript.）
Summary by ChatGPT
"Audio Japan — Learning Japan with You" is a podcast by Taiki Arai, focusing on Japanese culture and trends to foster appreciation and understanding of Japan. It's available in both English and Japanese on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcast.
In the opening, Arai reflects on the onset of 2024, marked by unsettling events like an earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture and an accident at Haneda Airport. He stresses the importance of not taking peace for granted. Arai, an educational designer, introduces himself, sharing his multi-perspective thinking approach and interest in cross-cultural interactions. Despite not being a natural conversationalist, he's an enthusiast of sports, working out, reading, and audio content, aiming to complete long-held visions, including this podcast.
The main discussion centers on the Hakone Ekiden, a significant New Year relay race involving universities mainly from the Kanto region. Arai examines why Aoyama Gakuin University clinched its seventh overall victory in the race, despite facing challenges like a flu outbreak among its runners. He attributes their success to the seasoned strategies of their coach, Mr. Hara, and the determined performances of individual runners like Aramaki, Kuroda, and others, each contributing significantly to the team's victory.
Arai also highlights the history and cultural significance of the Hakone Ekiden, initiated by Shiso Kanakuri to foster world-class runners after experiencing the global competitive gap at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The race has evolved into a cherished tradition, mirroring the dedication and spirit of Japanese university athletes.
As the podcast concludes, Arai encourages listeners to engage with the program, share feedback, and check out additional content like his article on Mr. Hara's coaching journey. He thanks the audience for their time and invites them to follow the channel, underscoring his commitment to bridging listeners with the multifaceted allure of Japan through "Audio Japan."
Opening Remarks
「Audio Japan 〜Learning Japan with You〜」 This podcast is to dive into Japanese culture, trends, and so on.
Through Audio Japan, I aim to make you like Japan more, help you chat with people in your daily life, have business meetings, and communicate with people from different countries.
If you want to listen to the in Japanese, go to the podcast "Audio Japan 〜あなたと一緒に日本を学ぶ〜」
The audio is available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcast, etc.
My name is Taiki Arai, and I am an educational designer.
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Six or Seven days have passed since the year 2024 began.
Early in the new year, a major earthquake hit Ishikawa Prefecture, and a JAL plane collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane at Haneda Airport, causing the aircraft to burst into flames, giving me a creepy feeling.
As I thought two years ago when the Fukushima earthquake hit, I am now feeling grateful for the fact that peaceful everyday life is not something we can take for granted.
Before getting into the main topic, let me briefly introduce myself.
Introduce myself
Again, My name is Taiki Arai, and I am a person who is happy to think about a single thing from multiple perspectives or when a new spark of inspiration occurs to me.
For example, when I am researching something, I search for examples from other countries for comparison. Also, when I am served by a foreigner in my daily life, I tend to ask "Where are you from? “What inspired you to come to Japan?”
The other day I was able to talk with a Nepalese national for the first time.
I have never studied abroad for a long period of time, but I have taught English and essay writing at a cram school in the past, so I don't have any barriers to English so far.
In terms of my personality, I am not the type to talk on my own, and only recently have I realized that I am a shy person. Laughs.
I like sports in general, especially running, basketball, and volleyball. When it comes to spectating, I really like baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and ekiden, etc.
My hobbies are running, working out at the gym, reading, and listening to audio content.
I would like to make the year to continue what I have been drawing in my mind for the past five to seven years, or what I have drawn and tried but stopped halfway through, until the end.
This "Audio Japan" is one of those things.
Preface to the main question
If you are listening to this, did you watch the Hakone Ekiden on January 2 and 3?
According to previous reports, Komazawa University, winner of this year's Izumo Ekiden and All Japan University Ekiden, was expected to win.
However, when the race started, Aoyama Gakuin University won the outward and return races, as well as the complete race.
Incidentally, both the outward time and the overall time were new in the competition. When I saw the results, I thought that the time was too fast! I thought.
I had hoped that Aoyama Gakuin would win, but I was surprised because I thought Komazawa would win. I realized again that it is not the team with the fastest athletes that wins, but the team that has peaked for the Hakone Ekiden that wins.
This time, after explaining the outline of the Hakone Ekiden, I would like to talk about why Aoyama Gakuin University won the overall championship for the seventh time.
Let’s get started.
What is Hakone Ekiden?
Let me begin.
The Hakone Ekiden is one of the New Year's traditions and is called one of the three major student relay races along with the Izumo Ekiden and the All Japan University Ekiden.
The race is held over two days on January 2 and 3, and consists of five sections, covering 107.5 km on the outward leg and 109.6 km on the return leg, for a total of 217.5 km between the Yomiuri Shimbun in Tokyo and Lake Ashinoko in Hakone, with the overall time for the 10 sections being the deciding factor.
The nearest station to the Yomiuri Shimbun in Tokyo is Otemachi Station, which is surrounded by an office district. So, while there are usually a lot of office workers, I always think that during this period, I see a different scenery.
Also, some people may recognize that Hakone is located in Tokyo, but it is actually in Kanagawa Prefecture. By the way, until I was in junior high school, I thought Hakone was in Tokyo. LOL!
Another thing I was mistaken about is that only universities in the Kanto region participate in this event.
This Hakone Ekiden is broadcast nationwide during the New Year's holidays and gets over 20% viewership for two days, but in fact, the fastest university in the Kanto region is decided.
Therefore, the fastest university in Japan is decided at the All Japan University Ekiden held in November. It's not quite comical, but it's kind of strange, isn't it? LOL.
Usually, only about 20 universities are eligible to participate in the Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 universities in the previous year's race and the top 10 universities in the preliminary round of the Hakone Ekiden held in October every year plus the Kanto Gakuren (the Kanto school federation of universities) select a group of universities that have the fastest individual times among those that did not make it through the preliminary round.
For the commemorative event, in addition to the university just mentioned, two additional universities are eligible to participate. Incidentally, the Kanto Gakuren was abolished this year, and the teams that placed within 13th in the preliminary rounds are allowed to participate.
In fact, the pros and cons of the Kanto Gakuren Team is one of the topics of discussion in the ekiden community, but I will talk about it in the next issue.
To return to the main topic, the founder is Mr. Shiso Kanakuri, who aimed to train runners who can compete on a world-class level. As a student, Mr. Kanakuri participated in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics as a member of the marathon team, but abandoned the race midway through. He felt the gap between himself and the rest of the world.
In 1917, he organized the "Tokaido Ekiden Walking Race to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Transfer of the Capital to Tokyo," which became the predecessor of the Hakone Ekiden. This was Japan's first ekiden relay race, covering 516 km between Kyoto and Tokyo, with 23 sections, held over three days.
At that time, the race was held between East and West, and the race was a great success, becoming the prototype for the Hakone Ekiden.
It is quite a powerful predecessor. It must be tough for the runners to run the race, but it also seems to require a lot of energy from the people cheering them on and running the race.
After the 1917 Ekiden was completed, Mr. Kanakuri called on each university to participate, and on February 14, 1920, the four schools of Waseda University, Keio University, Meiji University, and Tokyo Koshi (now Tsukuba University) held the Four Great Ekiden. This was the first Hakone Ekiden.
Those with keen intuition may have thought, "Huh? You may be thinking, "What is that? While the first race was held in 1920, the 100th race is being broadcast in 2024. In fact, during the period around World War II, the Tokaido and Hakone roads were used to transport military supplies, and permission to use the roads was not granted, so the event was cancelled a total of five times.
Why did Aoyama Gakuin University win?
While Aoyama Gakuin University was ranked high in the three major ekiden races this year, coming in fifth in the Izumo Ekiden and second in the All Japan University Ekiden, the results of the past few years and comparisons with other universities gave the impression that the momentum was weak. Rather, Komazawa University, which has won two championships, Josai University, Chuo University, and Kokugakuin University, which have advanced to the top schools, have more momentum and will win the Hakone Ekiden. That was my impression.
In fact, when I listened to news reports and interviews after the Hakone Ekiden, I found that Aoyama Gakuin University had a flu epidemic in early December, and five of the runners who ran in the race had the flu. Moreover, Sato, who ran the 4th section, later developed an appendectomy.
Mr. Hara even said, "We may not even get the seeding right from the beginning of December to the middle of December. Even so, I think that the "Aoyama Mesotte" that he has accumulated through his 20 years of coaching, as well as his eye for players, were successfully combined to win the championship.
In addition, I also felt that the race development was also good in terms of the results.
I would like to take a look back at how the Aoyama Gakuin runners ran in their respective sections, with some digressions in between.
Aramaki, who ran in the 1st section, kept up the high pace from the beginning of the race, and even though he broke away from the leader in the middle of the race, he was still 30 to 40 seconds ahead of the leader. He said, "I was frustrated because I was not ranked well in the section and could not pass the sash within 20 seconds of the leader," but I think he may have boosted the morale of the team by keeping up with the high pace. I think he played his role well enough.
Kuroda, who is in the 2nd section, has been doing very well in the ekiden this season, and his performance in the Hakone Ekiden was a perfect embodiment of his momentum. It may be a kind of talent to be able to show 120% of his ability on the big stage, and I thought he was Ekiden Otoko.
Incidentally, Kuroda's family is a family of track and field athletes. His father is a three-time Hakone Ekiden participant and a famous athlete who organized the "Orange Express" with Surugadai University's Kazuyoshi Tokumoto, 44, as coach. His younger brother will enter Aoyama Gakuin University this spring. His sister was the anchor at the National Junior High School Ekiden last December and cut the goal tape to win the race.
Ota, who was in the 3rd section, made a comeback in the last 3 km, and passed the sash to the first runner. I was also watching the race on TVer, and I was really moved at the moment he crossed the sash at the front of the race.
In the interview for the sectional award, he said, "It was beautiful (when he overtook Komazawa in the last 3km and was running in the lead)," which I thought was a wonderful choice of words.
Komazawa University stopped passing the sash at the front of the race after 23 sections, which had been continuing since last year's Hakone Ekiden.
I felt that Sato in the 4th section knew how to run an ekiden. At the relay point, he was only 4 seconds ahead of Komazawa, but by the time he passed the 1km mark, he had opened up a gap of nearly 20 seconds over Komazawa.
One of the common features of the University Ekiden is that the advantage of running at the front is immeasurable. A truck-size TV broadcasting truck was running in front of the runner, so he could use it as a wind shelter and run with a larger percentage of the TV coverage.
Wakabayashi, who ran in the 5th section, was absent from the last race due to illness. He cut the goal tape with a new sectional record.
On the return route, Nomura, in the 6th section, had been preparing for the downhill race for about a year, and he showed no signs of weakness. At this point, he was more than 3 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.
In the 7th section, Yamauchi, who has been running consistently since the beginning of this year, was 3rd in the section and connected the line without any problems. He is originally a speed runner, but I guess that he has been able to handle longer distances because of his steady practice since he joined Aoyama Gakuin.
The 8th section was changed from Tanaka, who ran the last race, to Shiode, who ran the 8th section on the day of the race. When I saw the change, I wondered if he would make it. However, he was able to win the sectional prize and widen the gap between himself and the rest of the runner.
Kuramoto, in the 9th section, was making his first appearance in a student ekiden. Like Yamauchi, this was his first and last Hakone Ekiden race. He won the sectional prize with his leisurely run. Incidentally, when I wondered why Kuramoto was assigned to the 9th section, the ace section of the return leg, I guessed that he was chosen because he finished third on the team at the MARCH Intercollegiate Championships in November.
Udagawa, in the 10th section, is a speed runner and was selected as a factor in winning the race when it came to the anchor race. He ran without any problem, and cut the goal tape.
In listening to an interview with Coach Hara, there was one thing that left a strong impression on me. Mr. Hara said, through the Hakone Ekiden, I want to nurture students from being self-reliant and self-supporting to self-disciplined individuals who can work and contribute to an organization after they work at their company."
When you delve into each university, you will find that the team colors are completely different. For example, some universities, like Aoyama Gakuin, are preparing their athletes for the Hakone Ekiden, while others, like Komazawa University, are improving their track times in the 5000m and 10,000m to develop runners who can compete globally, and as an extension of that, they are competing in the Ekiden.
Despite the differences in color, even as a layman, I thought that Mr. Hara was a man of character. I felt that this was because of his background that he had cultivated as a company employee and the knowledge he gained from his 20 years as the coach of Aoyama Gakuin.
End
Audio Japan〜Learning Japan with You〜
It is now time for the ending!
I wrote an article titled "Before the Dawn of Hara's Supervision" in my note, so if you are interested in listening to this episode, please read it. You can check it out from the Summary section.
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