Shirakawa Barrier and The Tsugaru Strait
This term is based on the barrier built in Shirakawa, Fukushima. No team north of the northern Kantō region had ever won a tournament at Kōshien. This fact became known in the high school baseball world as the "Shirakawa Barrier". At the 2004 Summer Kōshien, Komazawa University Tomakomai High (southern Hokkaidō) took the title, and in one bound leaped over not only the Shirakawa Barrier but also the Tsugaru Strait separating Hokkaido from Honshū. On the plane carrying the team and championship flag back home, at the moment the plane crossed the Tsugaru Strait, the passengers joined in unison for a celebration cheer.
In 2005, Komazawa University Tomakomai High won a second straight Summer Kōshien title, becoming the first to do so since Kokura Secondary (Fukuoka) in 1947–48. This title was tainted after the tournament, however, by reports of repeated incidents of physical punishment of one of the players, once during the tournament, by the baseball club advisor (a 27-year-old school faculty member). Besides a reprimand for withholding the report until after the tournament, the High School Baseball Federation did not punish Komazawa Tomakomai. However, the report drew widespread attention to the issue of physical punishment in youth sports in Japan. It is believed that such physical punishment probably goes heavily underreported, due to cultural tendencies.
| Year | Tournament | School | Result | Opponent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 1st Summer | Akita Secondary (Akita) | runner-up | 1–2 | Kyōto Ni Secondary (Kyōto) |
| 1963 | 35th Spring | Hokkai (Hokkaidō) | runner-up | 0–10 | Shimonoseki Commercial (Yamaguchi) |
| 1969 | 51st Summer | Misawa (Aomori) | runner-up | 2–4 | Matsuyama Commercial (Ehime) |
| 1971 | 53rd Summer | Iwaki (Fukushima) | runner-up | 0–1 | Tōin Gakuen (Kanagawa) |
| 1989 | 71st Summer | Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) | runner-up | 0–2 | Teikyō (E Tōkyō) |
| 2001 | 73rd Spring | Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) | runner-up | 6–7 | Jōsō Gakuin (Ibaraki) |
| 2003 | 85th Summer | Tōhoku (Miyagi) | runner-up | 2–4 | Jōsō Gakuin (Ibaraki) |
| 2004 | 86th Summer | Komadai Tomakomai (S Hokkaidō) | champion | 13–10 | Saibi (Ehime) |
| 2005 | 87th Summer | Komadai Tomakomai (S Hokkaidō) | champion | 5–3 | Kyōto Gaidai Nishi (Kyōto) |
| 2006 | 88th Summer | Komadai Tomakomai (S Hokkaidō) | runner-up | 3–4 | Waseda Jitsugyo(W Tōkyō) |
| 2009 | 81st Spring | Hanamaki Highashi (Iwate) | runner-up | 0–1 | Seihō (Nagasaki) |
| 2011 | 93rd Summer | Kōsei Gakuin (Aomori) | runner-up | 0–11 | Nichidai-san (W Tōkyō) |
| 2012 | 83rd Spring | Kōsei Gakuin (Aomori) | runner-up | 3-7 | Osaka Tōin (Osaka) |
As mentioned above, Komawaza University Tomakomai (aka Komadai Tomakomai) won the 2004 Summer Koshien, becoming the northern-most school to win since Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi). However, the route traveled by the championship flag from Koshien to Hokkaidō did not actually pass through the Shirakawa Barrier by land, so many fans (especially in the Tōhoku region) believe that the barrier has technically not yet been broken.
Read more about this topic: High School Baseball In Japan, Jargon For Lack of Regional Champions
Famous quotes containing the words strait and/or barrier:
“We approached the Indian Island through the narrow strait called “Cook.” He said, “I ‘xpect we take in some water there, river so high,—never see it so high at this season. Very rough water there, but short; swamp steamboat once. Don’t paddle till I tell you, then you paddle right along.” It was a very short rapid. When we were in the midst of it he shouted “paddle,” and we shot through without taking in a drop.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To say that a thing has never yet been done among men is to erect a barrier stronger than reason, stronger than discussion.”
—Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902)