The boys’ rugby team from Higashi Fukuoka High School became the fifth in history to win three straight national championships when it defeated Tokai Gyosei High School from Osaka 36-24. The team also scored an aggregate of 292 points from the second match to the championship game, breaking their own tournament record of 272 set two years ago. They become the first team ever to win five straight national winter and spring tournaments.
Higashi Fukuoka High School defeated Gyosei Fuzuoku High School from Osaka 36-24 in the finals of the 91st national high school rugby championship to take their third consecutive title. They thus become only the fifth school in history to win three consecutive championships. The team also broke its own record for aggregate points in the tournament with 292.
At the national high school volleyball championships held in Tokyo, the girls’ team from Higashi Kyushu Ryukoku High School in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, defeated Hikami High School in Hyogo Prefecture 3-0 in the finals. It was the team’s fifth straight national championship. Meanwhile, Omura Technical High School of Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture, downed the team from Sozo Gakuen in Nagano Prefecture 3-2 for a Kyushu sweep. It was the Omura school’s second championship.
Fukuoka Prefecture will upgrade the facilities for the annual international wheelchair tennis tournament in Iizuka, it was learned. The objective is to maintain the tournament at the top rank of tournaments in Asia, and will include two new courts and the installation of permanent seating. The International Tennis Federation places the Iizuka tournament as one of the four top-ranked wheelchair tournaments in the world as part of the so-called Super Series. The aging of the existing courts and the lack of permanent seating threatens the status of the tournament, however.
Sagan Tosu of the J2 soccer league battled the team from Kumamoto to a 2-2 draw, ensuring they will be promoted to the top level J1 league next season. It will be their first chance to play in the premier league in their 13-year history. They finished the season with 69 points, good for a second-place finish.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks blanked the Chunichi Dragons 3-0 in the seventh game of the Japan Series to win their first national title in eight years. It is the fifth title for the franchise, including the Daiei and Nankai years. The 40-year-old Hiroki Kokubo was named the series MVP.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks won their third straight game in the Pacific League Climax Series 2-1 in extra innings over the Seibu Lions. Because they finished first in the league during the regular season, they were spotted one game in the six game series. The outcome was already decided after the top of the 12th inning when Hawks closer Takahiro Mahara held the Lions scoreless to preserve a tie game. The game was limited to 12 innings, and a tie would have prevented the Lions from advancing. The Hawks scored a run in the bottom of the 12th to provide the winning margin, however.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks clinched their second straight Pacific League pennant on Saturday by downing the Seibu Lions on the road 3-0. It is the franchise’s 15th title, including those won when they played in Osaka as the Nankai Hawks. These are also the first back-to-back titles in the Pacific League since Nippon Ham in 2006-2007.
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks’ pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi (30) said that from now until he retires, he will donate 1,000 yen for every pitch he throws in a game for Tohoku relief. He will use the funds from this year’s pitches to establish a fund. Based on the number of pitches he threw last year, he would have donated 3.2 million yen.
The girls’ judo team from Aso High School in Kumamoto Prefecture won the national high school championship in a tournament that ended on the 23rd in Fukuoka City. It was the team’s first ever national championship. They defeated the team from Keiai High School in Kitakyushu, in the first all-Kyushu finals in the girls’ judo tournament in 10 years.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Fukuoka City have signed a comprehensive agreement for regional cooperative enterprises. They have agreed to work together to promote regional sports, the sound upbringing of children, and regional vitalization. Included in the provisions are baseball instruction to be conducted by the Hawks, and the city’s remodeling of the team’s minor league franchise, also based in Fukuoka City.
J2 soccer league team Giravanz Kitakyushu defeated the team from Ehime by a 3-0 score to end their J League record string of consecutive losses at 35. The team had not won since March 21 last year. Coach Yasutoshi Miura apologized to the fans at a post-victory news conference for taking so long to win. He also thanked them for sticking with the team for such a long time with no wins to show for it.
Avispa Fukuoka of the J League’s Division 1 announced at a general stockholders’ meeting that they had earned 33 million yen in net profit for FY 2010, their first profit in three years. The profit came despite seven fewer home games in 2010 and a decline in advertising revenue. The difference came because the club fielded a squad of younger players with smaller salaries.
Tokaidai Sagami of Kanagawa used home runs and strong pitching to defeat Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku of Fukuoka 6-1 in the final of the National High School Invitational baseball tournament. It was the second championship for the winners, and the first time the Fukuoka nine had appeared in the finals. There was speculation that the tournament would be canceled after the March 11 earthquake, but it was played as scheduled. The opening ceremony and the bleacher cheering routines were simplified, however.
The J2 soccer team Sagan Tosu and Saga University collaborated on the development of a program to foster good health. They’ve posted the results of their work on the website Pika Pika Sagan Tosu. It includes a wide range of choices, including strength exercises for children and health maintenance activities for the elderly. There are also recipes for healthful dishes.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks announced plans to broadcast live on the Internet the activities at their spring training camp that will begin in Miyazaki Prefecture on February 1. The team will broadcast both practices and games played in camp. The Hiroshima Carp conducted a trial of live camp broadcasts in 2005, but this is the first time a Japanese baseball team will broadcast its spring activities so extensively.
The Dusan Bears of South Korean professional baseball began conducting a training camp in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, from the 17th that will end on the 24th. The Bears had originally planned to conduct a month-long camp in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture, but were concerned about last year’s foot-and-mouth epidemic among livestock there. They will move to Saito on the 26th.
The girls team from Higashiryukoku High School in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, won the national high school volleyball championship in Tokyo on the 9th, defeating Furukawa Gakuen from Miyagi Prefecture 3-1. It is the fifth time the Oita girls have won the national title.
The Daiei Softbank Hawks will create a second minor league team this season and have them play in the independent Island League in Shikoku and Kyushu, it was learned. The Hawks want to create a new team to train younger players and to provide a spot for injured players on rehabilitation assignments. They hope to be able to play 80 games a year, with up to 60 against Island League teams, using two different stadiums in Fukuoka Prefecture as their home park.
Avispa Fukuoka, which finished in third place in soccer’s J2 league, defeated FC Gifu 2-0 while the league’s fourth-place team lost, thereby earning the Fukuoka team promotion to the J1 league. It has been five years since they last played in the J1 league. It is also the first time in league history that a team has won promotion from J2 to J1 without foreign players on the roster.
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the signing of 18-year-old Kazuya Takano of Buntoku High School in Kumamoto City to a minor league contract. Takano is the first Japanese high school pitcher signed by the Dodgers. The team has been scouting him since his first year in high school. Takano said that he wanted to stand on the world’s most prominent baseball stage and go up against Ichiro Suzuki.
At the Japanese professional baseball draft of amateur players held in Tokyo, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks were one of four teams to draft pitcher Yuki Saito. The Nippon Ham Fighters won the lottery to negotiate with Saito, so the Hawks instead chose high school catcher Ayatsugu Yamashita from Chiba. Scouts say Yamashita has a strong arm and could develop into a power hitter.
The Chiba Lotte Marines trounced the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 7-0 in the sixth and final game of the so-called Climax Series (Pacific League playoff series), to eliminate the Hawks from post-season play. As the team that finished in first place during the regular season, the Hawks were spotted a one-game advantage before the six games were played. After going up three games to one, they only needed one win to move on to the next round, but lost the last three games when their hitting stroke disappeared.
The strong performance by J2 soccer club Avispa Fukuoka has filled the stands of the home grounds with supporters and is having a synergistic effect on the other four Kyushu J2 squads. The team was averaging 8,123 spectators a match, up from the 7,763 of last year. Sagan Tosu is up from an average attendance of 5,939 last year to 6,975 this year, and Roasso Kumamoto fans are also turning out in greater numbers.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks clinched the Pacific League pennant on Sunday the 26th when second place Seibu lost to the Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo. The Hawks had to stage a furious charge over the last nine days of the season to overtake the Lions, and finally did on the last day of the season. It is the Hawk’s first title in seven years, the 14th in their franchise history (including their days as the Nankai Hawks), and their first under Softbank ownership.
Nippon Professional Baseball, the official organization of major league baseball in Japan, has donated 15 million yen to Miyazaki Prefecture to help offset the losses to livestock farmers caused by foot and mouth disease. The money was raised by charity auctions in which the items auctioned were the uniforms worn by players during the all-star game. In addition, the national Chamber of Commerce and Industry donated 213.2 million yen to the prefectural chambers and other organizations.
The Fukuoka City Motorboat Race Course now boasts Aurora Vision, an LED technology screen made by Mitsubishi Electric that is the largest high-definition video screen in the world. It is 13.44 meters high and 44 meters wide, which is 1.7 times the size of conventional screens. It is also the largest screen at a Kyushu motorboat race course.
The Japan Sumo Association announced it will not hold this winter’s traditional training tour in Kyushu because potential organizers have refused to host it in the wake of the scandal involving the wrestlers’ gambling on baseball and alleged ties to gangsters. Regional tours are held four times a year, and the winter tour is held in Kyushu after the November tournament in Fukuoka. These tours are a major source of revenue for sumo. One session in the summer tour has been canceled, but the remaining five days will be held as scheduled.
After riding only three mounts to victory in 110 races last year, South Korean jockey Bak Je-ho decided to come to the Arao Racecourse in Arao, Kumamoto, for special training. He made the decision after watching well-known Japanese jockey Eiki Nishimura race in South Korea. Bak has brought his wife and son to Arao with him, and plans to stay until mid-July. The National Association of Racing says he is the first South Korean jockey to obtain a short-term license and race continuously in Japan.
The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks kicked off the pro baseball season on the 20th by taking on the Nippon Ham Fighters, the reigning Pacific League champions, in Sapporo. The Hawks prevailed by a 5-3 score. The offensive star of the game was Hiroki Kokubo, who collected three hits and drove in two runs.
Higashi Fukuoka High School trounced Toin Gakuen of Kanagawa 31-5 in the 89th National High School Boys Rugby Championship to claim their second national title, and their first in two years. The team also won the national elimination tournament held in the spring, making them only the third school ever to hold both titles simultaneously. Higashi Fukuoka scored an aggregate total of 274 points during the tournament, breaking the previous record of 270 set in 1999.
The Japan Olympic Committee ruled that it will not recognize any bids for joint sponsorship of the 2020 Summer Olympics, which the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been planning. After the ruling, Nagasaki City Mayor Tomihisa Taue announced his city will not be involved in efforts to hold the games in their city. Hiroshima City Mayor Tadanori Akiba said on the same day that Hiroshima would continue to work alone to win sponsorship for the games, and that perhaps Nagasaki could cooperate. The cities had wanted to sponsor the games together to promote anti-nuclear activities.
The financially strapped J League team Oita Trinita announced it will release coach Ranko Popovic as part of its financial reconstruction program. The team, which was relegated from the J League’s top tier, and received financial assistance from the league, will cut its overall player salary total of one billion yen by roughly half for next season. The coach was resigned to having his salary reduced, but incidental expenses for interpreters and travel proved to be too much of a burden for the financially strapped team.
JR Kyushu won its first national company league baseball title by defeating the Honda team from Saitama 3-2 in extra innings in Osaka’s Kyocera Dome. It was JR Kyushu’s first victory in the championship game in seven appearances, and the first victory by a Kyushu team since 2001.
New Wave Kitakyushu, a soccer team in the Japan Football League, defeated a team from Takasaki 2-1 to finish in the top four and thereby earn a promotion to the J2 League, the second rank of Japan’s premier J League. The promotion is expected to be confirmed at a J League director’s meeting at the end of the month. The team will be Kyushu’s fifth in the J League and the second in Fukuoka Prefecture. It also will become Kitakyushu’s first professional sports team.
The Fukuoka Red Warblers, one of six teams in the independent Shikoku-Kyushu Island League, will suspend play next season due to a lack of funds. Team officials said they would try to raise the cash to return to the league in 2011. Next season, only five teams will play, and only one, based in Nagasaki, is from Kyushu. Attendance last season averaged 782 people per game, and the league itself is in debt by 220 million yen.
In a match held on the 24th, Oita Trinita played Kyoto Sanga FC to a 1-1 draw, which means they can finish no higher than 16th if they were to win their remaining four matches. As a result, they will be relegated from J1, the top J League division, to J2. The team lost a league-worst 14 consecutive matches this year.
During the first round of postseason play in Japanese baseball, the best two-out-of-three Climax Series, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks were eliminated after two straight defeats by the Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Hawks lost the second game in Miyagi by a score of 4-1. It is the first time since 2004 that the Hawks have been eliminated so early in postseason action.
The girls’ kendo team from Shimabara High School in Nagasaki Prefecture took top honors in the national tournament in Fukuoka City. It was the first national championship for the girls’ team from that school.
The Nagasaki Saints, the first-half champion of the Shikoku-Kyushu Island League, an independent baseball circuit, are in danger of folding due to the lack of financial support resulting from the economic downturn. The Saints are the first Kyushu team in the league to win a title. The owners of the Saints, which are in their second year of operation, plan to raise funds throughout Kyushu.
