How Do Locals Feel About a Hakone Ekiden Without Fans? Thoughts of a Community Leader in a Town on Hakone Course
by Mika Tokairin
Held every Jan. 2 and 3, the Hakone Ekiden has become a bona fide New Year's tradition. The town of Miyanoshita on the steepest part of the winding mountain roads that make up the legendary Fifth and Sixth Stages has become famous for its massive crowds cheering "Miyanoshita style," chanting individual athletes' names in call-and-response form instead of their university's name. With organizers asking the public to help combat the coronavirus crisis by staying home and watching Hakone on TV, how are the people of Miyanoshita looking at this year's race? We talked to Koji Shima, owner of the Shima Photo Shop, a fixture on Miyanoshita's main street for four generations, and head of the Miyanoshita business association's Hakone Ekiden celebration event committee.
What's the history of "Miyanoshita Style" cheering?
Shima: I think it's been going on for about 25 years. There was a movement to try to reinvigorate the town economically and show off its charm, and I was part of a group of young people called "Next" that was given the task of coming up with ideas. We talked about it and said, "Let's put on an event that has something to do with the Hakone Ekiden."
Why the Hakone Ekiden as a theme?
When I was doing some research I happened to come across an old picture of the ekiden. In the parking lot of the Fujiya Hotel there was a cheering banner like a big strip of cloth with a university name on it. When I saw that I thought, "Well, to begin with let's try to do something like this." That was how it started.
The banners are still a big thing.
That's right. But these days they have messages of support, not just the university name. We ask everyone to contribute a message of support, write them on the banners by hand, and hang them on the course. We've had hundreds of them every year, but the last few years we've tried to cut it back to one hundred.
A lot of other traditions have come out of Miyanoshita.
We talked about things we could do other than the cheering itself, like, "How about making big pots of soup to hand out?" That's pretty common elsewhere, though, so ours evolved into "Miyanoshita Stew Buns," buns filled with beef stew, that you can only find here. We don't have any local industry here, so we had to use our ingenuity to come up with something special. We asked a bakery in town to make bread bowls by scooping out the inside of French bread, put stew in them, and handed them out to spectators. They were really popular. We also hand out 1000 cheering megaphones for free every year. They're in the colors of the previous year's winning Hakone team and are printed with the names of all the universities registered with the Kanto Student Athletics Association, even the ones that aren't running Hakone.
And of course "Miyanoshita Style" cheering, where you chant each athlete's name.
Yes. I didn't think the usual, "Let's go! Yay!" kind of cheering was very interesting, so we decided to cheer each individual athlete by name. In a lot of other places they cheer by the university name, but here it's strictly by each runner's name. We have spotters out on the course just before Miyanoshita, and when a runner is approaching they transmit that information to us back at the cheering zones, like "Next up is Kamino from Aoyama Gakuin University!" In each cheering zone there's a designated leader who tells the crowds, "Kamino is coming! Cheer for Kamino." That's why when runners go through Miyanoshita you always hear the crowd calling out to them by name.
Why did you go with individual names instead of the university names?
We really want to support the individual who is running. People all along the course will cheer for the university if they don't know the individual's name, but I think a lot of them really want to cheer on the individual who is running right there before their eyes. I think the athletes feel the strength and energy of our encouragement more when they hear their own names.
What athlete that you've personally seen run has made the biggest impression on you over the years?
Starting with Masato Imai (Juntendo Univ.), the Gods of the Mountain, of course [Imai, Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) and Daichi Kamino (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.)]. They really were as fast as you'd expect someone nicknamed a "god" to be. Totally in a different class from others.
How many people are on the Hakone event committee?
There are more than thirty people involved on race day. Along with members of the business association, there are some people who used to live in Miyanoshita but have moved elsewhere, and even some people who are just friends who like the Hakone Ekiden. Just a bunch of people who get together in Miyanoshita and get hyped up about the event.
Given the organizers' request for people to stay home this time, what measures are you planning to take?
The organizers told us, "We don't want you to cheer or organize any events," so we're not doing anything for this year's race. Not just on race day. We're not even putting up all the banners in the leadup to the race the way we always do.
That sounds like it'll be a very different atmosphere from usual.
Yes, but, that said, I think fans will be turning up even if we're not doing anything. Some people will come to the Hakone area to cheer because that's what they always do and they don't know they're not supposed to this time. If athletes are there running right in front of you, of course you're going to want to cheer. But in the current circumstances if you cheer with a loud voice it's going to stress out the people around you. And what do you do about that? I don't have the answer at the present time. I think at the very least we should be there guiding the fans to cheer in a safe way, like, "If you want to cheer just clap your hands." I kind of feel like that's the sort of thing they should be saying on TV more, but....
How are all the locals feeling about it?
This isn't an event we do because we're trying to increase local tourism. We do it because we want to make it a special experience for the people who come here to watch the race. Like I said, I'm sure there will be people who come to Miyanoshita this time without knowing the circumstances, and we're all sorry that we can't do anything for them.
As somebody born and raised in Miyanoshita, what does the Hakone Ekiden mean to you, Mr. Shima?
It's an annual event, a tradition like eating mochi at the New Year. I've been involved with our celebration event for 25 years, so it doesn't really feel like the New Year has arrived until Hakone is done. What we're doing is not "supporting the Hakone Ekiden." We're supporting the people who support the Hakone Ekiden. If they're not there, then there's no point in doing our event. I hope a post-corona day is coming soon when things will get back to normal and we can help cheer on the athletes the way we used to.
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translated by Brett Larner
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