TOKYO, Dec. 16 – On December 13, the cheering squad formed by all the students of Tokyo University of Agriculture held its last joint practice for cheering runners advancing to the 102nd Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race (Hakone Ekiden) for the 71st time in total and the first in two years.
The practice was joined by approximately 70 students in total, including the leaders dressed in student uniforms, brass band members, and cheerleaders. They dance to famous cheerleading school songs such as Aoyama Hotori, known as the Daikon (white radish) Dance, and Midori no Seiei, and they exchange ideas to improve the performance. In Hakone, they plan to help their runners unleash their strength at the race’s start and finish lines. Daikon used for the dance performance in Hakone will be provided by the Kosaka Farm in Kokubunji City, Tokyo.
“We lost in the qualifying race last year, sadly, by just a second,” the head of the cheerleading team, Sota Sakairi, 22, recalled. “We want to support the team becoming seeded with 120% of our strength for the sake of the team last year, too.”
Note: Hakone Ekiden is a yearly road relay that takes place on January 1st and 2nd from Otemachi, Tokyo, to Ashinoko, Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, and back. It is the longest intercollegiate road race in the Kanto eastern region of Japan. The 217.1-kilometer course is divided into 10 sections, and each runner runs with their team’s sash and hands it to the next runner on the team at each station. It’s one of the most popular New Year’s events in Japan.
Members of Leader Club, Cheerleading Club, and Brass Band Club practice together for cheering ahead of Hakone Ekiden. (In Setagaya Ward, Tokyo)