Korean high school turns to Japan's Koshien champion to seek lessons in winning

Gyeongju High School’s baseball team is turning to one of Japan’s high school baseball powerhouses, Chiben Wakayama, to learn what it takes to win a national title.

The team traveled to Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture on Sept. 9 for joint training with Chiben Wakayama’s players. The visit went beyond a friendly exchange, offering a firsthand look at the training methods, player development and team management behind the Japanese school’s success.

The two schools face similar circumstances. Chiben Wakayama is about 70 kilometers from Osaka, Japan’s fiercely competitive high school baseball hub. Gyeongju High is about 66 kilometers from Daegu, home to several baseball powerhouses. Neither has a separate budget for scholarships or scouting to recruit top players. Their rosters are also similar in size, with about 12 players per grade at Gyeongju and around 13 at Chiben Wakayama.

Their national records, however, tell different stories. Founded in 1982, Gyeongju’s baseball team has become a leading force in North Gyeongsang Province but has yet to win a national title. Since finishing runner-up in the 2003 President’s Cup, it has gone more than two decades without winning a national tournament.

Chiben Wakayama, which opened in 1978, has won the spring Koshien tournament once and the summer tournament four times. This summer, it defeated Kendai Takasaki to claim its first summer title since 2021, emerging from a field of more than 3,000 teams nationwide.

That record explains why Gyeongju chose Chiben Wakayama for the exchange. It wants to learn how a school with similar recruiting challenges and regional circumstances became one of Japan’s best.

Determined to find a way rather than make excuses

Gyeongju High began overhauling its baseball program last year by appointing Lim Won-su, a graduate of both Gyeongju Middle and High schools, as head coach. Having led Gyeongju Middle School’s baseball team since 1996, Lim brings a deep understanding of the region and the conditions in which its young players develop.

Lim made clear that he would not settle for success at the regional level.

“Being No. 1 in North Gyeongsang Province alone means nothing. I know how much local residents and alumni want us to win a national tournament,” he said. “As someone who is part of the local baseball community, I’m deeply sorry we haven’t yet lived up to those expectations.”

“I won’t use the loss of talented middle school players to Daegu or the number of established baseball schools nearby as excuses,” he added. “A coach’s job is to find a way to get results with the resources available.”

Player development was therefore Lim’s main focus during the exchange. He hopes to adopt the training methods, coaching philosophy and team management practices that have allowed Chiben Wakayama to remain a powerhouse with a roster similar in size to Gyeongju’s.

Ties that predate the baseball exchange

The exchange grew out of a meeting between Rep. Kim Seok-ki, a Gyeongju High alum, and Kiyoshi Fujita, chairman of the Chiben Gakuen educational foundation.

The foundation operates three high schools: Chiben Gakuen and Chiben Gakuen Nara College in Nara Prefecture, and Chiben Wakayama in Wakayama Prefecture. Chiben Gakuen finished runner-up at this year’s spring Koshien tournament, while Chiben Wakayama won the summer title.

The schools’ ties to Gyeongju long predate the baseball exchange. Chiben Gakuen began taking students there on school trips in 1967, and Chiben Wakayama followed in 1979, a year after it opened. Since 2017, the corporation has also offered a study program in Gyeongju for interested students from all three schools.

“When those school trips first began, relations between Korea and Japan were sensitive, but the warmth with which Gyeongju residents welcomed our students remains a vivid memory,” said Nobuyuki Kojima, principal of Chiben Wakayama.

“Visiting Gyeongju is an opportunity to explore the roots of Japanese culture and bring together students who will shape the future of both countries,” he said. “Social media makes it easy to communicate these days, but meeting in person and learning to understand one another across differences in language, culture and daily customs is immensely valuable.”

From baseball to broader student exchanges

The two schools plan to build on the baseball visit with broader educational and cultural exchanges. Students from all three schools run by the Chiben Gakuen foundation will visit Gyeongju High during a study trip to the city in May 2027.

“This won’t be just a one-off meeting between two sports teams,” Kojima said. “I hope students from both schools will continue to meet and build a relationship that helps them understand each other’s history and culture.”

Chiben Wakayama had planned a welcome ceremony for the Gyeongju team’s visit on Sept. 9, involving its 1,030 students, school band, cheering squad, cheerleaders and staff. A heavy rain warning in Wakayama forced the school to close for the day, canceling the ceremony, but the visit still marked a meaningful first step in the relationship.

Gyeongju head coach Lim Won-su and his Chiben Wakayama counterpart, Jin Nakatani, also spoke candidly about their baseball philosophies, approaches to player development and differences between Korean and Japanese high school baseball.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.