【Saturday Cinema】"KANO" Returns to the Glorious Origins of Taiwanese Baseball

In 1944, during World War II, as Japanese soldiers traveled through colonial Taiwan en route to battle in Southeast Asia, a saying spread: “When you get to Chiayi, be sure to call me…”. The now-officer Toyojiro Katsu, once captain of Japan’s “Sapporo Commercial High School Baseball Team,” could never forget how his team had suffered a crushing defeat at the Koshien Stadium to the then-obscure “Chiayi Agricultural and Forestry Baseball Team” from Taiwan. And fourteen years later, Toyojiro was determined to visit Chiayi…

In 1929, in Japanese-colonized Taiwan, a baseball team called Chiayi Agricultural High School (Chiayi Nongong) was formed by members of the Han, Japanese, and indigenous communities. Initially just an ordinary club aimed at physical fitness, things changed when a new coach, Toshio Kondo (played by Masatoshi Nagase), arrived. Upholding the belief that talent selection should not discriminate by race, he restructured the team with the goal of “advancing to Koshien.” Using a Spartan training regimen, he reshaped the players. What had been a lackadaisical team gradually ignited a fighting spirit and determination to reach Koshien, spurred on by over a year of Kondo’s intense drills and repeated losses. In 1931, they fought their way to become the first baseball team south of the Zhuoshui River to win the national championship. Around the same time, the Chiayi-Kaohsiung Irrigation System, which would influence Taiwan for generations to come, was also completed. Amidst the wave of prosperity, the Chiayi Agricultural High School team was set to represent Taiwan in Japan.

 

Yet, it was only when standing on the black soil of Koshien that the Chiayi players faced their greatest challenge. Match after match took a toll, injuring the starting pitcher Wu Ming-Chieh’s finger. Enduring the pain in silence, he pitched through it, facing Japan’s strongest team, Chukyo, in front of a crowd of over 55,000. The pain caused him to repeatedly deliver bad pitches, stunning the spectators. Facing an angry and impatient Coach Kondo, Wu Ming-Chieh asked to finish this final game. His resolve moved Kondo, and his teammates decided to help Wu achieve his dream.

 

Wu Ming-Chieh used the Koshien soil to stanch the bleeding—but not the opposing team’s momentum. Suddenly, a teammate shouted: “Just pitch it to them, we’ll defend with everything we’ve got!” “Throw as hard as you can—we’re the Chiayi Agricultural High School from Taiwan!” Amidst the shocked silence of the crowd, Wu gritted his teeth and threw one fastball after another. With every pitch his teammates blocked, they yelled “Welcome!”—a scene that moved everyone present and inspired Taiwanese listeners tuning in by radio. Coach Kondo looked at his once-innocent players, who had now grown into warriors who refused to give up, and seemed to sense something deep within…

 

The Japanese writer Kikuchi Kan once said: “I have become a complete supporter of Chiayi Agricultural High School. Their sight of people of different races striving together for the same goal on the field truly moved me to tears.” Regardless of the game’s outcome, Chiayi Agricultural High School had already made history—but by fearlessly challenging themselves, they had, in a way, already achieved true victory.

 

From afar, a voice rang out from the stands: “Hero… battlefield… the world… Chiayi Agricultural High School!”

 

KANO

KANO

Release Date: 2014-02-27

Duration: Not provided

Director: Wei Te-Sheng

Cast: Masatoshi Nagase (“The Lady Shogun”), Takao Osawa (“Jin”), Makiko Esumi (“No Longer Human”), Togo Igawa (“The Last Samurai”)