OCTOBER 2017
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CONNECT &
YUKO SASAKI CLAIMS KANTO LAWN BOWLS TITLE THE 1896 SERIES & THE RISE OF JAPANESE BASEBALL “DON’T GET EXCITED” - A CARD GAME CALLED SKAT NEWS • REVIEWS • EVENTS
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B LU E C E N TH AZI S! G MA URN T RE
THURSDAY STEAK NIGHTS
CRAVING STEAK? ON THURSDAY NIGHTS IN OCTOBER CHEF SUGIYAMA BRINGS TO YOU A VERY SPECIAL STEAK MENU SIZZLING GOOD PRICES WITH A GLASS OF WINE OR SOFT DRINK ON THE HOUSE! OCTOBER
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CONNECT
YOKOHAMA COUNTRY & ATHLETIC CLUB CLUB HOURS
Concierge Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat/Sun 9am-8pm Accounting Office Weds-Sun 10am-6pm Mollison’s Restaurant Mon/Weds/Thurs: 10am-9pm (Tues Closed), Fri-Sun 9am9:30pm Members Bar Weds/Thurs closes 11pm, Fri-Sun and Holidays closes midnight Changing Rooms & Sauna Mon-Sun 9am9pm (early/late users, see Concierge to arrange a key)
SPORTS HOURS
Billiards Mon-Sun 9am-10pm Bowling Alley Open for general use on non-league days Mon-Fri 4pm-8pm (Tues closed), Sat/Sun/Holidays 12pm-8pm Fitness Centre Mon-Sun 8am-10pm (access possible after hours, please see Concierge to arrange a key) Dance/Yoga Studio Mon-Sun 8am-10pm (access possible after hours, please see Concierge to arrange a key) Golf Range Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat/Sun 9am-8pm Gymnasium Mon-Sun 8am-8pm Main Field Open for member use Mon-Sun except when booked Pool May-October, Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat/ Sun 9am-6pm Squash Courts Mon-Sun 9am-10pm (sign out a key to play) Clay Tennis Courts Mon-Sun 10am-10pm (night tennis requires a key sign out) Hard Tennis Courts Mon-Sun 6am-10pm (night tennis requires a key sign out)
Auditors Onno Jalink, Marcel Niederhauser
GENERAL MANAGER Erol Miftahittin
HEADS OF DEPARTMENT
Finance Keisuke Satoh Sport Chris Kelly Membership, Sales & Marketing Adam Bunting
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YC&AC
6 The 1896 Series & the Rise of Japanese Baseball 16 Yuko Sasaki Claims Kanto Lawn Bowls Title 18 Don’t Get Excited! A Card Game Called Skat On the cover: Yuko Sasaki (left) with YC&AC ladies lawn bowls legend Kazuko Yasuda.
Since 1868
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YC&AC CONNECT MAGAZINEADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP Inquiries and submissions to Adam Bunting: a.bunting@ycac.or.jp
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Richard Gustafson Vice President Bill Baker Secretary Tom Tyrrell Treasurer Shinya Fujiwara Directors Ishu Chugani, Dan Coughlin, George Fu, Alex Hendy, Sadao Hosogai, Julia-Sophie Selig-Sonderhoff
150th Anniversary Campaign
• 50% off initial sign up fees • ¥10,000 per month for young adults • ¥18,000 per month for adults OCTOBER
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MESSAGES
A word from the General Manager
Erol Miftahittin General Manager
Dear members, It gives me great pleasure to write this first column of Connect magazine on its relaunch. It was sometime in July when I reflected on the past year of managing YC&AC. I was searching for answers as to why we have 650 paying members but we are having such difficulty fielding YC&AC field sports teams. My recollection, many years ago members had information about all events, and the focus of communication at the Club was on the weekly events from sports to theme parties. During the summer, from June to September, baseball games were played every Saturday and cricket games were played every Sunday. From October to March, men’s and ladies field hockey and youth soccer games were played on Saturdays; and on Sundays, 1st and 2nd team soccer and rugby games were played. The results were posted for members to see, and the monthly membership magazine featured articles about the sports and food & beverage events. Today, YC&AC does not have the same social vibe, and I feel that one reason
is because we see so many non-member sports activities taking place at the Club that we have lost focus. I sometimes do not know when YC&AC sports teams are playing or who is using the field. This lack of communication may have caused our members to lose interest in participating in sports, so many of which we founded in Japan. So the timing of the Connect magazine relaunch could not be better. We hired Adam Bunting as our new Sales Manager, and with the assistance of directors Alex Hendy and Tom Tyrrell, we are now able to provide more information to our members through this publication. We hope that members will take notice of all the great activities that are offered at our wonderful Club. We look forward to your continued support and patronage of YC&AC. Sincerely, Erol Miftahittin General Manager
YC&AC to Welcome Wallabies
NEWS Words: Alex Hendy
Representatives of YC&AC’s Board of Directors and Sports Department attended a reception at Royal Hall Yokohama on August 28 held to rally support for rugby in the city, which has been chosen as the venue of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final. Hosted by NPO Heroes, the reception was timed to raise the profile of the game in Yokohama in advance of the Australia v Japan Test Match on November 4, which will be played at Nissan Stadium. The event was attended by more than 300 VIPs from the prefectural and city governments, business community and world of rugby. OCTOBER
It was announced at the reception that on November 3 a number of Australia and Japan national team players both past and present will lead a training session for young rugby enthusiasts at the YC&AC ground. In the evening, the Club will host a party and talk show, for which tickets are already on sale to the general public. If any member is interested in attending this party, please contact the Sports Department for more information. In addition to the announcement involving YC&AC, it was gratifying at the reception to hear so many speakers mention the Club’s role in introducing |
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MESSAGES
A word from the Editors
Fellow members, For as long as anyone can remember, the Club has had a magazine. Published in many formats and under a variety of different names over the decades, the magazine has served to bring us all together. In its pages, the tennis players rub shoulders with the footballers; dice-throwing baseball players share a pitcher with the yogis; lawn bowlers roll a jack to their brothers and sisters in the bowling alley, and everyone wherever they are knows what’s going on. We’ve missed it. Like the Club itself though, Connect can
rugby to Japan and of the importance of the whole city leveraging its rugby history and deep historical connections in the sport to help guarantee the success of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and foster the growth of rugby in Japan.
Players past and present on stage for the “three cheers” finale. OCTOBER
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only be as good as its contributing members. So if you have an event to publicize, a story to tell or perhaps a great photograph it would be fun to share, please don’t hesitate to contact our man at mission control, Adam Bunting, and let him have it! Thank you, Alex (left), Tom (right) and Adam (a.bunting@ycac.or.jp) Note: A PDF version of the magazine has been published to our website for those who prefer to read the publication online.
HISTORY
The 1896 Series:
THE RISE OF JAPANESE BASEBALL Mike Galbraith traces Japan’s deep love of baseball to a series of games played 120 years ago between YC&AC, the Tokyo Higher School, better known as Ichiko, and the baseball nine of the USS Detroit. The most popular team sport in Japan in 2017 is, as ever, baseball. Japanese baseball players, especially pitchers, are rated amongst the best in the world with a significant and growing number playing in the major leagues in the United States where the game started. Scouts from those leagues are keeping a sharp eye even on high school baseball players in Japan, and US major league clubs have sometimes forlornly competed with each other trying to sign the best Japanese high school players as soon as they graduate. But the astonishing talent of Japanese baseball players and the resulting ability of Japan’s players and clubs to attract intense devotion from their fans is not a new phenomenon and neither did it gradually emerge over a period of decades. In fact, the start of baseball mania in Japan can be traced precisely to a period of forty-one days starting 23 May 1896 and ending July 4 during which the baseball team of the Tokyo Higher School*, better known as Ichiko (First School), played three games against the baseball section of the Yokohama Cricket and Athletic Club (now the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club, YC&AC) and one against the baseball nine of the USS Detroit. The Ichiko team OCTOBER
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included Aoi Jitsuzo, who would be recognized as the first Japanese superstar pitcher — the very first in the long line of Japanese superstar pitchers that includes recent and present major leaguers like Nomo Hideo and Yu Darvish. These four games were the first really competitive baseball matches played between Japanese teams and foreign teams. There was an extra edge and tension to these international games due to the country’s tough economic conditions including not a little starvation in the Kanto region which affected the Japanese rather than the foreign residents. Student life was tough, and many Japanese blamed their hardship on extra-territoriality — the unequal treaties which allowed foreigners to basically govern themselves. There were attacks on foreigners, with several assaults on foreign missionaries. One, involving Ichiko students during a baseball match in 1890, caused an international incident — the Imbrie Incident. Against such a background, Aoi and his teammates took the field on the YC&AC Cricket Ground (a part of Yokohama Koen; the location today of Yokohama Stadium, home of the professional Yokohama DeNA
BayStars team) for a single match on 23 May 1896 and won, 29-4. The Japan Weekly Mail reported the YC&AC team were “badly beaten” and that they were “out-maneuvered at all points of the game.” The losing YC&AC team requested a rematch, which was played on June 6 with the YC&AC team strengthened by five players from the USS Charleston and USS Detroit. The result was almost the same, 28-9. “The play of the Japanese youths was smart throughout, the fielding admirably sure, the pitching of Aoi and the catching of Fujino remarkably clever,” the Japan Weekly Mail reported. Pupils from the nearby Yokohama Commercial High School (Y-Ko) were prominent among the Japanese supporters and in the ensuing celebration, Aoi gave them bats and balls and this led to the immediate start of the baseball club in the school. At this juncture a match was arranged between the USS Detroit and Ichiko to be played on June 27 on the Ichiko ground in Tokyo, which survives
Above Left: The Ichiko baseball team of 1896. COURTESY: THE BASEBALL MUSEUM, TOKYO, JAPAN. Below: The USS Olympia baseball nine in Yokohama, 1896. Ernest “Pop” Church, star of the final game against Ichiko, is seated far right. COURTESY: INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA, USA.
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to this day as part of the University of Tokyo campus in Hongo-sanchome. USS Detroit players practiced and even played a warm-up game against YC&AC, which they lost. So their expectations couldn’t have been high. Nevertheless the ship’s team and their supporters made an impressive entrance onto the ground accompanied by music played by the ship’s band. They must have been surprised to discover that a huge crowd — reported to be around 10,000 — had come to support Ichiko. Among the crowd were the young Japanese poet and former Ichiko pitcher Masaoka Shiki and at least one baseball player from the USS Olympia which had arrived in Yokohama days before on June 8. The USS Detroit players and supporters were to leave the Ichiko ground with their tails between their legs, as Ichiko scored yet another crushing win — 22-6. Thus the excitement of the Ichiko fans and the confidence of the players must have reached feverish heights as they converged on the Cricket Ground in Yokohama for the third time in weeks on July 4, American Independence Day, for what became the final game of the year against YC&AC. At that time Yokohama on Independence Day would have been festooned with flags, and there would have been naval salutes from ships, naval bands parading, special sports events and other festivities. It was a fitting backdrop for the climax of a remarkable few weeks of baseball that saw the sport start a rapid climb in popularity. Aoi and his team had proved convincingly that their individual skills and team play were superior to those of the best foreign players then either living in Japan or stationed on US naval ships anchored in the port of Yokohama. Surely they couldn’t lose. The USS Detroit had left port but the absence of its baseball players in the YC&AC team was more than compensated for by the presence of four players from the USS Olympia including a young 18-year-old pitcher called Ernest Church. The game seesawed from the very beginning with YC&AC scoring 5 in the first innings and Ichiko leveling the score in the second innings. After five innings Ichiko lead 12-10 and seemed to be in control. But there was a dramatic end to the game
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with tension lasting right up until the last pitch. The Japan Weekly Mail writer brilliantly described the nail-biting finish as follows: Excitement became intense when Yokohama went out to begin the 9th and last innings. They had to make three runs to win, and when two men were caught out without scoring it looked all over but the cheering. Then Dame Fortune went boldly over to their side, and with the assistance of an error or two by the Japanese fielders they managed to get four runs, thus passing their opponents’ score by two runs. Still the Japanese had another innings to play and the possibility of a tie was very imminent. But the home team, pulling themselves into better combination than before, prevented the visitors from scoring another run: the game thus ending in a victory for Yokohama by two runs. The applause — supplemented by many fire crackers — that greeted the hoisting of the telegraph, was frantic; then the Yokohama captain called for cheers for the Tokyo Higher School. These were given in good earnest. Ichiko had been beaten but their performance garnered a lot of praise. “Competent critics agree that the Japanese team played a neater and better game in the field than their opponents — the combination produced by constant practice being pretty to watch,” wrote the same reporter, who gave both a key reason for the extraordinary skills of the Japanese players – constant practice – and an insight into the attractiveness of their play. The USS Olympia’s newspaper later described Ichiko thus: “They were a crack team, however and put up a great game that would have made some of our professionals open their eyes.” The paper also throws more light on how the game was won: “‘Pop’ Church put a twirl on the ball that made their hair stand on end and won the day. He was carried around the diamond by the ladies.” Ichiko and their fans were despondent in defeat and none of them would have thought that those four matches had triggered the start of a baseball mania in Japan that has continued until today. There was a rush to start baseball clubs in schools and universities, and the Japanese media gave more and more coverage to
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the sport. Three long articles written by journalist and poet Masaoka Shiki in the Nippon newspaper helped drive this trend. However, Ichiko’s baseball aura was soon to be eclipsed by that of Keio University, which was in turn eclipsed by Waseda University. In 1905 the Waseda team toured the United States and, only around twenty years after Aoi’s exploits in 1896, Waseda alumnus Mikami Goro became the first Japanese to play baseball for a professional team in America. Probably nobody present at those four 1896 baseball matches played shortly before the end of extraterritoriality could have guessed the importance that some historians would later accord them. This went far beyond the sporting merit of the games and the large crowds and media coverage they drew. By clearly outplaying the best teams of foreigners that
could be assembled in Japan, these young Japanese baseball players had demonstrated for the first time that they were more than a match for Americans at something important in the modern world and something very close to American hearts. They made Japanese people feel proud to be Japanese again and contributed to the creation of a new national identity for Japanese in the world. (C) Mike Galbraith, mike.galbraith@interworld.jp * The Tokyo Higher School was not a high school in today’s sense and included students over 20 years old. It was a preparatory school feeding students into what is now the University of Tokyo. Many on the Ichiko baseball team would have been older than 18-year-old Ernest Church.
Commemorative Matches On 11 June 2016 at noon, a formal ceremony marking the 120th anniversary of the 1896 baseball games was held on the present YC&AC ground. Government and baseball officials from both Japan and the United States attended as well as former players including Murakami Masanori, the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball, and Paul Yonamine — son of Wally Yonamine, the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after WWII — to honor the three games Ichiko played against the YC&AC.
Y-Ko. These were followed by a panel discussion and a buffet dinner. YC&AC hosted the second annual Field of Dreams event on June 3rd 2017. Masanori Murakami served as Honorary Chairman of the event, and Warren Cromartie, the former Yomiuri Giants and Montreal Expos player, joined for the Awards Ceremony.
There were speeches, and a letter from the captain of the present USS Detroit was read out. Before and after the ceremony there were entertaining games of baseball played by three strong children’s teams, the YC&AC nine and Old Boys from the University of Tokyo and YC&AC baseball players line up facing their 1896 adversaries Ichiko and Y-Ko before the 120th anniversary matches played 11 June 2016. OCTOBER
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the captain’s report
YOKOHAMA COUNTRY & ATHLETIC CLUB
YCAC Baseball Keeps Hardball Alive
BASEBALL Words: Toshi Nakahama, YCAC Baseball Captain
The YC&AC is one of the few locations in Japan where amateur baseball lovers can play with a real baseball (koshiki style), versus the rubberized (nanshiki) ball normally used by non-professional leagues here. The season runs from May to October with doubleheaders every Saturday. Below are the highlights of some of the recent matches: YCAC Versus U.S. Navy Our YCAC team got two great wins including one incredible “sayonara” versus the US Navy! A pitcher’s duel and timely walks on our side led us to barely win the first game 2-1. In the second game, we were seven runs behind with only one base hit. However a miracle happened in the 7th, with Kenny kicking off with a double, followed by several RBIs and a timely walk to set the stage for our young guns Kelvin and Kenny’s consecutive strong doubles. It’s gone!
of the strongest industrial league teams in Japan, YCAC held our own for most of the nine-inning game. Ebihara’s roaring right arm did well on the mound, however it wasn’t enough to match Nissan’s iron wall defense or their long-range hits that put them ahead by the end for a 7-3 victory. Both teams joined together in a banquet after the game to further solidify our friendship and sportsmanship. Another good game!
YCAC Versus Samurai Ladies Our YCAC team was so close to winning versus one of the oldest and strongest Samurai girls semipro teams! Highlights for the YCAC were: RBIs by Bill, Ebihara and Koike, and solid pitching by Yachi and Mimori. Highlights for the Samurai Ladies included amazing plays at shortstop by Rokkaku, a Japanese national ladies team player, and well-trained quick outfielder teamwork. The nine-inning game ended in a 7-7 tie, with the promise by both sides of a rematch!
Above: The Samurai Ladies team. Below: The YC&AC and US Navy Teams.
YCAC Versus Nissan Old Boys In the sixth annual match against the Nissan Old Boys (OBs), one OCTOBER
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ALLEYBOWLING Words: George Fu Alley-Bowling Captain
There’s always something going on in the bowling alley, even in the summer when the schools are closed and many members and their children return to their home country on vacation. Every year a seven-week league is held at this time for the bowlers who are still in Japan. The competition has been very close. We will announce the winner in next month’s issue of Connect. Earlier in the summer, on June 4, the annual Nation’s Cup tournament was held. Five teams took part representing Japan, the UK (third), India (second) and Asia (winner). Congratulations to the Asian Dragons! Above Right: Summer League bowlers out in force. Right: Nations Cup winners the Asian Dragons: Miwako Fu, George Fu, Naoko Bracha, Shion Sakurai.
GOLF Words: Ishu Chugani
Do you enjoy golf and seeing new sights in Japan? Then YCAC golf is for you! Our group organizes monthly outings at courses around the area that
are affordable and fun. Everyone is welcome and it is a great way to meet new friends and exercise in the beautiful outdoors of Japan. Upcoming events include the following: • Friday, October 20th- Taiheiyo Club, Ichihara Course, Chiba This is a fund-raiser for the 23rd Universal Brotherhood Charity competition. Funds raised are donated to 200 charitable hospitals handled by the Universal Brotherhood in India, which serve over 2,000,000 patients a year. • Friday, December 1st- Hodogaya Country Club, Yokohama One of the closest courses to the YCAC. To learn about upcoming events, please contact Ishu Chugani at: chugani@gmcjapanltd.com Taiheiyo Gotemba West outing on August 31st.
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Tennis Welcome Back Tournament Delayed by one day due to rain, the annual Welcome Back tennis event took place on Sunday September 3rd, a beautiful cool day for some social tennis after the summer heat. Twenty-four players took part, each drawing a number out of the hat to decide the first pairings, after which a round robin format was used to ensure that no one had the same partner twice. Everyone played at least four 20-minute games with different partners and kept a tally of their wins and games. Three ladies won all four of their matches, with Mika Osawa winning a total of 20 games, and Miki Watanabe and Ingrid Meibergen-Tashiro tying for first place on 21 games each.
Words: Phil Armstrong, Tennis Committee
On the men’s side, no one managed to win all four matches. Of those who won three matches, runner up was Hiroo Shibata with 17 games and first place went to Phil Armstrong with 21 games. After the tennis, everyone enjoyed lunch in the Tennis Hut with plenty of food and drinks – thanks to Erol and his team for putting on a good spread. We are looking forward to lots of tennis action in the upcoming season with the Club Championships, a Veterans tournament for over 55s, some events for kids and teenagers, an “Autumn Nights” social event, as well as some YCAC teams participating in external tournaments and playing against other clubs. Details to follow soon…
Twenty-four players took part in this year’s Welcome Back tennis event.
Yokohama District Club Tournament On Saturday September 9th, a YCAC team participated in the Yokohama District Club Tournament for the first time. The team consisted of seven doubles pairs: Women’s 55+, 45+ and open, and men’s 65+, 55+, 45+ and open. We were a bit unlucky to meet one of the strongest teams in the first round – Yokohama Garden Tennis Club, whose team members included former IDT winners OCTOBER
among others, and was somewhat out of our league. However, the YCAC team had great team spirit and everyone did their best. Although we suffered a heavy defeat, it was a good experience for the team, and at least there were no injuries. Many thanks to those YCAC members who came out to support the team! We certainly have a lot of room for improvement but hope to make this a yearly event and have the whole year ahead of us to practice, so we can only improve from this point and hope for better luck next time. Go YCAC!! |
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The YCAC team at the Yokohama District Club Tournament.
CRICKET
YC&AC Wins Presidents Cup Words: Barney Arny
YC&AC welcomed cricketers representing the Indian and British Embassies to the Home of Cricket in Japan on Saturday September 2 for
the annual President’s Cup, this year sponsored by Rosy Blue Tokyo, several Indian companies and Ishu Chugani. Heavy rain in the morning threatened to spoil everything but with the exquisite timing of a Tendulkar cover drive the clouds made way for sunshine and everyone enjoyed an excellent day’s cricket. YC&AC ultimately prevailed in a hard-fought tournament but cricket as always was the winner.
YC&AC co-captain Alan Iwata receives the President’s Cup from India’s Ambassador to Japan His Excellency Mr. Sujan R. Chinoy. YC&AC director and tournament organizer Ishu Chugani is seen in the center. OCTOBER
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Familiar Old Failings to the Fore as Fives Fluff Opening Lines
Football Words: No. 17
The Over 35s shuffled out for the first fixture of the new season looking fit, fresh and faintly unfamiliar. No fewer than four new faces joined a fifteen-strong squad that had stand-in captain Sada Hosogai scratching his head for an opening selection. The opposition was Johnson & Johnson, regular visitors to the Home of Football and for many years our favourite whipping boys. Annoyingly however they have improved, and these days we are both as bad as one another. Scoring loads of goals is fun, but so is a good tight match, and that is what unfolded here. Writing a week after the event the memory’s highlights reel is
YC&AC Over 35s 1 v Johnson & Johnson 2 brief, but one recalls the mood at the end was that a draw would have been a fair result. There was a buzz too about the quality of the additions to the squad. New keeper Ken Tanizumi was vocal, brave and blameless for the goals; centreback Matt Overbay was a positive force, repeatedly nipping in with interceptions and not afraid to carry the ball forward; and late-arriving midfielder Erjon Dega (not in picture) looked after the ball brilliantly in tight spaces and moved it around with languid
Squad: Back row, left to right: Kazu Matsumoto, Little Miss Lucky Mascot Matsumoto, Hermann Sugieta, Sven Krickhahn, Dimitris Bakinezos, Andrew Barrett, Russell Brown, Andreas Boettger, Matt Overbay; Front row, left to right: Sada Hosogai, Ken Tanizumi, Rich Freeman, Alex Hendy, Raymond Mui, Atsushi Furuya, Shin Hirai. Not in picture, Erjon Dega. OCTOBER
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authority. Left-back Hermann Sugieta did not fare so well, limping off like so many debutants before him with thigh twang after 20 minutes. Get well soon, sir. While both goals for the oppo seemed unfortunate and against the run of play, there was nothing fortunate about the YC&AC goal, which came at the end of the first quarter and leveled things, if memory serves correctly. Yours truly narrowly managed to keep a simple pass from Dega in play on the right (a triumph in itself) before jinking forward, slipping the ball through the legs of the left-back and driving into the box. Andreas Boetgger made no mistake with the cutback, blasting the ball into the back of the net from twelve yards. We had other moments. No match is complete without Shin Hirai skying one from the edge of
the box, and we were denied on one occasion by a spectacular diving save from the opposition keeper that drew a groan of frustration from the normally unflappable Boettger. Approximately thirty Russell Brown corners all came to nought, and it was that failure to translate territorial superiority into goals that once again cost us a positive result. No matter. This was a fun match played in an excellent spirit and a performance from a new-look team that bodes well for the long season ahead. Goals: Andreas Boettger Assists: Alex Hendy Yellows: Shin Hirai (studs up lunge) Game-ending injuries on their debut: Hermann Sugieta (thigh) Attendance: Andrew Barrett
Billiards Words: Bert Lefever, Billiards Captain
Did you know... There is a beautiful billiards room on the second floor of YC&AC? It is next to the bowling alley. Feel free to try it out. We have two snooker tables and one pool table, in perfect condition, with cues, chalk and balls all provided. Back in April, the 2017 YC&AC Snooker Championship was won by Raymond Mui, who beat Bert Lefever in a quick-fire final by two frames to nil. More recently, we started a monthly snooker league which takes place on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm or on Sundays at 2 pm. Players of all levels are welcome! On October 22nd we will host the YC&AC Pool Championship, which is open to men, ladies and youths. Please register your interest if you’d like to compete at the Concierge Desk.
2017 YC&AC Snooker Championship competitors: From left, Alex Hendy, Hans Pauli, Russ Hannah, Beat Sturzenegger, Raymond Mui (Winner), Bert Lefever (Runner-up), Andrew Barrett, Satish Tandon, Russell Brown, James Hegarty, Ishu Chugani
2017 YC&AC POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY OCTOBER 22 FROM 2:00 PM MEN’S, WOMEN’S & YOUTH COMPETITIONS PRIZES, PENNANTS AND PRESTIGE! NEWLY UPHOLSTERED TABLE! FREE ENTRY! SIGN UP REQUIRED SIGN UP AT THE CONCIERGE DESK OR BY WRITING
TO OUR SPORTS MANAGER AT C.KELLY@YCAC.OR.JP
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Yuko Sasaki Wins Kanto Lawn Bowls Title
LAWN BOWLS Words: Tom Tyrrell
Yuko Sasaki from YCAC recently won the 2017 Kanto Women’s Singles Lawn Bowl Championship on August 27th at the Tachikawa Showa Memorial Park grounds. The win also placed her as the
Women’s singles qualifier representing the Kanto/ Kanagawa region for the 2017 Japan Women’s Singles Lawn Bowls Championship to be held October 21st and 22nd at the YCAC. Having only taken up lawn bowling a mere three years ago to come this far is an incredible achievment, congratulations Yuko! YCAC member Yuko Sasaki, fifth from right in upper row, poses with other participants and referees at the 2017 Kanto Women’s Singles Lawn Bowls Championship at Tachikawa Showa Memorial Park.
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Questions/Inquiries Sports Operations Manager Chris Kelly c.kelly@ycac.or.jp 045-670-9004 ext. 196
October Schedule
YOKOHAMA COUNTRY & ATHLETIC CLUB
ALLEY BOWLING- BOWLING ALLEY Mon/Wed/Thurs 8:00pm- Autumn Bowling League Sat 1:00pm- Youth Bowling League (until Oct. 14) BALLET- WITH EMMA IN THE STUDIO Mon/Thurs 3:30pm- Kids Ballet (3-4yrs.)- ¥750/lesson Mon/Thurs 4:20pm- Kids Ballet (5-6yrs.)- ¥750/lesson Thurs 5:15pm- Kids Ballet (Advanced)- ¥750/lesson Fri 12:00pm- Adult Ballet Basics & Stretch- ¥1200/lesson BASKETBALL- GYM FREE Mon 6:30pm- YC&AC Youth Basketball Thurs 7:00pm- YC&AC Basketball (Teens & Adults) Sun 10:30am- YC&AC Kids Basketball (7-12yrs.) BILLIARDS- BILLIARDS ROOM FREE Weds 8:00pm- Pool & Snooker Night Sun 2:00pm- Snooker Sundays CARDS Friday 10:00am- Bridge, All Welcome- (10am-5pm Card Room) FREE Second Friday of the Month- Tarot, All Welcome- ¥1300 CHESS- MOLLISON’S FREE Sun 2:00pm- Chess- (All Welcome) DANCE- STUDIO Tues 11:00am- Belly Dance with Billy- ¥6000/month Sun 11:00am- Latin Dance with Billy- ¥6000/month DARTS- MEMBERS BAR FREE Fri 7:30pm- Friendly Darts Session (Join Mailing List) FITNESS Mon 11:30am- Zumba with Dulce- FREE Thurs 7:45pm- Body Blast with Chris- (Studio) FREE Fri 10:00am- Circuit Class with Chris- (Fitness Centre) FREE Fri 2:00pm- Healthy Exercise with Yu Saiki- (Studio) ¥4300/ month GYMNASTICS- STUDIO FREE Fri 5:00pm- Intermediate & Advanced (Gym) Sat 10:30am- Tiny Tots Gymnastics Sat 11:15am- Beginners Gymnastics
Sun 10:15am- YC&AC Youth Soccer (13-17yrs.) Sun 11:30am- YC&AC Over 35’s Soccer (Check Fixture List) SQUASH- SQUASH COURTS FREE Thurs 6:30pm- YC&AC Squash Club Night Sat 4:00pm- Squash Saturday (All Welcome) TABLE TENNIS- GYM FREE Sun 3:30pm- Table Tennis (All Welcome)
HOCKEY- MAIN FIELD FREE Sat 12:00pm- Field Hockey, All Welcome IKEBANA- BAY VIEW ROOM Tues 10:00am- Ikebana ¥1000/lesson JAPANESE- CARD ROOM WITH KURISAKA-SENSEI FREE Thurs 8:45am- Japanese Class (Beginner) Thurs 10:20am- Japanese Class (Intermediate) Thurs 11:30am- Japanese Class (Advanced) *Japanese classes incur a ¥1000 annual fee MASSAGE- ANNEX ROOM FREE Sunday- Available All Day Until 5pm LAWN BOWLS- BOWLING GREEN FREE Sat 9:30am to 11am and 4pm to 6pm- Recreational Lawn Bowls Sun 9:30am- Morning League (Please Enquire) RUGBY- MAIN FIELD FREE Sun 2:00pm- YC&AC Adults Rugby SOCCER- MAIN FIELD FREE Sun 9:00am- YC&AC Kids Soccer (5-12yrs.) OCTOBER
TENNIS- TENNIS COURTS Tennis Academy- Please visit www.ycac.or.jp for times Weds 10:00am- YC&AC Ladies Tennis- FREE Sat 9:30am- Pee-wee Tennis with Coach Fong (3-4yrs.)¥2000/month Sat 10:15am- Tykes Tennis with Coach Fong (5-6yrs.)¥3200/month Sat 11:00am- Kids Tennis - Beginners with Coach Fong¥4800/month Sat 11:00am- Kids Tennis - Intermediate with Coach Milos¥4800/month Sun 10:00am- Sunday Social Tennis (12yrs. and older)- FREE VOLLEYBALL- GYM FREE Mon 7:30pm- YC&AC Volleyball YOGA- STUDIO FREE Mon 10:15am- Hatha Yoga with Pascale Tues 5:00pm- Yoga Basics with Ingrid Tues 6:15pm- Yoga Vinyasa Flow with Ingrid (Advanced)Fri 4:00pm- Hatha Yoga Basics with Ingrid- (Bay View Room) Sat 11:00am- Hatha Yoga with Aki- (Bay View Room) |
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FEATURE
A Card Game Called Skat -
DON’T GET EXCITED! Christoph Hagedorn discovers an “exciting” connection between a German card-playing club in Tokyo and our own YC&AC. In Bando on Shikoku island there was a World War I prisoner-of-war camp where from 1916 until 1918 about 500 mainly German-speaking soldiers were detained in what one may call decent conditions, at least according to the terms of the Geneva Convention. As photographs from the period prove, the prisoners were allowed among other activities to play music, and allegedly this was the place where for the first time Beethoven’s 9th, “Ode to Joy,” was performed on Japanese soil. One photograph,
showing three people sitting around a table playing cards, suggests another story. Considering the number of players involved and their likely German origin, it may well be assumed that this was one of the first games of Skat ever played in Japan. Now, for the curious reader, Skat is an old German card game with strict rules and in which fierce international competitions are held even comparable to the game of darts.
Klaus Diehl (front center) enjoys a YC&AC Oktoberfest.
OCTOBER
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Christoph Hagedorn (red tie) and friends propose a toast to good fellowship.
The author is a member of a Skat club in Tokyo which holds its monthly round in a German restaurant in Akasaka. Those rounds of Skat may best be described as civilized evenings of cards, song and toasting to good fellowship. The name of our club is “Erregt Euch Nicht,” which is German for “Don’t Get Excited” or, in Japanese, “Koufun Shinaide Kudasai,” and last year the club celebrated its 30th anniversary. As most current members are transient German expatriates, the collective memory of the club’s origins had grown rather weak, but fortunately connections still exist with the founder himself, Klaus Diehl. What I learned from his account was indeed very surprising. The roots of our Skat club, it turns out, lie in the YC&AC itself! Not only was the club founded in Yokohama, but for the first ten years the Main Bar of the YC&AC was the regular meeting place of its members. Inevitably over the years the members changed, and unfortunately more and more incoming Germans chose to settle in the Tokyo suburbs. So, in 1995, the Skat club decided to relocate its “playground” to Tokyo. Since then, the club has met every month to celebrate true German friendship and to honor the game of cards. The number one rule of the club, though, is manifested in its name, “Erregt Euch Nicht.” And it is this very rule that is violated at every card night. When the
OCTOBER
WHEN THE CARDS FLY AND SPIRITS FLOW, THE EXCITEMENT ALWAYS RISES HIGH UNTIL WE CALL IT A “GREAT NIGHT” cards fly and spirits flow, the excitement always rises high until we call it a “great night.” One more word about Klaus Diehl. He and his wife, Brigitte, were active members of the YC&AC from 1979 to 2008 and called their stay in Yokohama a “splendid time.” When I mentioned the Diehls to the YC&AC’s honorable board member Dan Coughlin during another carousing event, our recent Burns Night, he immediately recalled fond memories of Klaus and Brigitte, in particular their leading role in establishing the now regular club event which is Oktoberfest and the extraordinary singing skills of Brigitte. It is wonderful to see that many inspirations for friendship and competition have their roots in our club. And fortunately in Japan today it no longer needs a prisoner-of-war camp to get three Germans at a table for a game of Skat.
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reviews
YOKOHAMA COUNTRY & ATHLETIC CLUB
YC&AC’s 40th Annual Bon Odori FestivalThe Biggest Yet! YC&AC hosted the 40th annual neighborhood Bon Odori on August 5 and 6. Participants enjoyed all the usual Bon Odori attractions including dancing, carnival games and great festival food, with the Club’s huge nagashi somen (flowing noodles) contraption once again proving a smash hit with the kids. Approximately 1500 people attended the event over the two days, making it our biggest ever.
Club Tropicana! Island Style BBQ The Club’s Island Style Barbecue on August 26 was a whopping success, with over 100 guests demolishing the tropical spread including two 20-kg tunas. The tuna was prepared by Chef Sugiyama, whose background is in kaiseki Japanese cuisine. Guests enjoyed watching Chef ’s knife skills and devoured the delicious fresh fish. Ukulele player Mikku Nagata provided the music, traditional Hawaiian back porch style. OCTOBER
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Johnny Lazar’s Farewell, Karaoke for the Cause Words: Johnny Lazar
A brilliant 2-year Japanese adventure ended for me with a send-off of epic proportions. I wanted to celebrate all that the club and its wonderful members have done to make my family and I feel at home here, and the evening did not disappoint. As well as brothers in arms from the basketball court, soccer pitch, tennis court, golf course and, of course, the bar, it was great to see so many people who have touched our lives in so many ways. To avoid having to make too much conversation, we decided to drink and sing, and a good combination of skills it proved too. Aided by Rich Freeman and Chris Templeton on guitar, Tom Tyrrell on vocals, Marta Mirecki
on bongo drums and Chris Kelly on the karaoke machine, we crooned, wailed, serenaded, and ultimately comprehensively butchered many a fine tune. People who could barely approximate singing before could barely approximate speaking the next morning. No matter, as the quest was a worthy one. As many of you know, my niece Lucy is currently battling a rare form of brain tumor called DIPG. Her treatment in Mexico, while experimental, is showing early promise, and it is key for us to ensure that she can continue to receive the best care possible. Thanks to the contributions of all present, we were able to raise over JPY 300,000, which is a wonderful result brought about by some very special people. Many thanks go to the club for generously sponsoring the event, and for allowing me to share in one last revelry. The aural memory of Ishu and Caroline’s rendition of “My Way”, I take home with me and will forever treasure. To all I’ve had the privilege to share this and other memories with, a very fond “sayonara”. It’s fair to say we parted on the highest note of all (or so I choose to remember). For those unable to make it who would be interested in donating, please follow the link below, with many thanks from Sally, Jasmine, George and our whole family: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lucy-pineapple
Above: Here they go again: Jonas Teiler, Rich Freeman, Johnny Lazar and Raeef Hijazi belt out a hit from Whitesnake. Below: Caroline Piggott and Ishu Chugani showing how it’s done “My Way”
OCTOBER
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Oktoberfest Words: Julia-Sophie Selig-Sonderhoff
Above Left: Dan & Chris Prosting. Above Right: A very good stein. Below Left: Festive fräulein fashion. Below Right: Two thumbs up from MC Chris.
Ein Pro--sit ein Pro--sit der Gemuetlichkeit...is the Oktoberfest refrain sung every half hour or so in any and every Oktoberfest venue around the world including YCAC. It means “a toast, a toast, to good cheer”. And thus the 170 Members and guests of YCAC Oktoberfest 2017 toasted this year’s hop harvest and “good cheer” with raised mugs and a healthy gulp of freshly brewed beer.
the team in the kitchen for the second year now and produced authentic German Oktoberfest cuisine, including fresh pretzels, roast chicken, sauerkraut and sausages, cheese pasta, meat loaf, potato salad and more. The star of the show was a whole roasted hog that was cooked outdoors for most of the day resulting in juicy-inside and crispy-outside perfection!
The imminent Typhoon had us shift Oktoberfest into the Gym this year and by all accounts this was a very good move. With the draped cloth ceiling and the blue and white decor throughout it felt as if we were in a real Oktoberfest tent on the Teresienwiese in Munich!
The featured beers, Bayern Meister Bier Pils and Weizen, were produced and brought in from Fujinomiya, and expertly poured by Brew Master Stephan Rager.
Guest Chef Maik of Maik’s Kochleoffel Catering, led
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In true Oktoberfest tradition, the fest was attended by young and old, and people from all walks of life. Our MC, Chris Kelly moderated the whole evening,
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including games for kids - both young and old - yodeling and singing, and dancing, of course. The Nichidoku Kyoukai (Japanese German Friendship Association) loyally supported YCAC Oktoberfest once again this year- its 5th year running- with 27 attendants. So did a small but growing contingent of the Southern German community... At 7pm GM Erol tapped the special Oktoberfest Beer Keg in sync with the official opening ceremony in Munich, and the drinking, eating and dancing continued until the tables were cleared away and the lights switched off way past official closing time. The party then moved on into the Members Bar where Arisa Safu was performing by popular demand. We plan to hold the YCAC Oktoberfest again on the official opening day next year, and have received numerous pledges to feature an authentic German Oktoberfest band for live music. Thank you, everyone, for your loyal support, and see you next year- in Dirndl and Lederhosen I hope!!!
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