After last summer’s victory at Koshien, Okinawa Shogaku High has been selected to play in the tournament for the second consecutive year, “Never forgetful of our feelings of gratitude, we’ll grab another win! (31ja26)

Splendor of Okinawa: Sweet William, roadside Uruma, 25ja26


On 30 January the teams selected to play in the 98th Invitational High School Baseball Tournament (Spring Koshien) were announced. 


From the forces of Okinawa, Okinawa Shogaku High School’s team, victorious in its first championship at last summer’s Koshien tournament, has been invited to play for the second consecutive year. The team picked up the final slot among the 5 invited from Kyushu.


This is the team’s ninth invitation to participate and it is hoping to take the championship in both the spring and summer tournaments, to make it historically only the fifth team to do so.


In Shogaku High’s Naha auditorium, its team assiduously viewed the live coverage of the screening committee’s meeting to determine the teams to take the field. While the teams faces remained calm as they peered at the screen,  at the moment those to take the field were decided, everyone in the auditorium erupted in cries of joy.


The commander of the team, Coach Koya Higa, stated, “I’ll do my best to make a team that will bring joy to you all, with as many wins as possible!”


Team Captain Taiga Yamakawa added, “Never forgetful of our feelings of gratitude, we’ll grab another victory! We’ll put our hearts into fulfilling the expectations of all you, our supporters.”


With news of the selection of Okinawa Shogaku to take the field, on 30 January, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki issued his comment, “The team will fully demonstrate on the bright stage of Koshien the results of their accumulated training. We expect them to give our prefecture’s people once again their fabulous passion!”


Original Japanese article: Sankei Shimbun, published Friday 30 January 2026 at 19:40. Byline: Naoki Ohtake.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8a622cf1915ff725447a9f583cfa8613a59221bf


Denny in the News: Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving the translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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