History of Soccer�@�@�@�@


  During the summer and fall of 1950, the 5th National Athletic Meet was
held in Aichi Prefecture. Swimming and sailing competitions were held in
both Nagoya, Aichi's largest city, and Handa City, located near the sea.
Other events were held in Nagoya as well as Toyohashi, Okazaki,
Ichinomiya, Handa, Tsushima, Anjo and Kariya. Kariya held the soccer
events and it was from this time onward that Kariya become known as a
"soccer town". 
   The whole city seemed to swell with pride and excitement regarding the
upcoming soccer tournament. Kariya's preparations for the soccer events
were extensive. The public truck field was transformed into the Kariya
Kijo Soccer Field in June of 1949 at a cost of ��1,200,000. The facility
itself was 1.83 k�u with a club house and seating space for 10,000 people. 
   In June of 1950, before the National Meet began, the 30th All Japan
Soccer Championship was played there. Keio University, representing the
Kanto area, and Shizuoka Shita Club, representing the Chubu area of Japan
met in the final. It was a thrilling game, enjoyed by everyone in
attendance. After this championship event, preparations continued for the
upcoming events.
   Money was spent on upkeep for the field and local elementary schools'
playgrounds were used as practice fields. 1000 high school students
helped to construct the many fields needed for the tournament. And in
October, before the competition, Aichi's soccer team and Kariya High
School's soccer team started practicing on the completed fields. All
teams from the Kanto and Kansai regions, as well as teams from Aichi and
the Tokai area were accomodated in Kariya City. All other teams, from the
Chubu and Hokuriku regions were accomodated in Hekinan City,
Chiryu City, Takahama or Higashiura. Enthusiasm for the tournament was
intense. Commemorative souvenirs and badges were sold. And it was
from this point on that soccer became (invariably) linked with Kariya
City as an important part of its character.
   On October 29 at 9:30 in the morning, twenty four soccer teams participated
in the opening ceremonies. Admission tickets were sold for 50 yen for adults, 
30 yen for teenagers between 16 �`18 and 15 yen for everyone else under 15.
In the very first game of the tournament, the Aichi All-Star Team won by
default. They won the second game against a team from Hokuriku and in the 
third game Aichi's team lost to a team from Sendai by a score of 7 to 1. 
Kariya High School also entered the tournament. They first played a team from
Matsuyama and then Oizumi High School from Tokyo. Kariya won both close
games. Next they played the 2nd place team, Shudo High, and unfortunately
they lost. Kariya High continued to practice hard after this meet and then in 
the 9th and 10th National Athletic Meets in 1959 and 1960 they won the 
tournament!
   With the tournament finished, Mr.Miyamoto, the chairman of the National
Meet, praised the sacrifices made by the people of Kariya in preparation
for the tournament. This speech was broadcast to all the people in Japan.
Many people were deeply moved by his speech, and the people of Japan would
not soon forget this tiny city in Aichi.