Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan's second-largest industrial output and third-largest population, is also an important part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

As the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City is located to the east of Tokyo Bay, adjacent to Yokosuka to the south, bordered by Kawasaki City to the north, with Mount Fuji and Hakone to the west, making it one of the most important cities in the Kantou Region.

Departing from Tokyo Station, taking the "JR Tokaido Main Line," it takes only about 28 minutes to reach Yokohama from Tokyo.

Just past November, the air already carried a chill—as all first-team players of the Waseda Jitsugyo Baseball Club, led by Coach Izumi Minoru and Manager Sasaki Shinichi, departed from Tokyo to Yokohama, initiating their Kanagawa training camp activities.

As a traditional baseball powerhouse in the West Tokyo region, Waseda Jitsugyo's opponents in this training camp are also of notable renown, all recognized strong baseball schools in Kanagawa:

Kiyonokura Academy, one of the traditional baseball elite schools in the Yokohama area; in their team's history, they created a fairytale story by winning the championship on their first appearance in the 53rd Summer甲 in 1971—

More importantly, in that tournament, among the five matches leading to Kiyonokura Academy's championship victory, except for conceding two runs in the semifinals, they shut out their opponents in all other games, demonstrating overwhelming dominance.

Tokogakuen Academy, a mighty team that has emerged in recent years in Kanagawa Prefecture, based in Kawasaki City, like Waseda Jitsugyo, they have come from out of town aiming to quickly integrate their team through this training to prepare for next year's competition.

The last team, also the host and venue provider of this four-school exchange activity, is the long-established baseball powerhouse of Kanagawa Prefecture—Yokohama High School.

In terms of achievements, even in any region throughout Japan, Yokohama High School's level is unparalleled:

With 3 Spring甲 wins, 2 Summer甲 wins, 5 National Sports Festival wins, and 1 Shengong win—it's challenging for other schools to surpass Yokohama High School in honors, even for a prestigious school like Waseda Jitsugyo.

Especially the team led by the "Heisei Monster" Matsuzaka Daisuke in 1998—from the previous year's Shengong Tournament to the National Sports Festival, that Yokohama High School team did not lose a single match in 53 official games; other than PL Academy giving them some trouble, they almost always crushed their opponents.

With 53 wins in 53 matches, the 1998 Yokohama team also achieved the first and only "High School Baseball Triple Crown" in history, winning the Shengong, Spring甲, and Summer甲 championships in a single year, an unprecedented feat.

So even though the media now bestows the title of "Monster" on Lin Guanglai, in reality, just in terms of leading a high school team, Lin Guanglai still has a considerable distance from his predecessor Matsuzaka Daisuke.

Yokohama and Waseda Jitsugyo, these two baseball elite schools, also have many intriguing tales difficult to articulate:

In 1980, the outstanding Arima Daisuke, with his handsome appearance and powerful skills, pushed the Koshien fever to its peak while leading his team to the finals.

And Waseda Jitsugyo's opponent in that year's finals was Yokohama High School, led by the "Yokohama Wild Child" Aikoh Takeshi.

Unlike Arima Daisuke, who excelled in both academics and character with a bright and handsome appearance, Aikoh Takeshi was a notorious bad boy since middle school—smoking, dating, stealing, fighting, and being in a gang were all common for him.

If not for then Yokohama Head Coach Watanabe Mototsugu's fondness for talent, persistently advocating for Aikoh Takeshi as the team's ace despite all criticisms, who knows what his future might have become, and he might not have become a professional player later.

In that Summer甲, besides the supporters of Yokohama, almost everyone across Japan hoped that Arima Daisuke and his Waseda Jitsugyo would win the championship. However, Yokohama High School, led by Aikoh Takeshi, ultimately withstood wave after wave of attacks from Waseda Jitsugyo, winning the school's first Summer甲 championship with a score of 6-4.

Nearly twenty years later, Watanabe Mototsugu coached another talented boy named "Daisuke" to Yokohama High School, who, under his leadership, inaugurated the "Matsuzaka Era."

For this training camp, Coach Izumi Minoru went to great lengths to prepare—considering that the high school baseball offseason is approaching.

The Japan High School Baseball Federation stipulates that from December 1 each year to the beginning of March the following year is the high school baseball offseason, during which all high schools nationwide are prohibited from conducting exchange practice games.

This regulation is primarily for two reasons:

Firstly, care and attention to the physical and mental health of players: High school baseball game schedules are intensive and demanding, with many school players playing from the start of the year to the end, hardly leaving the field unless injured, which isn't good for developing teenagers;

Also, playing in the cold winter, the drop in temperature easily leads to errors, and if a pitcher experiences control issues leading to hit-by-pitch, it could cause irreversible harm to players.

Another reason hasn't been officially confirmed by Takano Ren but is widely circulated among schools and fan groups:

Takano Ren established this regulation to balance the intensity between different regions and schools.

Without such a regulation, the following situation might occur:

High schools in the Hokkaido Region can't train in snowy winters, while schools in Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa in the south can still engage in intense outdoor competitions—

Over time, imbalances in strength between regions would certainly occur, which goes against the initial aims of high school baseball;

Also, the financial disparities between public and private schools are an essential consideration:

Without the related regulations, adequately funded private schools could engage in training camps in warmer southern regions, while public schools could only wait indoors for winter to pass.

Due to various factors, the recruitment of players for private school baseball clubs is far superior to public schools. Without restrictive measures, public schools might as well stop playing baseball, and the Koshien tournaments, with "passionate youthful dreams" as its keywords, would lose its allure.

Upon exiting the station and completing coordination with in-charge personnel from Yokohama, the Waseda Jitsugyo players, led by Manager Sasaki Shinichi, board the bus arranged by Yokohama High School en route to the training site—for the next week, they will eat, live, and train with players from the other three schools, striving to integrate the team as much as possible to prepare for the upcoming tournaments.

And Coach Izumi Minoru himself didn't follow the main group as usual; he still had an important task to accomplish in Yokohama—

Finding a pair of gifted arms for next year's Waseda Jitsugyo to help Lin Guanglai relieve the pressure of the matches, this task needs to be addressed urgently.

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