The 5th Senzaki Kamaboko Board Ball Tournament in Nagato Yumoto Onsen (9/29)

Surprise at the opening ceremony

On Sunday, September 29, the 5th Senzaki Kamaboko Board Game in Nagato Yumoto Hot Spring was held at " Renessa Nagato " in Senzaki, Nagato City.

This is the first time the event has been held in two years, as it was cancelled last year due to a typhoon.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Kimihisa Ishikawa, father of Yamaguchi-born female table tennis player Yoshizumi Ishikawa, gave a speech as a participating player.

He surprised the participants with a "rock-paper-scissors" tournament by taking out a paper bag that he had been holding throughout the greeting. This was a surprise to both organizers and participants.

Unexpectedly, they all lost the first time, and Mr. Ishikawa laughed and settled for a second try.

The audience was so excited by this surprise that the two winners were presented with "Kasumi (Kasumi Ishikawa) Curry" and "official uniforms with Kasumi Ishikawa's name on them.

Racket is a fishcake board

As the name of the tournament suggests, this tournament uses fish cake boards, a specialty of Senzaki, Nagato City, instead of regular rackets.

The net height is as high as 25 cm, and there are special rules such as three points awarded for declaring a challenge and scoring a point.

This year, 108 pairs of 216 players, some from as far away as Osaka and Fukuoka prefectures, competed in the tournament.

First, a preliminary league of three pairs began.

The match venue was made very colorful by the cosplay, which was the focus of this tournament.

The convention offers a variety of prizes, including a "special cosplay prize," which is said to be more lavish than the prize for the winner of the convention.

The umpires for the day were also members of the local elementary and junior high school table tennis clubs.

Some of the children had just joined the club, and although they were confused by the special rules, they worked hard in all the games.

Kamaboko-Three outside of the match venue

Outside the venue, the "Kamaboko-i Tower Championship," in which anyone can participate, is held to see how many layers of kamaboko boards can be stacked in 30 seconds.

As a result, there were three 17-dan players with the highest dan, so a final match was held at short notice.

Mr. Shoya Kamikawa from Fukuoka Prefecture won the tournament with 16 dan.

Outside, kamaboko and food made from kamaboko are sold.

Other specialties of Nagato are also lined up.

After lunch, the players gathered again at the venue for a fun raffle and the announcement of special prizes.

Special prizes include unique awards such as the "Most Frequent Visitor Award" (for the person who came the furthest) and the "Most Brilliant Loser Award" (for the pair who scored the lowest in the preliminary round), as well as "Oldest and Youngest" and "Special Cosplay Award".

The first place winner of the Cosplay Special Prize was a costume featuring Yuzukichi, a specialty of Nagato City.

These costumes, which are all handmade, took about two to three weeks to make.

Other results are as follows

special prize

• The "Well Done" Award: Ryuji Takubo and Tomoko Nagami pair
• Oldest: Reiko Higashida (82 years old)
• Youngest: Takuma Yoshizu (age 5)
• Prize for a splendid defeat: Tetsuo Yoshizu and Takuma Yoshizu pair
• Cosplay Special Prize
  1st : Masahiko Kamitoshi and Tatsuya Kamimoto pair
  2nd : Fumie Fujimoto and Tomiyoshi Uchiyama pair
  3rd : Shiori Ishioka and Hiromi Kihara pair

Finally, the tournament by rank

When it comes to ranking, a little more seriousness comes into play.

Beginners are starting to get the hang of it, and the rally continues much longer than in the qualifying rounds.

When you start focusing on winning, you will be very happy when you win a rally game, and your cheering voice will echo.

From the semi-finals, the teams were gathered in the three front courts and started playing all together.

Finally, the rankings will be determined.

In the semi-finals and finals, rallies are long, smashes and other decisive shots are made, and the matches become heated.

The 1st place tournament final was won by the Yoshiaki Nagao and Keisuke Takenaga pair from Mine City and Shimonoseki City after a full set.

The handshake at the end of the game was very impressive and a fitting end to a heated final.

Next year's event is scheduled for Sunday, September 27.

We are looking forward to seeing what kind of cosplay performances will be presented, and we expect the players to further enhance their power.

Match Result

• 1st place group
  Winner: Yoshiaki Nagao and Keisuke Takenaga pair
  Semifinal: Kazumasa Tamura and Minoru Naganuma pair
  3rd place: Koji Hamaya and Yuji Nakatani pair
  3rd place: Hisashi Muryotani and Shinji Kubota pair
  
  
• 2nd place group
  Winner: Kazuhiro Otani and Hirohiro Ikenaga pair
  2nd place: Manabu Tokutomi and Tomomi Yamamoto pair
  3rd place: Hiroaki Awata and Hiroko Awata pair
  3rd place: Kazuo Hidaka and Hatsue Miyamoto pair
  
  
• Third place group
  Winner: Kanichi Miyoshi and Kiyoko Hasukami pair
  Second place: Tokuro Oda and Kayatake pair
  Third place: Daisuke Kaneko and Miharu Kaneko pair
  Third place: Mariko Okamoto and Yoji Ishikawa pair

Related Links

• The 5th Senzaki Kamaboko Board Ball Tournament in Nagato Yumoto Onsen
• October Event Information (in Nanavi)
• Fall Events 2019