Wall Racing: Tokei RC Clinches the Title, Beating Hokuto 8 Tiers 1 Link–5 Tiers 3 Links as Migiwajima Sets a Personal Best of Tier 11

Looking back, the title race between these two clubs had opened with a 6-point gap — Tokei RC on 44, Naniwa WC on 38 — as of Round 19. Tokei RC then stumbled with a loss to Owari in Round 20 while Naniwa WC beat Hokuto to close the gap to 3, before Naniwa WC beat Tokei RC directly at Tokei RC's own home ground in Round 21 to draw level at 44 apiece. As previously reported, the pairing that would keep the two clubs apart in the final round was set on the 13th, and for the week since, which club would come out on top remained unsettled right down to the wire.

Round 22, the wall-racing league's title-deciding final, was held on the night of the 18th. As previously reported, league leaders Tokei RC and second-place Naniwa WC, level on 44 points, did not meet directly: Tokei RC hosted Hokuto at home at Kameido Second Wall, while Naniwa WC traveled to Horikawa Wall to face Owari, unbeaten there all season, each fighting for the title at a separate venue during the same time slot. Advance tickets were sold out at both grounds, with long lines forming before the gates opened, as previously reported.

Tokei RC beat Hokuto 8 tiers, 1 link to 5 tiers, 3 links at Kameido Second Wall, while Owari defeated Naniwa WC 6 tiers, 3 links to 5 tiers, 4 links at Horikawa Wall. Tokei RC's points rose from 44 to 47, surpassing Naniwa WC's 44, and the championship was decided the instant the matches ended. Because both venues finished around the same hour, a cheer went up in the Kameido Second Wall stands the moment word of the other match arrived from the adjoining operations booth.

The match was decided by a late climb from third-leg specialist Rui Migiwajima, 17. Having pushed her personal best up one tier at a time since July — Tier 8, then Tier 9, then Tier 10, as previously reported — she reached Tier 11 this round, giving her team fresh momentum. Afterward she said, in her usual understated way, "I just get along with today's wall. Today, we happened to get along one tier further than before." Asked about the timing of her career-best coinciding with the title decider, she added, "I wasn't aiming for it. If you aim for it, the wall probably won't like you." A teammate recalled, "We were the ones holding our breath down below, watching how far up she could go."

At Horikawa Wall, Owari — unbeaten at home all season — preserved that record through the final round. Making the most of the sunlit conditions at what's known as "the dry wall," Owari built a steady lead and held off a late push from Naniwa WC by a narrow margin. Naniwa WC captain and first-leg specialist Ushio Nadaoka, 29, said, "My start was the fastest all season. I don't want to blame the wall's character, but that last tier felt far away today." Some within the team say the closeness of the title race all season, even in defeat, will count in Naniwa WC's favor going forward.

As previously reported, the rule for deciding the standings if both clubs finished level on points in the final round has never been made public. Because Tokei RC won and Naniwa WC lost, the points diverged and that rule was never actually needed. League public relations said only, "The rule remains undisclosed. It simply wasn't required this season."

Security at Kameido Second Wall again included officers of the Tokei Sword Bearers' Association, as previously reported. Licensed sword bearer Chitose Kaname, who wrote in this paper's "The Sword That Stays Sheathed" column about venue security the day before, was reportedly on duty at the Hokuto match with a younger colleague. Even amid the cheering when the title was decided, no sword was drawn, of course.

The 18th also fell during preparations for the previously reported student wall-racing autumn qualifiers, with schools gearing up for their semifinals. The captain of Toyosu Technical High School, unbeaten since the opening round, brought up the professional final unprompted: "We want to stand on that stage ourselves one day. We were all watching for the live result together before practice this morning." As previously reported, a record 187 schools entered this year's autumn qualifiers, and the sight of professionals and students sharing the same Kameido Second Wall on alternating days is fast becoming one of the sport's yearly rhythms.

As previously reported, a line formed at Kameido Second Wall's same-day ticket window from the morning, and the standing area filled in once the gates opened. One father watching with his child, 37, said, "My kid suddenly got into wall racing this season. There's hardly a kid at school who doesn't know Rui Migiwajima's name." The match was also broadcast live on Bayside Television, called by an announcer from the previously reported "Wall Racing Variety" program. Broadcast sources say the viewership at the moment the title was decided is expected to be the highest of any live broadcast this season. As previously reported, advance tickets sold out at the league's fastest pace on record, and league public relations summed it up: "Judging by how the tickets moved, this season drew more attention than any in recent memory."

It was also a night that recalled a line from licensed sword bearer Chitose Kaname's column, "The Sword That Stays Sheathed," which ran in this paper the day before: writing about "the nine-in-ten days." A single night's excitement over a title decider makes the front page, but behind it lie countless days of practice that never make the news — the kind embodied by the 187 schools in the autumn qualifiers, previously reported. Migiwajima's Tier 11 wasn't born on this night alone; it stands on top of every single tier she added since late August.

With Tokei RC's championship, this season's 22-round league campaign has come to a close. Owari's unbeaten home record at Horikawa Wall held through the final round and will stand as a mark of the season. The student wall-racing autumn qualifiers, previously reported, head into their final in November, so both the professional and student sides of the sport look set to keep the sports pages busy a while longer. Within the league, Migiwajima's selection as the youngest-ever Monthly MVP is expected by month's end, as previously reported, and — in a seasonal ritual — whispers of interest from an overseas league have already begun circulating among players. Nothing has been confirmed so far.