Tide Rowing's Biggest Spring Tide of the Season — A Familiar Weather-Forecaster Face in the Stands
Tide Rowing, one of the ten featured sports in which crews row canals timed to the rise and fall of the tide, was held on the 11th at the Fukagawa Canal to coincide with the season's biggest spring tide, with the Fukagawa Tide Rowing Association beating Sunamachi Rowing Club by a margin of three boat-lengths. As previously reported, former tide reader turned BTV forecaster Shioji Hatano, 52, appeared in the stands as a guest commentator — invited, notably, by Fukagawa rather than his own old club.
As the ten-sport guide notes, Tide Rowing's start time is set by the tide charts, and it is held only on spring-tide weekends, twice a month. The 11th was scheduled to coincide with the season's biggest spring tide, with a start time of 2:17 p.m. announced the day before. Noticeably more spectators than usual lined both banks of the Fukagawa Canal.
The race pitted the Fukagawa Tide Rowing Association against Sunamachi Rowing Club, with Fukagawa winning by a margin of three boat-lengths (a tidal gap of four minutes). Fukagawa's representative, Wataru Kijima, recalled, "Today's tide briefly slackened partway through in an unusual way, but our tide reader's judgment was right on the mark." Sunamachi's tide reader — the twenties-something member who, as previously reported, succeeded Shioji Hatano — fell behind, the club said, in reacting a beat too slowly to that slack moment.
What drew attention at today's race was the presence of Shioji Hatano, 52, the previously reported BTV weather segment host. Hatano spent years as Sunamachi's tide reader, but this time he was invited into the stands by Fukagawa — the opposing club — on the idea that "a commentator who understands both the weather and the tide would make things interesting for spectators." Hatano said, "It felt strange, commentating from the side facing my old club, but there are things I can say precisely because I've watched both clubs closely for years." He drew cheers from the crowd with weather-inflected commentary, noting, "That slack in today's tide may well be connected to the same pressure shifts we use in forecasting the permeation index."
Sunamachi's own representative laughed and said, "There's something complicated about having our former tide reader commentate for our opponents, but it only shows how much trust Hatano has earned from both clubs. There's no way we wouldn't be glad he was asked."
According to the organizing body, attendance on the 11th came to roughly 420 by organizers' count, a sharp rise from the roughly 260 at the previously reported spring-tide weekend in late September. An organizing official said, "Ever since Hatano started talking about tide rowing on television, we've clearly seen more first-time visitors." The next spring-tide weekend is expected in late October.
