Shido Swordplay's Autumn Tournament, Round 2: Tokei Defeats Owari 3-2 as Gen Minase Wins on Home Ground for a 2-0 Start

The Autumn Five-Match Swordplay is an inter-city tournament for licensed sword bearers, opened in the previously reported Round 1 when the Tokei Sword Bearers' Association — a joint team drawing from the Kaname and Minase schools — defeated the Hokuto Sword Bearers' Association (Himuro school) 3-2. Round 2 was held on the 10th at the Minase school's head dojo in Kyobashi, against the newly entered Owari Sword Bearers' Association (Sawai school). The Hinokuni Sword Bearers' Association said the Sawai school is a long-standing lineage from Owari making its first appearance in the inter-city tournament this season.

Gen Minase, 22, of the Minase school, who won his inter-city debut bout in Round 1, fought first on the 10th, on his own home floor. Unlike his debut, whose details went unreported, this time he drew his blade and scored a clean, decisive hit — an unusual outcome settled before the three referees needed to render a judgment, drawing a stir from the crowd. "Fighting on my own dojo's floor, with a feel for the boards I know well, mattered a lot," he said afterward. "That said, drawing my blade at all is something to reflect on."

The second and third bouts split one win apiece between Tokei and Owari, and Owari took the fourth to even the match at 2-2.

The deciding fifth bout, the anchor match, was fought as expected by Chitose Kaname, 41, head of the Kaname school. As in the Round 1 anchor bout, she won without drawing her blade, reading her opponent's movement for a referees' decision on form alone. Afterward she repeated her familiar short remark: "Please judge a sword by the number of times it wasn't drawn."

A representative for the newly entered Owari association, which lost a close 2-3 contest in its debut, said, "Coming this close in our first match is a real gain — it's experience we can build on for next season." An official with the Hinokuni Sword Bearers' Association commented, "A new school joining the inter-city tournament is itself a sign of how this sport is growing."

Tokei's association opened the season 2-0. The schedule and opponent for the next round have yet to be announced. The spring tournament is set for March, and the season's final standings for the Autumn Five-Match Swordplay are expected to be settled before year's end.

The second bout went to a Kaname-school member of the Tokei association, and Owari took the third back; both were reportedly decided by close calls across their three points, with the three referees occasionally split on their reading. An official from the Hinokuni Sword Bearers' Association serving as witness praised the Sawai school's quickness to close distance, "more than you'd expect from a school in its first appearance," adding, "they'll likely draw more attention in seasons to come."

This was the first inter-city match the Minase school has hosted at its own dojo, and the hall drew a crowd large enough that some had to stand. Dojo staff attributed it to the combined pull of the previously reported opening-match buzz and the local attention on Gen Minase. One spectator, a self-employed man, 44, from Kyobashi, said, "This was my first time inside the Minase dojo. I never expected to see a clean, drawn-blade win live. I'd assumed sword-bearer matches were quieter affairs than this — it changed my impression."

After the anchor bout, Kaname added an unusually extended remark to her customary short comment. "Not drawing your blade and not being strong are two different things. I think it was fine that Minase's win came the way it did today." Her words, accepting the younger swordsman's different style without contradicting her own, drew a small murmur among the reporters in the hall.