Shido Swordplay's Autumn Tournament Opens as Gen Minase Wins His Debut — Tokiwado Takes Its First-Ever Placing at the Kiko Festival

The inter-city sword-bearer tournament known as the Autumn Five-Match Swordplay opened on the 3rd at the Kameido Budokan, near the Third Appraisal Center. As previously reported, a half-price ticket scheme for students drew a near-capacity crowd. The opening match between Tokei and Hokuto began with the first bout from Gen Minase, 22, of the Minase school, making his inter-city debut. Minase, who as previously reported has yet to accompany an exclusion operation, looked stiff at the start but took a decisive opening with a clean read late in the bout. "A one-on-one in the practice hall and a one-on-one with three referees seated there carry a different weight, even with the same movements," he said afterward. "Still, taking that first point let me finally breathe."

Tokei's Sword Bearers' Association won the overall match 3-2 over Hokuto. The biggest talking point was the anchor bout. Chitose Kaname, 41, head of the Kaname school, who had declared in her previously reported column "The Sword That Stays Sheathed" that she "wasn't competing in tomorrow's opener," ended up taking the bout after all, stepping in at the last moment when a younger substitute withdrew. Facing a Hokuto opponent, Kaname won on points without ever drawing her blade. "Having said I wasn't competing, and then competing anyway — I feel bad for anyone who read the column," she said with a wry smile, adding, "Winning without drawing wasn't some matter of pride. There simply wasn't a need to." She repeated her previously reported catchphrase: "Please judge a sword by how many times it stayed sheathed." Hokuto's captain said, "Hearing Kaname wasn't competing, I think some of us let our guard down a little, if I'm honest. That's part of why we lost."

The next round is scheduled for next weekend at the Minase school's home ground in Kyobashi. Soichi Gamo, 66, chairman of the Hinokuni Sword Bearers' Association, commented, "We saw good, tense matches from day one. We want a tournament that lives up to our quality-over-quantity principle."

The next morning, the 4th, Kiko Run's biggest annual event, the Kiko Festival, was held on a special course at the Kyobashi head office building. Among more than 200 previously reported entries, Tokiwado — the Kyobashi business that boards symbiotic robots for life — fielded its long-term resident robot, "Unit Four" (non-humanoid, designed for warehouse transport), paired with its human partner, Yamato Okita, 24, a first-year employee, for a fourth consecutive year. Having finished mid-table the previous two years, the pair kept assists down to two through the obstacle sections for a stable run and placed 7th among roughly 210 entries — the team's first-ever placing. "Unit Four looked calmer than usual today. It's true that it can tell when I'm rattled," Okita said. Tokuzo Tokiwa, 67, Tokiwado's proprietor, said, "Getting this close to the podium while still a boarded robot is a happy step forward for us too." With the Robot Legal Status Council's debate ongoing, as previously reported, the result for a non-humanoid unit modified within regulatory limits like Unit Four is reportedly drawing attention even from some in the public-hearing circuit.

In Hexball, following the previously reported first loss of the season for Tokei Hex in Round 5's "Bayside Derby," league officials announced the Round 6 pairings on the 3rd. League-leading Hex will face Owari, and the Fukagawa Pelicans will face Naniwa Six, with matches set for next weekend.