[Spring High School Baseball] A Look Back at Historic Entrance Songs, TV Theme Songs, and Popular Cheer Chants!

El CumbancheroNEW!Rafaeru Erunandesu

El Cunbanchero (Remastered 2012)

It’s music that gives a burst of energy to the high school ballplayers sprinting around Koshien.

Composed in 1943 by Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández, this piece is a Latin number that evokes people beating drums and reveling in festival merriment.

Its structure, which allows cheers and chants to be thrown in at every break, is perfect for creating unity in the stands.

And the surging excitement of the percussion pounding out a rhythm like a rumble in the earth lights a fire in listeners’ fighting spirit.

Put it on when you want to completely change the atmosphere in a clutch moment, or when you want to heat things up by raising your voices together with your teammates!

TouchNEW!Iwasaki Yoshimi

Touch

When you hear that powerful guitar intro, doesn’t it awaken the youthful memories sleeping deep in everyone’s heart? It was Yoshimi Iwasaki’s 20th single, released in March 1985, and it became a huge hit as the opening theme for the Fuji TV anime Touch.

It has long been loved as a cheer song for high school baseball.

The repeated chorus perfectly syncs with the fervor of the cheering section trying to turn the tide of a game, and it has become a common language in ballparks across generations.

Now existingNEW!Tanimura Shinji

Now Existing (Onkishi ver.)

A song passed down and sung at the opening and closing ceremonies as the anthem of the Spring Senbatsu.

With lyrics by Yu Aku and music by Shinji Tanimura—an illustrious duo—it was adopted as the third tournament song starting with the 65th tournament in 1993.

The lyrics, which celebrate the departure of the ballplayers gathering at Koshien with the arrival of spring, are memorable, gently speaking not only of winning and losing but of the value of living this very moment with all one’s heart.

The composition’s grandeur coupled with its warmth is also part of its appeal.

Although the recording had long been unavailable to the general public, it was released as a CD single in March 2008, and it became a topic of conversation that Shinji Tanimura himself performed it at Koshien during that year’s 80th commemorative tournament.

Naughty SunNEW!ORANGE RANGE

ORANGE RANGE “Ikenai Taiyō” Music Video

Released in July 2007 as the group’s 17th single, it was selected as the opening theme for the Fuji TV drama “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen Paradise.” Its greatest appeal lies in the exhilarating sense of speed that races from the intro straight into the chorus, and the irresistibly catchy phrases you can’t help but hum along to.

The sound, which perfectly blends retro-pop vibes with a mixed-genre sensibility, has the power to make listeners’ bodies move naturally.

The chorus’s call-and-response structure pairs perfectly with stand-style cheering.

It’s an energetic number that’s ideal for getting pumped up together with friends and raising your voices as one.

FateNEW!Ofisharu Higedan Dism

Official HIGE DANDism – Fate [Official Video]

Official HIGE DANDism’s third single, which lit up the grand stage of high school baseball in the summer of 2019.

It was chosen as the ABC Summer High School Baseball cheering song and the theme for the documentary program Nettou Koshien.

In creating it, the members watched the Spring Senbatsu at Koshien Stadium, expanding their vision as they felt the heat of the stands and the scent of the infield dirt firsthand.

The rich arrangement and the structure that surges from a period of endurance into a chorus where the view bursts open are breathtaking.

Listen to it before taking that important first step, and it will surely rouse your spirit.

Effeminate; overly sentimental; being clingy/whiny (context-dependent)NEW!Gōruden Bonbā

Golden Bomber “Memeshikute” Music Video

A signature song by Golden Bomber that makes everyone want to start dancing the moment they hear it.

Released as a single in October 2009, this exhilarating number stirs up the crowd with a catchy chorus while comically and self-deprecatingly portraying emotions like lingering attachment and jealousy.

It’s also a staple brass band cheer at Koshien, where its easy-to-chant chorus and brisk tempo amplify the excitement in clutch moments.

Abarenbō Shōgun ThemeNEW!Kikuchi Shunsuke

Nihon University Third High School Rabble-Rousing Shogun Cheering Song – Summer 2018, 100th National High School Baseball Tournament

This is the opening theme of the TV drama “Abarenbo Shogun.” Composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, it’s a stirring piece of dramatic underscore that became etched in viewers’ ears when the show began airing in January 1978.

Its brassy fanfares and marching rhythm lift your spirits in an instant.

The clear, straightforward melody—like turning the exhilaration of good triumphing over evil directly into sound—transcended television and came to be performed in the stands as a high school baseball fight song.

It has a reassuring power that gives you a push in crucial moments of a game.