That’s it, we’ve seen it all now! The lead song, “Let It Go!” from Disney’s Frozen has really taken over Japan now (in case you weren’t already 100 percent positive that it had)! We already knew that it was the only song to breach the top 20 karaoke list for all age groups in 2014, it was translated into regional Japanese dialects, and even an NPO used it to advertise a serious cause. But the latest news about Japan’s beloved “Let It Go~ Arino mamade” might surprise you; the song was chosen for the opening ceremony of the 87th annual “Spring Koshien” high school baseball tournament.
▼ The tournament will be held at Koshien Stadium starting March 21.
Some of you may be thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a high school baseball game.” But, boy is it not just a baseball game. Spring Koshien (short for “National High School Invitational Tournament”), is one of the most exciting, most anticipated sporting events in Japan and the teams are made up of tough, bad-ass teenagers who train constantly for the honor of getting selected to even play in the tournament.
In that sense, it wasn’t a bad song choice for the entrance ceremony, when all of the participating teams march onto the field. The Japanese lyrics to the song translate pretty differently than the English, so despite the English version being inspirational in its own right, the Japanese has more “I’m not scared of anything” and “I can do anything” and less “It looks like I’m the queen” and “Be the good girl you’ve always had to be.” But still, a Disney song at Koshien?! On the other hand, they’ve also played two AKB48 songs in the past three tournaments, so you could look at it as a step up.
Source: Asahi Shinbun, Hachimakiko, Wikipedia (Koshien song list)
Images: Wikimedia Commons (
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