Yoichi

Sakuragaoka

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Taketsuru Schanze:

K-Point:

40 m

Further jumps:	K20
Plastic matting:	no
Status:	destroyed
Coordinates:	43.195275, 140.771117 ✔

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History:

The ski jumping complex in Yoichi on Hokkaidō is one of the most important training venues for Japanese ski jumping. Its origins date back to the first half of the 20th century, when Masataka Taketsuru – the founder of the Nikka Whisky distillery – funded a ski jump for local students at the request of the headmaster of the town’s junior high school. The original facility, known as Sakuragaoka, was about 30 metres long and stood on a slope above the Nucchi River. Over time the wooden structure was replaced with a steel one, and after Yukio Kasaya’s success at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics the hill was rebuilt to approximately K40 and renamed Taketsuru. Next to it, a smaller 20-metre hill named after Kasaya was constructed.
It was on the Yoichi hill that Yukio Kasaya, Japan’s first ever Olympic champion in winter sports, made his early jumps. Later, other Olympic champions – Kazuyoshi Funaki and Hiroyasu Saitō – also trained here, along with generations of ski jumpers associated with the local high school (today Yoichi Kōshi High School). In Yoichi, on the second floor of the railway station building, there is a small museum dedicated to Kasaya, Funaki, and other athletes, displaying skis, suits, trophies and other memorabilia.
In 2000, due to the reconstruction of the Nucchi River channel, the old Taketsuru/Kasaya complex had to be decommissioned. The hills were moved about 200 metres to the south and completely rebuilt, forming a new training centre. The current complex consists of three hills: the medium Taketsuru hill (HS59, K50) with plastic mattings, floodlights and certification by the Ski Association of Japan; the smaller Kasaya hill (HS35, K30), used in winter on snow; and a very small hill of about two metres for the youngest jumpers, also equipped with plastic mattings. On the slopes of the former Sakuragaoka site the outline of the old landing hill is still clearly visible, although the facility is no longer in use.
In the 21st century the new Taketsuru/Kasaya complex has become one of the key junior training centres on Hokkaidō. In summer the “Yoichi All-Japan Junior Summer Jump Tournament” is held on the plastic-matted Taketsuru hill, a nationwide junior competition with categories from elementary to high school level; the event has been organised annually since the late 1990s and is accompanied by summer Nordic combined competitions. In winter Yoichi traditionally hosts the Taketsuru Cup, the Nikka Cup and the Kasaya Cup, attracting young athletes from clubs throughout Japan. The hills also serve as an everyday training base for the ski jumping section of Yoichi Kōshi High School and for local youth clubs.

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