The present day of the famous general who returned to Koshien as the manager of Soshigakuen.

When he was at Tokai University Sagami, he lived with his wife Nanamie and other family members at their home adjacent to the baseball field while chasing the white ball. However, since being transferred to Soshigakuen, he has been living alone in Okayama City. 54 years old and working alone, he has been cleaning and doing laundry without a care in the world. He said he has been doing the cleaning and laundry without a hitch, but when the conversation turned to his diet, he became a bit brusque.

I’ve eaten strawberries, yellow chives, and shrimp rice,” he said. But the hardest thing for me is to eat every day. I don’t even know if you can call it cooking for myself. I only did things to the extent of ‘Can you even call it cooking for yourself? Like frying eggs. But I want to eat freshly cooked food, and then I have to clean up afterwards…. I realize that my wife used to do it for me. Eating alone is no fun.

That is why it was so special to return to his hometown for the year-end and New Year’s holidays and enjoy a meal with his family for the first time in a long while.

When I returned home at the end of the year and ate with my family, I thought, ‘Ah…’ I couldn’t tell my family this, but I burst into tears. I couldn’t tell my family, but I almost cried. I was so happy. When everyone was together, no matter what I was eating, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m so happy. I could think, ‘Let’s work hard again. I was able to reconfirm that even though we were apart, we were still fighting as a family.

In about two months, the team will finally compete in the Koshien Stadium for the first time in three years. What was the view like from the top of the sacred ground where he had competed four times, including in the summer? Monma’s answer was curt.

I’ve forgotten. I try to forget about the past.

But this is the kind of answer that only someone who knows the top of the mountain can give. Monma continued.

Mr. Watanabe, the former manager of Yokohama, once told me, ‘When you win a championship at Koshien, you have to get off the mountain called “championship” as soon as possible. When we won the championship for the first time (in the spring of 2000), I did not understand those words at all. I had climbed the mountain after all the hard work, and I didn’t want to go back down. I had a strange illusion that I could jump over the mountain in the summer. That is why we did not make it to Koshien that summer (lost in the quarterfinals of the Kanagawa tournament).

Because we had to climb a completely different mountain in summer than in spring, of course we had to start from scratch. So we had to have the courage to come down. But this is what I was afraid of. If I descended, I would lose all the strength I had built up so far, and I would wonder if I would be able to climb again. I am afraid that if I go down, I will lose all the strength I have built up so far.

So after winning the Koshien finals, when I go down from first base after the interview, I have to forget everything. You have to move on to the next. I have to get ready to go down the aisle. That’s why I don’t really remember the games I won.

Monma had long ago descended the “Kanagawa Mountain,” which he had climbed to the highest peak. That is why he was able to stand at the top of a new mountain, Okayama, less than two years after taking office.

And now, instead of Tategima, he is standing at the top of the “Spring Mountain,” which he had climbed three times before, in his ivory uniform. He analyzes himself by saying, “We may have the ability to persevere, but we don’t have the real strength,” but his attitude toward the competition is the same as when he entered the competition with the top of his mind.

He said, “We will put everything we have into this tournament. I will put everything I have into this tournament. There is no other way. I always believe that only a serious challenge can become an asset.

How will he climb to the top as “Keiji Monma of Soshigakuen”? How will he climb to the top as “Keiji Monma of Soshigakuen”? Many people will be watching his path. (Honorifics omitted in the text)