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The story
Yokohama High School has clinched a spot in the summer Koshien semifinals, and head coach Hiroaki Murata revealed that he rallies his players before games by singing “Mo re! Mi Amore” on the team bus. On 5ch, comments were split between concern over how to balance this with the mourning mood following the sudden death of former coach Motonori Watanabe the day before, and excitement over the cheer song.
Dancing Yokohama coach Murata: “I love ‘Mo re! Mi Amore’” — Summer Koshien
<Team atmosphere is great>
Well, I’m fighting right alongside them now too. Today again we sang the school anthem on the bus… and lately there’s been a “Murata Call.” So I sang and danced, right there on the bus.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Former Yokohama coach Motonori Watanabe dies — the legendary manager who developed Daisuke Matsuzaka and others, built an era with five spring/summer Koshien titles
https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/highschool/news/202608170000461.html
either the brass band plays 'Mi Amore' up in the Alps stands (Koshien's outfield bleachers),
or the coach sings it on the bus to and from the game
take your pick
Background and Key Points
Yokohama High School is one of Japanese high school baseball’s most storied programs, based in Yokosuka within Kanagawa Prefecture and part of Kanagawa’s traditionally brutal qualifying gauntlet to reach Koshien, the national summer tournament held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The school’s history is inseparable from Motonori Watanabe, the coach who built its dynasty with five national titles (spring and summer combined) and developed Daisuke Matsuzaka, one of the most famous pitchers Japan has produced. Watanabe’s death was announced the day before Yokohama’s semifinal-clinching win, which is why his passing sits directly alongside the celebration in this story. Current coach Hiroaki Murata, notably a transfer from a rival powerhouse, Osaka Toin, has become known for an unusually loose, performative style — singing and dancing to “Mo re! Mi Amore” on the team bus, reportedly at players’ request via a “Murata Call.”
The thread’s actual division was narrow: it wasn’t about whether the song itself was appropriate, but about timing — several posters felt that celebrating with a novelty cheer song hours after a legendary former coach’s death clashed with the somber mood the moment called for, while others simply leaned into the excitement of the winning streak and floated the song becoming Yokohama’s championship anthem if they win it all.
What outside readers may miss is the cultural weight Koshien carries beyond a normal sports tournament — it’s a nationally broadcast, deeply ritualized event where decorum and generational lineage (coach to star pupil to next coach) matter enormously, which is why a coach’s personal style, and the proximity of a founding figure’s death, becomes newsworthy at all rather than a minor aside.
*This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Hello Project) thread “[Breaking] Yokohama High advances to the summer Koshien semifinals in high school baseball! [Mo re! Mi Amore].”
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