How about some daikon?

Ah, back in the warm Kyushu region. Glad I brought my umbrella and sunscreen. Perhaps I'll have some daikon dishes when I get the chance.

I'm just in time to see the next prefecture to start their qualifiers.

The top 4 seeds are no surprise. Shounan, (formerly known as Kagoshima Shoukou) the dominant team since the 1980's - is no surpise given they've made it to Koshien 14 of the last 28 years!! Kamimura Gakuen continues to get a top seed in the region, but has only fulfilled that dream in 2007 in making it to Koshien. And the 3rd team to dominate the scene, Kamimura Jitsugyou, earns another spot. The 4th team to earn a top seed is Kagoshima Shougyou.

If you look at the records, the last team not named Shounan/Kagoshima Shoukou, Kagoshima Jitsugyou or Kamimura Gakuen to make it out of Kagoshima, was Kawauchi Jitsugyou... in 1980.

Good luck to all the other teams. I'm sure it's been a long record of frustration for all of you.

Oh, one more thing to note. You may have seen teams that seem to consist of multiple schools. One example is Kurino Kougyou・Makizono・Kirishima. My best guess is that the federation allows schools to merge teams, probably as a necessity in rural areas. Mass migrations to metropolitan areas have forced cities and towns to merge. But when we talk about merge, it's just a combination of cities that could be separated by a good distance that become officially a "city". So this hardship probably creates an exception where schools can combine their players to form a team.