“U Boj, U Boj”
andKwansei Gakuin Glee ClubJun Karube
Director (Files & Records) of Shingetsu-kai
1953 graduate ofKwanseiGakuin University (Law)and the Glee Club

Kwansei Gakuin Archives

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club“U Boj, U Boj”
andKwansei Gakuin

Jun Karube
Director (Files & Records) of Shingetsu-kai
1953 graduate of Kwansei Gakuin University (Law) and the Glee ClubTranslated from the Japanese text by Takao Abe, Shingetsu-kai (1959, Economics)～Special thanks to Chancellor Ruth M. Grubel for editorial assistance.～

Japanese text: 輕部 潤「名曲『U Boj』のルーツと関西学院グリークラブ」『関西学院史紀要』第 16 号、2010 年 3 月 25 日、95-113 頁。
http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10236/2067

Kwansei Gakuin Archives-2-

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
Foreword
The year 2009 was the 120th anniversary of Kwansei Gakuin andthe 110th for its male vocal society, KG Glee Club. Ours is the first
University Glee Club in Japan which has sung the now legendary “U Boj,
U Boj” for 90 years. This marching song had been given to KG Glee Clubby Czechoslovak soldiers back in 1919, but the background of thissong was unknown for decades, except that its title meant something
like to “Move Forward.” Despite the dynamic rhythm of marching steps,
its melody reflects the beauty of yearning held only by those who aresoon to die and enter into eternity - the reason it has resonated with thesingers of KG Glee Club, and has always moved the audience deeply.
After graduating from high school in Okayama, I (Jun Karube)
entered Kwansei Gakuin University in 1949 and joined the Glee Club.
Though I did have experience singing in a chorus previously, I was
overwhelmed at the sound of the College songs, particularly “U Boj, U
Boj” sung by the Glee Club. Ever since, the song has become my lifelong
interest; initially for the purpose of unveiling the years-long mystery
about this song and later, through the unexpected encounters
unfolding one after another from inside and outside of Japan in relation
to “U Boj, U Boj”
The First Episode
Traditionally, the ending song of the KG Glee Club’s
concert has been “U Boj, U Boj.” Though it is one of the most popularnumbers among Japanese male choral societies now, its backgroundhas been unknown for many years since it was handed down by
Czechoslovak soldiers of World War I in 1919. This is the story of how
the mystery has been unraveled through the labyrinthine paths the KG
Glee Club trailed over half a century.
-3-

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
The microfilms of newspapers, The Asahi and The Mainichi, kept attheir offices in Kobe revealed the fact that the Czechoslovak soldiers
were in Kobe between September and October 1919 as their vessel was
docked for repairs, and the same papers’ records in Kyushu and Moji
added some more facts about the incident met by the s.s. Heffron
briefly as follows:“Amongst other U.S. ships with Czechslovak soldiers relieved from
Siberia that had left Vladivostok for Europe via the States, s.s. Heffron(7,906 tons) with 845 Czechoslovaks led by Lieutenant Colonel, Benešwith his 19 officers and 825 soldiers together with an American army
doctor, Lieutenant Colonel S. T. Short and another doctor, nurse Mrs.
Webb and five others as well as 64 crew, amounting altogether to 917
aboard took the course through the Sea of Japan. In the night of Day 2(Aug. 15, 1919), she got into a severe Typhoon off Kyushu and before thedawn of the following day, stranded on the Ohmoji Rocks of
Mutsure-jima, West of Shimonoseki. In response to the emergency callsent by the ship, several boats including the coast guard’s and navy’s
came to the scene. After a close check made by the salvage boat, apartfrom the damage to her bow and bottom, Heffron was found seaworthy
enough to be towed thanks to its double-skin. After a quick fix, Heffron
was safely dragged off the rocks on August 20 at its full tide. After a brief
stopover in Moji, Heffron was towed to Kobe for the permanent repair.”According to the weather-related news at that time, numerous
vessels were lost in the same typhoon including the naval oil tanker
Shijiki which sank off Tanegashima and most of its 116 crew aboard
perished. Heffron was an exceptionally lucky vessel surviving throughthe devastating windstorm with minimum damage.
In the meantime, after a short stay in Moji, on the morning of
September 4, 1919, the Czechoslovak soldiers arrived in Kobe by rail tobe met by the reception party including the U.S. deputy consul, Mr.
Dohmann and Mr. West as well as the representatives from the local
government offices. Soldiers were divided into three groups and settled
in the makeshift barracks while Lieutenant Colonel Beneš and his-4-officers were accommodated in the Oriental Hotel,
Kobe in the Concession area.
To make those officers and soldiers’ stay
comfortable, the local government’s staff in charge
was at a loss owing largely to the language problem.
He then remembered his old friend Yoshitaka Shioji(photo) who was a student of Kwansei Gakuin who
spoke fluent English, and asked him to come and help. So, Shioji started
visiting their barracks every day talking mostly to Lieutenant Chloupka
who spoke English well. Despite the battered attire of most of thesoldiers, Shioji found them all quite cheerful and likable, looking
forward to the safe journey home. A few days later, Shioji heard thesound of orchestra and choral singing. The instruments they had were
weather-beaten and frayed after the 5 year toil in Russia when they had
lost many players and singers as well. There still remained nearly 50
players and some 40 singers led by the officer conductors, Lieutenant
Karlík and Lieutenant Bartůšek respectively. Shioji was overwhelmed by
the bass vocals of the heavily built singers, as well as theirwell-developed sense of music. At that time the KG Glee Club (photo)
had several dozen members, and Shioji was one of them. Immediately
he asked the soldiers to come and sing for the KG Glee Club.
With permission from the school administration, on September 15,
the Czechoslovak soldiers’ orchestra and choral group visited Kwansei
Gakuin to perform. Afterwards, both the Czechoslovaks and the KG
Glee Club exchanged visits several times, enjoying singing as well as
playing football and baseball together. In addition to their association
with Kwansei Gakuin, the Czechoslovaks appeared in a variety of
performances for the local community such as music, quadrille,
gymnastics, dancing, poem recitation, tableau vivant, etc., all quite
enjoyable and impressive to the audiences.
The KG Glee Club members found the Czechoslovaks’ singing
particularly attractive and overwhelming. The Forty-Year History ofKwansei Gakuin Glee Club compiled in 1940 described the awestruck-5-

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
impression held by the Glee Club members at that time as follows:“The Serbian war song sung by the Czechoslovak soldiers wasreally marvelous. Their deep voices in particular were tremendous. The
lower note of F they sang delicately, yet with strength. When they singin high tones, it gets so thunderous in the hall that one would rather
wish them to sing in the open air. For centuries Czechoslovaks havebeen oppressed under the Austrian monarchy, and their Bohemiansongs, particularly new Bohemians, invariably composed in minor, havea shadow of sad and sorrowful sentiments of the nation – The Spirit of
the Wanderers.”
The KG Glee Club wanted to sing some of their songs and looked
for copies of the sheet music. The soldiers were quite willing to offer
any of their songs, though their copies were worn out and frail after somany years abroad. Shioji selected “U Boj, U Boj” and three other songs
to be hand-copied clumsily, enabling the Glee Club singers to practice.
After the completion of repair work on Heffron, a farewell party was
thrown by the KG Glee Club and they sang “U Boj, U Boj” and “Já ne-toty.” The Czechoslovak soldiers were astonished to hear their own songs
sung by the Japanese students and deeply moved, giving a thunder ofapplause after they sang. It was the end of rather a brief association
between the Czechoslovaks and KG Glee Club. On October 30, 1919,
the homebound vessel finally left Kobe, leaving the memory of the
Czechoslovak army
firmly affixed to the
KG Glee Club andmany other people inKobe. This is thehistory of how “U Boj,
U Boj” became thelegendary song of the
KG Glee Club eversince.

-6-

The “U Boj” Odyssey
The foregoing is not the end of the story, as so muchremained unknown and the toil and tribulation ofunraveling the mystery were still ahead in the difficult times.
At first, nothing but the meaning of “U Boj,” which is to ‘move
forward,’ or ‘to the battlefield,’ was known. What did the rest of theverse mean? Who wrote it? Where did it come from? Shioji and theothers had been entirely “in the dark.” The earlier concert programs
indicated the song to be a Serbian battle song, but in later years, it was
described as a Czech folksong.
In 1949 Tetsuo Kobayashi, then a Glee Club member, happened tolearn from his Czech pen friend that “U Boj, U Boj” was not actually a
Czech song. The news puzzled them more deeply.
Eiji Shono (1915-1993), a scholar and ex-president of Tezukayama
Gakuin University, wrote in the magazine Friends of Music (February1972) as follows:“I have been an enthusiastic fan of the KG Glee Club always trying
not to miss their annual concert. Their programs are different each year,
but there’s one particular song they always sing at the finale. The songis called “U Boj, U Boj,” which all the fans await patiently, applauding
for an encore. The sound of this song, from its beginning to end, would
make the blood of an old fan like me surge from deep within as it used toin my younger days. It drives me to the brink of running around wildly
under the starlit sky. It lies within me all through the night making me
feel like sobbing. Had I not been damnably tone deaf, I would have sungit out loud, time and again, shoulder to shoulder with everybody.”
Shono also wrote that he had been investigating any news about “UBoj, U Boj” making enquiries around various news agencies. In his own
view, he denounced the Japanese troop’s campaign into Siberia as
totally foolhardy. Nevertheless, he admitted, it led to the later incident ofCzechoslovak soldiers’ unexpected encounter with KG Glee Club thatwas so strange an incident that it might have been designed long-7-

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
beforehand.
“U Boj, U Boj” in the meantime, not only continued to be important
as ever a song for KG Glee Club, but spread gradually to the other male
vocal societies. In 1935 the KG Glee Club sang the song and won thefirst prize in the 9th National Choral Contest and they continued to win
the following two years in a row. Thus, the KG Glee Club and “U Boj, U
Boj” became known to the nationwide choral societies.
The year 1965 was an epoch making year for
Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club, and its “U Boj, U Boj.” They
were invited to the First International University
Choral Festival at Lincoln Center, New York. At its reception luncheon at
the Hilton Hotel, a group of students from Latin America started singing,and the KG Glee Club also sang “U Boj, U Boj.” To their astonishment,
another group joined the singing, and they turned out to be students
from Skopje University, Macedonia, Yugoslavia. They learned fromthese counterparts that “U Boj, U Boj” is actually sung in a well-known
opera in Yugoslavia, but that’s all they knew. As the contemporary
Yugoslavia was a mosaic state consisting of six socialist republics andtwo autonomous provinces, the people in Macedonia would not havebeen fully acquainted with the Croatian song.
After returning from the Festival, the Glee Club wrote to Mr. James
Robert Bjorge, Director of the Festival, asking him to find any further
details of “U Boj, U Boj.” Mr. Bjorge replied in 1972, including a copy ofthe piano score of the “U Boj, U Boj” part in the opera, which had been
secured by his friend at the American Embassy in Belgrade.
In November 1975, Hisashi Watanabe, an alumnus, visited theEmbassy of Yugoslavia in Tokyo and met with Mr. Sava Kršikapa, theCultural Attaché. He showed Mr. Kršikapa a copy of the sheet music of“U Boj, U Boj” and asked for his help to translate the original verse into
English. Then, we were finally able to understand exactly what the lyrics
meant.
In July 1976, Watanabe once again met with Mr. Kršikapa, who had
just returned from his home leave, bringing back a set of three discs of-8-

LP records, the opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski.” Watanabe borrowed themfrom Mr. Kršikapa, and all the details of the legendary Zrinski describedin this drama became known to us. Afterwards, Watanabe continued tocollect further information through Mr. Zeljko Baranović
who
succeeded Mr. Kršikapa in the meantime.
- The outline of the Opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski” This is the story of how the legendary hero, Zrinski IV and his
warriors fought and died in the Szigeth Castle during the last halfmonth of the losing battle against the overwhelming Turkish onslaught
in 1566. The opera is one of the most successful works written by Ivan
Zajc, a highly regarded Croatian composer. The first performance of theopera conducted by Zajc was held on November 4, 1876, in Zagreb,
whilst just the part of “U Boj, U Boj” had been written and put on stage in
Vienna 10 years previously.
Back in 1529, the Ottoman Turk Emperor, Suleyman I, theMagnificent (1494-1566), had failed to seize Vienna, and in 1566 heamassed 30,000 troops for invasion once again. From the strategic
point of view, he took the route via Szigetvár where a small but solid
Szigeth Castle stood as a fort held by Zrinski IV and his knights. Zrinski
was vastly outnumbered, as those in the Castle were 4,000, including
women and children. On August 20, the Turks arrived and sent a
messenger demanding their surrender. Zrinski refused and foughtback fiercely, and the battle continued for half a month. On September
5, Emperor Suleyman I suddenly died of illness, and soon afterward, forfear of the incident dampening the soldiers’ spirit, the Turks’second-in-command made a massive attack. Hours later, Zrinski and all
his knights decided to go on the last fight and rushed out of the walls.
During the precious time Zrinski had bought in holding the Turks
back, the Austrian relief army was assembled and came up from Vienna
but arrived just too late. Following the fall of the castle, however, theTurks withdrew from Szigetvár as they had lost theircommander-in-chief.
-9-

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
The opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski ” is the story of how Zrinski and theothers in the Szigeth Castle fought and died to the last soldier,including Zrinski’s wife and daughter in defending Szigetvár as above.
“U Boj, U Boj” is sung at the finale of the drama as Zrinski and hissoldiers are marching out of the castle for the last fight.
- Ms. Mirna Potkovac In 1978 through introduction by his friend at TBS TV,
Karube met with Ms. Mirna Potkovac, an exchange student from
Croatia, whom Karube had spotted on the TV news in which she
appeared as an interpreter. She turned out to be a gold mine for
Karube’s mission as she used to be a violinist for the Zagreb
Philharmonic Orchestra, and had come to Japan to learn the language.
She has been very helpful to him ever since. A number of materials havebeen collected through her, including the complete piano score of theopera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski,” as well as copy of the program for theCentennial Memorial Performance in Zagreb, in July 1979.
In 1988 the KG Glee Club had a plan to visit Vienna accompanied
by some alumni from Shingetsu-kai (The New Moon Choral Society) and inview of its proximity, they decided to extend the trip to Zagreb, thebirthplace of “U Boj, U Boj.” The news was conveyed to Mirna who wasliving in Rijeka after her marriage, and she responded promptly, flying
to Zagreb to reserve the concert hall, enabling the Glee Club to sing.
Mirna also persuaded her old friend, Mr. Janko Kichl, director of the
National Theater, to have the opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski” performed
during the Glee Club’s visit in Zagreb. Mirna had become acquainted
with Mr. Kichl when she had been at the Zagreb Musical Institute. For
those preparations Mirna traveled back and forth between Rijeka andZagreb, a 180 km distance, several times either by rail or by herhusband’s car, and she helped us out throughout the Glee Club’s stayin Zagreb.
- Homecoming of “U Boj, U Boj” in Zagreb - 10 -

After the charity concert at the Musikverein’s Great Hall in Vienna
on March 16, 1989, when the KG Glee Club sang, accompanied by the
Slovak Sinfonietta Zilina conducted by Kyoichi Kitamura, they flew toZagreb. On March 17, nearly 100 Japanese from both the Glee Club andShingetsu-kai were invited to the opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski,” when Mr.
Kichl arranged free seats for them in the theater balcony, insisting thatthose who had continued to sing the Opera’s song for 70 years in Japandeserved it. What kind hospitality he showed! On the following day, theKG Glee Club held a concert in the hall of Zagreb Musical Institute where
Ivan Zajc served his time as the headmaster. At the end, the Glee Club
sang “U Boj, U Boj” as always, but this time as a long-awaited
homecoming of their legendary song.
“U Boj, U Boj” one of the most popular numbers in Japan
In earlier years the sheet music of “U Boj, U Boj” had been treatedlike a top secret by the Glee Club members, restricting the copy fromgetting outside, but since 1952 as the relationships between university
choral societies grew, copies of the old version were made available forother choral societies as well. In April 1992, 3500 copies of the newversion, including the updates were printed and made available forchoral societies nationwide who sing “U Boj, U Boj.” Later in the year theZagreb Philharmonic Orchestra came to Japan. In the final stage of theirconcert in Osaka, the KG Glee Club and Shingetsu-kai were able to sing
“U Boj, U Boj” which proved to be a delightful surprise to the audience
whose standing ovation continued long after their singing.
Epilogue
The KG Glee Club’s library and archives called‘Haus Bötzingen’ was built in 2000 with the donation from the villagers
of Bötzingen in southern Germany. Earlier on, the KG Glee Club had an
association with the Bötzingen Male Choral Society through their- 11 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
overseas tours. In 1995 a devastating earthquake hit the Hanshin-Awaji
area killing more than 6,000 people. One of the KG Glee Club members
was killed and several others injured. Having learned the tragic news,
Bötzingen Choral Society cancelled their annual tour and sent to the
Glee Club a donation from their raveling fund. At the completion of thebuilding, an opening ceremony was held on October 1, 2000, when theguests of honor from Bötzingen, Mr. Fritz Konstanzer, the chief of thevillage and Mr. Ekkehart Jenne, the head of the choral society wereamong those present.
The archives since then have been receiving visits
and/or access from various news media andoutside choral societies, and responding toenquiries largely regarding “U Boj, U Boj.”
Professor Isao Koshimura of a design school,
Tokyo Zokei University, was one of those who accessed to the archives’internet services. He had studied at Zagreb University years before, andwhen his old friend, Dr. Drago Roksandić , a professor of history at
Zagreb University, came to Japan, they paid a visit to Kwansei Gakuin on
October 1, 2007. Soon afterwards back in Tokyo, they dined with the
Croatian Ambassador to Japan, H.E. Dr. Drago Štambuk and told him
about “U Boj, U Boj” sung by the KG Glee Club for nearly 90 years.
In March 2008, Ambassador Štambuk personally visited Kwansei
Gakuin and visitied twice in the same year, once accompanied by Dr.
Ivan Pavić , headmaster of Split University and his deputy, Dr. Roko
Andrič ević . The formal association between Split University andKwansei Gakuin was eventually established. In addition, through theAmbassador’s introduction, another possible relationship with Rijeka
University, whose Rector Daniel Rukavina is an old friend of theAmbassador’s, is being considered.

Acknowledgements- 12 -

It took me more than ten years to sort out the mystery of “U Boj, U
Boj” from bits and pieces scattered over tens of years, and I owe a great
deal to all the many people who helped me out so kindly. The late Mr.
Yoshitaka Shioji, amongst others, was a great help to spare all his time
whenever I visited him, either at his home or even at the executive’s
office of Daimaru Department Store, Kobe. He always followed up by
telephone or by mail on anything he discovered at a later date. Ourclose association continued after everything had settled. I can’t forget
his big smile when he whole-heartedly enjoyed the concert of Zagreb
Philharmonic Orchestra with whom KG Glee Club and Shingetsukai
sang “U Boj, U Boj” in Osaka. The late Mr. Shotaro Asano, ex-student
conductor of the Glee Club when I joined in 1949, was the General
Manager of the photography office at the Asahi Newspaper, Osaka andgave all his assistance in tracing the relevant old news about the Czech
soldiers back in 1919, digging it out of the microfilms buried deep intheir archives. Hisashi Watanabe, my younger colleague in the Glee
Club, was also helpful by continuing to visit the Embassy of Yugoslavia
whenever he had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo for business. But
for those friends’ valuable help, as well as many other people’s
co-operation, I wouldn’t have been able to solve the mystery of ourlegendary “U Boj, U Boj” successfully. My sincere thanks also goes to the
Croatian Ambassador to Japan, H.E. Dr. Drago Štambuk, through whom
Kwansei Gakuin has been able to extend remarkably its association
with Croatian universities. The only pity is that many of my good friends,
including Messrs. Shioji and Asano, to whom I owe so much, are nolonger here. However, when I’ve joined them, I shall report to them
what has happened since then and is still going on with this unending
story of “U Boj, U Boj.” In the meantime, I’m hoping to see the KG GleeClub and Shingetsu-kai make their visit to Szigetvár at its “Zrinyi Festival”
for one thing, and the other, that an invitation for the Croatian Opera tocome to Japan would be materialized so that my dream to see theopera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski” here would come true.

- 13 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
References:◎ Momotaro Kinoshita (ed),The Forty-Year History of Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club,
Kanzo Hata, 1940.
◎ Noboru Kojima , The Failure of Peace Process – The Taisho Era and Siberian
Campaign, Bungei shunju, 1995.
◎ Kazumichi Ohe & Toshio Yamasaki, A Guide to History of the World,
Yamakawa, 1981.
◎ Eiji Shono, “A Note on ’U Boj, U Boj,’” Friends of Music, February 1972,
YAMAHA.
◎ A. J. P. Taylor, The First World War, translated by Minoru Kurata, Shin-Hyoron,
1980.
◎ Genya Yamanaka, The Eighty-Year History of Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club,
Shotaro Asano, Chair of the History Compilation Committee, Kwansei Gakuin
Glee Club, 1981.
Other information has been quoted from microfilms of The Asahi
Newspaper and The Mainichi Newspaper at their Kyushu, Moji and Kobe offices.
An enquiry was made to the Embassy of Turkey with a view to looking up
the Turkish historical data on the battle of Szigeth Castle in 1566, and professor
of Turkish history, Naomasa Ohshima was introduced by the Embassy. Professor
Ohshima helped us a lot and in his reply he quoted the Turkish record to theeffect that Suleyman I, the Magnificent died early in the morning of the 5th (or 7th) ofSeptember 1566 and his 30,000 troops fought against the Habsburg’s army of
5,000 led by Count Nikolas Zrinyi. Count Zrinyi fought for six weeks (actually three
weeks, though). His endeavor and brave death were praised also by the Turks.

- 14 -

・Appendix・
The Chronicle of “U Boj, U Boj”
(revised on Sept. 18, 2009)◆1566

The Battle of Szigeth Castle (August 20 – September 7)
currently located in Szigetvár, southern Hungary:
The Ottoman Turks’ Suleyman I, the Magnificent (1494-1566)
came with his overwhelming army to seize the Szigeth
Castle, which would be the critical fortress for him to invade
the Habsburg’s Vienna. The Lord of Szigeth, Nikola Šubić
Zrinski IV (1508-1566) waged a brave but losing battle
against the Turks’ massive onslaught. Their tragic deaths,
however, were not in vain as they bought the precious timeenabling the relief force from Vienna to arrive and make theTurks withdraw. (Suleyman I, in the meantime, had died of an
illness on September 5 <or 7>, 1556.)◆1812

Theodor Körner (1791-1813), a German poet and writer and afamous playwright, lived in Vienna after he was expelledfrom the University of Leipzig as he had engaged in abanned duel. He wrote the play, “Zrinyi” in Magyart, basedon the tragedy of the Battle of Szigeth Castle, which proveda great success, and he was made an honorable Court
Playwright for the palace theatre. In 1813 Körner returned
to Germany to join the German Liberation Army, Luetzor
Free Corps, and died in the battle against Napoleon. After
his death the book of his poems, “The Harp and Sword” waspublished in 1814. In commemoration of this great poet, in1970 the Theodor Körner Award was created by the East
German government.

◆1866

Ivan pl. Zajc (1832-1914), a Croatian composer wrote in
Vienna the male vocal, “U Boj, U Boj” with words by Franjo
pl. Marković (1845-1914). The first through to the third
editions were made for the male chorus with solo parts, andin the fourth edition, it was re-written for mixed vocals andincorporated into an opera. The lyrics were partially alteredas well.

◆1867

On January 14, the male vocal “U Boj, U Boj” wasperformed in Zagreb.
- 15 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club◆1876

The first performance of the opera, “Nikola Šubić Zrinski”(words by Hugo Badalić after Körner’s “Zrinyi”) in Zagreb,

conducted by Ivan Zajc who composed the opera in 1874.
◆1914

On June 28, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria wasassassinated by a terrorist’s gunshot in Sarajevo which led
to World War I (1914 -1918).

◆1919

The U.S./Japanese joint forces extracted the Czechoslovak
soldiers from Siberia to board the homebound U.S. vessels
from Vladivostok. Their third boat, s.s. Heffron with 845
soldiers aboard encountered a heavy storm in the Sea ofJapan and was stranded off Shimonoseki (the western tip ofHonshu) on August 15. The vessel had to be repaired in Kobe
and the Czechoslovak soldiers came over on September 4 byrail. Yoshitaka Shioji, a member of Kwansei Gakuin Glee
Club, acted as an interpreter during the Czechoslovaks’ stayin Kobe. On September 15, their military orchestra andsingers visited Kwansei Gakuin, located at that time in thewoods of Harada. Through their association, a copy of the
sheet music of “U Boj, U Boj” and three other songs were
given to the KG Glee Club. The ship’s repair was completed
on October 29, and on the following day, they sailed out for
their homeland which had become a sovereign state a year
earlier. Since then the KG Glee Club has continued to sing
“U Boj, U Boj” the legendary song at their concerts.

◆1935

At the 9th Choral Contest in Hibiya Hall, Tokyo, theKwansei Gakuin Glee Club won the first prize and did so
the following two years in a row. The optional song theyusually sang was “U Boj, U Boj,” and it became widely
known to the choral societies nationwide.

◆1939 -1945

World War II◆1949

A letter came from a Czech pen friend to Tetsuo Kobayashi,
KG Glee Club, informing him that “U Boj, U Boj” was nottheir song but possibly the Yugoslav’s. This was totally “outof the blue” to the Glee Club as it had been known until thenas a Czech folksong.

◆1965

KG Glee Club was invited to the First International- 16 -

University Choral Festival at Lincoln Center, New York. At
the reception luncheon when the KG Glee Club sang “U Boj,
U Boj” they were stunned at the unexpected joining by thestudents of the University of Skopje, Yugoslavia, to sing
together. Afterward, they were told that the song was from awell-known opera in Yugoslavia with no further details
revealed at the time.
◆1972

Shingetsu-kai Chairman, Soichiro Sugita, wrote to Mr.
James Robert Bjorge, Director of the International Choral
Festival, asking for his help to investigate the roots of “U Boj,
U Boj.” His friend at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade was able
to secure a copy of the sheet music of the piano score of “U
Boj, U Boj” in the opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski,” which was
forwarded by Mr. Bjorge to the Glee Club.

◆1975

Hisashi Watanabe, a member of Shingetsu-kai, visited with
Mr. Kršikapa, cultural attaché at the Embassy of Yugoslavia
in Tokyo asking for his help to translate the lyrics of “U Boj,
U Boj” into English.

◆1976

On his return from home leave, Mr. Kršikapa loaned LP
records of the opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski” to Watanabe andfrom its record jacket, we were able to learn the full details of
the drama. The very year of 1976 happened to be thecentennial of the first performance of the opera “NikolaŠubić Zrinski” in Zagreb.

◆1978

Jun Karube met with Ms. Mirna Potkovac, a violinist, who
had been with Osaka Linguistic College as an exchange
student from Zagreb, Croatia. Karube asked Mirna to collectany information and material relating to the opera “NikolaŠubić Zrinski.”◆1979

Mr. Bjorge sent a letter to Yuichiro Hayashi, Shingetsu-kai
Chairman, together with information about the Opera. In
the meantime, Ms. Potkovac obtained copy of the centennial
program of the Opera and furthermore, a copy of thecomplete score of Opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski” with piano
accompaniment.

◆1989

An invitation came to KG Glee Club from Mr. Janko Kichl,- 17 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club
Director of the National Theater, Zagreb to the Opera“Nikola Šubić Zrinski” on March 17. After the 90th Concert
in February, KG Glee Club traveled to Vienna and sang at
the Musikverein’s great hall on March 16. On the following
day, they went to the Croatian National Theater to see the
Opera specially programmed for their arrival. They also
visited the Croatian Musical Institute where Ivan Zajc used
to be the headmaster and held a recital at its hall. “U Boj, U
Boj” was sung at the end of the performance as always but it
was the long-awaited homecoming accomplishment. Later,
several copies of the 500 limited edition of Ivan Zajc’s“Choral Works” compiled in 1982 in commemoration of the150th Anniversary of Zajc’s birth were given to the KG GleeClub from the Yugoslav Composers Association, Belgrade.
◆1992

The sheet music of “U Boj, U Boj” with the guide for
Serbo-Croatian pronunciations, together with the complete
translation of the verse into Japanese was prepared for KG
Glee Club and Shingetsu-kai, and an extra 3,500 copies
were also made available for any choral societies interested
in Japan. On November 13, the Zagreb Philharmonic
Orchestra held a concert in Osaka conducted by Kazushi
Ohno, and at its finale, theKG Glee Club andShingetsu-kai sang “U Boj, U Boj” accompanied by the
Orchestra.

◆1996

On September 14, Mr. Yoshio Koga, a graduate of Kwansei
Gakuin in 1941, who made his personal investigation of “U
Boj, U Boj” for years, traveled to Szigetvár in southern
Hungary and visited Szigeth Castle. The astonished local
guide was so kind in introducing the legendary Castle to thisvisitor who had come all the way from Japan. Throughout
the guided tour, the cassette tape of the Opera “Nikola Šubić
Zrinski” was played continuously by the guide, said Mr.
Koga happily. Had it been a week earlier, he would havebeen able to see the “Zrinyi Festival” as well.

- 18 -

・Notes・◎

Szigeth Castle is located in Szigetvár, southern Hungary
near the Croatian border and is preserved as a memorial
museum of the legendary battle against the Turks. Armorand weapons from the Middle Ages are displayed in the
castle. Zrinyi IV is regarded as one of the great heroes in
Hungary and in Szigetvár, the “Zrinyi Festival” is held forthree days from Friday to Sunday in the first week of
September. Also in Croatia where they call him Zrinski, he isa medieval great hero who defended Szigetvár from the
Ottoman Turks invasion. The opera “Nikola Šubić Zrinski”
is performed at least 10 times a year at the Croatian
National Theater, for which tickets are always sold out.

◎

In the 17th Century, Count Zrinyi VII, a poet and politician,wrote in Magyar an epic praising his great grandfather,
Zrinyi IV. Unfortunately no new editions have been issued
and those who are interested have to see the copy in thelibrary in Budapest. In 2007, Professor Koshimura at Tokyo
Zokei University found in Zagreb a copy of the said epic
translated into Croatian, and a copy thereof was given to us.

◎

Szigetvár is also known as Zrinyivár locally. In Hungarian,
the surname comes first followed by the given name, as inChinese or Japanese. So, “Nikolas Zrinyi” is spelled in theorder of “Zrinyi Nikolas.” The affix ‘vár’ means castle in
Magyar.

◎Ivan pl. Zajc is a highly reputed Croatian composer andZajc’s hometown, Rijeka hosts the Croatian National
Theater “Ivan pl. Zajc.”◎

Yoshimasa Kadota, a graduate of Kwansei Gakuin in 1964
living in New York for years, traveled with his wife to
Szigetvár to see the “Zrinyi Festival” in September 2009. He
was warmly received by Mayor Paizs József, and was given- 19 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Cluba ‘Zrinyi Memorial Medal’. The Mayor also took him to thereception where nearly 300 people were present and he wasintroduced to be the man from a Japanese choral society
who had sung “U Boj, U Boj” for ninety years. The Mayor
looked forward to Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club andShingetsu-kai coming over to join the next year’s “Zrinyi
Festival” to sing, and the Mayor’s assistant Ms. Éva Pandur
assured Kadota of her every assistance in that case.
A Note on World War I and the Czechoslovak Army
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated bya gunshot in Sarajevo and World War I broke out. Czechoslovakia was then a partof the Habsburg’s Austria-Hungary Dual Monarchy, and the Czechoslovak army
was sent deep into Russia. Czechoslovaks who had been oppressed by Austria,
however, were reluctant to fight for the German-Austrian Alliance and were
initially willing to surrender to Russians so that they could concentrate on
regaining their sovereignty.
In 1917 the revolutions took place in Russia overthrowing the House of
Romanov and the succeeding USSR administration signed the ceasefire
agreement with Germany and Austria in 1918. This put the 60,000
Czechoslovak soldiers in Russia into an awkward position as the USSR
government requested they be disarmed. The Czechoslovaks refused andstarted fighting against the USSR, which turned to the German-Austrian Alliance.
This paved the way for the U.S./Japan joint forces invading Siberia to rescue theCzechoslovak soldiers and extricate them from Vladivostok.
On November 11, 1918, Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces and WWIcame to an end, resulting in a death-toll of 30,000,000 in all. The battle in Siberia,
however, continued for a while but after extracting the powerful Czechoslovaks
who once had dominated the Siberian Railroad, the U.S./Japan joint forces began
to lose against the massive Soviet army and finally retreated from Siberia.

- 20 -

・Further acknowledgement・After completing this report in 2009, leaving some details about
the Czechoslovak army who came to Japan back in 1919 to be clarified
if possible at all, a very good friend of mine, Mr. Martin Hošek, Assistantof the Institute of East Asian Studies, Charles University in Prague, tooka great deal of trouble to look into various sources including theMilitary’s Central Archives in Prague and dug up the old photographs aswell as several officers’ names and ranks. Those additional facts andmaterial provided by Mr. Hošek have been duly recorded and filed in
the KG Glee Club’s library, ‘Haus Bötzingen.’(August 2010, Jun Karube)
The translator’s note:
The hunt for finding the root of “U Boj, U Boj” was a 70-year Odyssey of the
KG Glee Club and its ex-members, involving so many people inside and outside
the school, including those in the States and Europe. Was its final outcome by amiracle? May be or may be not. But it seems to me more than that. Being one of
the KG graduates, I’m inclined to believe the legendary spirit of “Mastery for
Service” having turned into reality there.
(January 2012, Takao Abe)

Athletic Meeting at Kwansei Gakuin, 1919.
- 21 -

“U Boj, U Boj” and Kwansei Gakuin Glee Club

Kwansei Gakuin Archives, Nishinomiya 662-8501 JAPAN
February 29, 2012- 22 -