The bonds of a cheerleading team deepens further as the number of ribbons increases.

KRANZ, the cheerleaders of the University of Tokyo Athletic Association Cheer Club, cheers for sports clubs such as the baseball club, American football club, and lacrosse club, as well as staging activities at school festivals and concerts.
The group visits the Tokyo Ribbon Showroom several times a year, selects ribbons, designs and craft them themselves, and wears the ribbons as part of their costumes. This time, we heard how they craft with ribbons and their interactions with Tokyo Ribbon.

Ribbons are decorations that make cheerleading look glamorous and lovely.

– What kind of activities does the cheerleaders “KRANZ” do?

The cheerleaders KRANZ belong to the University of Tokyo Athletic Association Cheer Club. We usually do a wide range of activities, such as cheering for the University of Tokyo Sports Festival and performing dance and stunts (gymnastics) on stage. We cheer on games for the baseball team, which belongs to the Tokyo Six Universities Baseball Federation, as well as American football, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey, and the like, with the Leaders and brass band.

When performing on stage, we not only dance but also perform stunts, lift people high, and do many acrobatic acts — a dynamic performance.

The cheerleading squad has about 10 members per year, and about 40 members in total.

For the activities, everyone wears matching costumes and also uses pom-poms, boards, flags, etc.
Among them, ribbons are part of the costume and are decorations that make cheerleading look glamorous and lovely.

We buy them from Tokyo Ribbon because we need a large number and large volume of the same ribbons.
Purchasing from Tokyo Ribbon has a tradition from generation to generation, so we don’t know when it started (laughter).
We go to the showroom several times a year, and members of each year visit the Showroom at the least once for the purpose of handing over the work.

Looking for ribbons in the Showroom
Before I knew it, I had been there for 4 hours.

– How do you choose costumes and ribbons?

There are several types of costumes, and the ones you wear are determined depending on the activity.
On the other hand, ribbons are made new for each grade to match the costumes worn rather than activities.
For example, we make ribbons to match the red costume called the “Akamon Costume,’” or if we create a new costume, we make ribbons to match.

For each grade, there is a designated person in charge of making ribbons, and when we want to make new ones, we go to the Tokyo Ribbon Showroom and see the colors and materials they are made of.
When I was making a particular ribbon, I went to the Showroom to look at the ribbons and before I knew it, I had been there for 3-4 hours. I sketch out a certain design or color in advance, but by touching the actual ribbon, I can get a feel for the material and see other colors, which helps me create a more specific production image, or maybe change it.
If the design is a different color for each member, it’s a pleasure to look at it while talking with the members we go there with on what colors would match this or that person.

After all, there are things you won’t understand until you see the actual thing, and as I look at them while talking with the other members, I realize that we have been there a long time.

The bond deepens further as the number of ribbons increases

– How do you design and make them?

We buy ribbons in bulk by measuring the lengths, and then we ourselves cut and glue them.

For example, this ribbon uses 5 types of ribbons, and we layered repeatedly wide and narrow ribbons of the same color to create a voluminous and gorgeous look, folded and tucked them into shapes, then secured things with cable ties and attached elastic bands so that we could attach them to our hair. Each member’s name was cut out and pasted on this ribbon, but it was a lot of work to make enough for everyone.
People who are good with their hands are in charge of the work, so even if you’re not good at this kind of work, you won’t have any problem joining the cheerleaders (laughter).

Ribbons are sometimes made to coincide with the event, but there is no annual schedule, and there are times when someone says, “I want to make a ribbon,” and everyone says, “yes let’s do that,” and makes it. Also they are often made for each year, and they can be given as surprise gifts to seniors and juniors, thus used to build bonds within the squad, such as, “I like that ribbon from that year,’” or “I am happy to have received one from a senior I admire at graduation.’”

I think that as the number of ribbons increases, the bond becomes deeper.