Street Handball International

24/10/2026

My Street Handball Diary - Part 3 of 3 - 14 Teams at the Yokohama Street Handball Festival, Japan

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟬 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 – 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 at Yokohama National University Affiliated Yokohama Junior High School

At 7:00 AM, someone knocked on my hotel room door. It was Hiroyuki. “You have 20 minutes, then we need to be ready to go!”

Before long, I was back in the sports hall, taking team photos A total of 14 teams participated that morning.

Everything went really well. They played seven-minute matches at full speed!

Sometimes they played a little too fast, but they were competing for prizes, so naturally, they wanted to give it their all.

Twice, we paused the matches on one of the courts to hold a target-shooting activity, where players could shoot at a target sheet. It worked really well, while the matches continued on the other court.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲:

For the youngest primary school classes:

- Takeno-kai

- Atsugi Handball Club Azalea

- Hayama Reale

A total of 3 teams.

For the oldest primary school classes:

- HC Yokohama ハンドボールクラブ

- Takeno-kai A

- Takeno-kai B

- Kohoku B.Rex Team A

- Kohoku B.Rex Team B

- Hakodate Ushio Sports Club

A total of 6 teams.

In the adult category:

- Kohoku B.Rex Adult Team

- Powerful Ossan’s

- TOKYO SAKURA HC

- Hokkon UNITED

- Takeno-kai Parents’ Team

A total of 5 teams.

In total, 14 teams participated in the festival.

I had the opportunity to be Match Instructor for three matches: the opening match, one in the middle of the tournament, and the final match, which ended in a draw and was decided by a penalty shootout.

It was tough for some of the players, as all the teams and spectators were watching and cheering them on!

Then came the big prize-giving ceremony, which was also very well organised. Everyone knew who had won and who should receive the prizes.

The highlight of the prize ceremony was the rock-paper-scissors competition to win a ball. Look out for the video coming soon!

Finally, we took the traditional group photo with all the participants. They really enjoyed themselves, and I am sure everyone had a fantastic day.

The KK-handball YouTuber also wanted to interview Hiroyuki and me, and one of the players from the Hakodate team asked me to autograph his T-shirt.

Afterwards, we all helped clean up the hall together.

A huge thank you to all the teams and volunteers who took part. It was truly an unforgettable experience!

I travelled home with Mr. Shioya and Mr. Torasan, together with one of the players, Fukazawa Makoto, and his girlfriend. I was staying one more night with Mr. Shioya and Ms. Yoshiko.

𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿:

Mr. Shioya had also arranged a wonderful farewell dinner for me with his friends. Wow, I was exhausted after the last four action-packed days of Street Handball!

We walked through the pouring rain with our umbrellas to a restaurant that had been booked for us. Once again, business cards were exchanged, and each of us stood up to introduce ourselves and tell everyone a little about who we were. There was also a description of the participants on the table.

And, of course, there was plenty of toasting and celebrating!

It ended with me singing a traditional Danish drinking song:

“When the henhouse caught fire, the rooster wouldn't come out. He flapped his wings because he was as drunk as a hen. But we're not there yet, we're not there yet! So raise your glass and drink it dry!”

That marked the end of my stay with Ms. Yoshiko and Mr. Shioya. They had been incredibly kind to me.

A huge thank you for the accommodation, the wonderful food, the breakfasts, and the clean clothes. Thank you, thank you, Ms. Yoshiko and Mr. Shioya!

There were a few tears in the corners of my eyes when I said goodbye. Mr. Shioya then drove me to a restaurant where I was meeting a friend.

𝗧𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻

Thanks to your help, both the Street Handball Instructor Certification Course and the 20th Anniversary Celebration on 19 September, as well as the Street Handball Festival tournament on 20 September, were successfully held.

Dear Mr. Shioya and Mr. Hiroyuki, and your wonderful wives 🤩

The last four days have been an absolutely incredible experience. I am so grateful for your cooperation and for all the clubs and schools that participated.

It was fantastic that the Hakodate team travelled all the way to Yokohama to take part!

Mr. Shioya and your wife, Ms. Yoshiko, you were so kind to me that it was difficult to leave and move on to the next part of my journey.

And to the Kanagawa Handball Association - 神奈川県ハンドボール協会, thank you for your cooperation.

A heartfelt thank you to all of you for this amazing experience! 🙏

Everything for Street Handball Japan! 🌏🤾‍♂️✌️

I will definitely be coming back, and you are all very welcome to visit Denmark too! 🇩🇰

𝗔 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼:

- Ms. Yoshiko and Mr. 塩谷Kazuo Shioya和雄

- Ms. Kimiko and Mr. 渡辺広幸

- Mr. Junichi Yamamoto

- Mr. Torasan

- Mr. Daisuke Yamauchi and Mr. S***a Fujimoto

And everyone else I haven't mentioned by name.

👉 Read all 3 diary posts here: ⬇️
https://www.streethandball.com/category/my-street-handball-diary/

Best regards,

Soren Guldberg Kjer
Street Handball International
Bramming, Denmark

10/10/2026

My Street Handball Diary - Part 2 of 3 - Instructor Workshop and 20th Anniversary Celebration, Yokohama, Japan.

Saturday, 19 September – Street Handball Instructor Workshop (See the fantastic pictures below)

The Street Handball Instructor Workshop took place at Yokohama Junior High School, consisting of 1.5 hours of theory and 1.5 hours of practical training.

We set off from Mr. Shioya’s home in Minami Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, and arrived at the school at 8:30 AM. Shortly afterwards, the bus carrying the team from Hakodate arrived after a 14-hour journey.

They were certainly full of energy! You would never have guessed that they had been travelling all night. (See the photo in front of the bus.) The Hakodate team had brought tape for marking out the courts, and everyone helped set up the banners, goals, and other equipment. Hiroyuki’s wife, Ms. Kimiko, was also on the bus.

At 1:00 PM, the Instructor Workshop began with the theory session. Everything was brilliantly organised by Daisuke Yamauchi and S***a Fujimoto.

There were only eight participants registered, but that turned out to be the perfect number for the practical session, which started at 2:30 PM. The instructors had been given various challenges to teach the participants.

One challenge was to split into four teams and create the coolest shooting drill towards goal. They also had to come up with an awesome goal celebration, complete with high-fives from their teammates! During the practice matches, the instructors also took turns trying their hand at refereeing.

The following eight participants successfully completed the Match Instructor Course:

- Miki Kimura

- Yukimi Furukawa

- Shigeru Matsush*ta

- Kazumasa Hayashi

- Kotaro Abe

- Norihito Chikahisa

- Haruka Sone

- Izuru Sasaki

Among Saturday’s spectators was Junichi Yamamoto, who is probably the biggest Street Handball fan we have in Japan. He wears one of our T-shirts five days a week! ;D

Real Handball, Street Handball Japan’s cooperation partner who produces their T-shirts, also came along.

We finished the afternoon with a group photo. It was a really great afternoon!

20th Anniversary Celebration Party 🎉
After the Instructor Workshop, we went straight to the hotel where we were staying overnight. It didn’t look like much from the outside, but it was a charming old hotel. I had a single room with a mattress on the floor. :)

We had to get ready quickly, as we were leaving at 5:30 PM, just half an hour later. We walked to the metro and continued to Yokohama Chinatown, where we took the elevator to the seventh floor. As soon as we stepped out, we found ourselves right in the room where the celebration was taking place.

There were speeches by Hiroyuki Watanabe, head of Street Handball Japan, and Susumu Oishi, President of the Kanagawa Handball Association.

Their speeches were nice and short, although perhaps that was because I was the next one who had to give a speech! Mine may have been a little long, especially as it also needed to be translated.
I had sent my speech for translation a month in advance.
I gave my speech in English, and I think it went pretty well. :)

Afterwards, I presented gifts to Mr. Hiroyuki and his wife, Ms. Kimiko, as well as to Mr. Shioya and his wife, Ms. Yoshiko.
They each received a special 20th Anniversary Street Handball T-shirt, featuring a logo designed by Søren Moe Astrup, some Danish biscuits, and a small sculpture of the Little Mermaid.

Next, Junichi Yamamoto from Tokyo Sakura Handball Club said a few words. At the same time, he encouraged everyone to raise their glasses for a big toast and invited us to enjoy the evening.

Then it was Takehito Matsuyama’s turn to speak on behalf of Real Handball. Afterwards, Kume and Kawase from KK-Handball were given the opportunity to say a few words. They are YouTube stars in the Japanese handball community, and a video from them will be coming soon!
Business cards were exchanged once again, and I received several more gifts.

Finally, Vice President Sho Kimura from the Kanagawa Prefecture Handball Association gave the closing speech together with Junichi Yamamoto.

A huge thank you to Mr. Shioya for acting as our toastmaster and keeping the evening running smoothly from the podium.

It was a wonderful and memorable evening! 🤩 A big thank you to everyone who helped organise the celebration.
Of course, we finished with a group photo! ;) Afterwards, we headed home, passing Yokohama Stadium, where a baseball game was taking place.

Huge thank you to Mr. Shioya, Mr. Hiroyuki and Kanagawa Handball Association (神奈川県ハンドボール協会) for making the day possible.

- Street Handball Japan

Kind Regards Soren Guldberg Kjer

My Street Handball Diary – Part 3 of 3 🤾

The next part will feature the Street Handball Festival, with 14 participating teams!



👉 Read all 3 diary posts here: ⬇️
https://www.streethandball.com/category/my-street-handball-diary/

03/10/2026

My Street Handball Diary – Part 1 of 3 – 5 Workshops in Yokohama – Japan 🇯🇵🤾

Soren in Yokohama for Street Handball Workshops in Schools and Clubs.

Wednesday, September 16

I checked out of the hotel and headed by train towards Shinjuku Station again, arriving in good time to buy my ticket to Sagami-Ono Station on the Romancecar Express, departing exactly at 2:20 PM.
I received a very warm welcome at Sagami-Ono Station from Mr. Hiroyuki from Hakodate, my Street Handball Project Manager in Japan, and Mr. Shioya, who had arranged the workshops for the following days in Yokohama.
Ms. Yoshiko is Mr. Shioya's wife, and I am staying with them in their lovely home.
The last person in the picture is Mr. Torajson Oimatsu.

You can also read my dairy here - https://www.streethandball.com/my-street-handball-diary-part-1-of-3-five-workshops-in-yokohama-japan/

Thursday, September 17

Workshop 1/5

We went to our first workshop at Sagamihara Shiritsu Kushikawa Junior High School (相模原市立串川中学校).
The school had a total of 114 students and was about 20 km – or a one-hour drive – from where we were staying with Mr. Shioya.
We received a warm welcome at the school gate, where Oishi Susumu opened the gate for us. He is from the Kanagawa Handball Association and, of course, was wearing a Street Handball Kanagawa T-shirt.
The teacher who welcomed us was Mr. Hairai. We were taken to a classroom where we spent the afternoon talking. Tea and cake were served to us, and we also met the school principal, who received one of my business cards.
Thirty students took part in the workshop, and Hiroyuki taught them Street Handball. It went really well!
Afterwards, we took a group photo. Then I gave the students high-fives and handed out a few business cards – something they absolutely loved.
Suddenly, there were 8–10 students standing around me, asking me to sign their schoolbooks! 😄
Well, now I can say I've tried that too! 😂
Thank you to the lovely students and teachers at Sagamihara Shiritsu Kushikawa Junior High School for letting us visit. 🤩

Workshop 2/5

We drove directly from the school to our next workshop, with a stop along the way to eat. The three of us each had a pasta dish and a soft drink.
I finally managed to pay for the meal myself! It came to about 2,000 yen – approximately 80 Danish kroner – for all three of us.
We arrived at a sports hall located on the third floor.
Here we played Street Handball together with Atsugi Handball Club Azalea.
We started with some throwing and catching exercises, and I was given the chance to lead this part before we went straight into playing on two courts.
Mr. Hiroyuki and Mr. Shioya had, of course, brought some really good Quickplay goals with them. We have been taking them with us in the car to all the workshops.
Unfortunately, the sports halls in Japan don't have mini handball courts marked across the halls. But we solved that problem using flat cones to mark the goal areas.
There was a mixed age group. The younger players played together on one court, while the older players played on the other.
Afterwards, we played mixed handball.
They simply didn't want to stop! They were completely into it and just wanted to keep playing.
Thank you to everyone for joining in and playing with us!
We played from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.
Then it was time to drive home – 20 km, probably 150 traffic lights and about an hour later, we were finally back home.
Thank you to Atsugi Handball Club Azalea!

Friday, September 18

Workshop 3-4/5

I honestly don't even know where to begin.
I don't know what to write. Today is Thursday, September 24, and I haven't had the time or energy to write my diary.
I am completely blown away by experiences I could only have dreamed of.
On Friday, we drove to Shinjuku Elementary School (相模原市立新宿小学校), where we held two workshops – one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The students were so lovely and listened really well.
Thank you to Shinjuku Elementary School (相模原市立新宿小学校) for letting us visit.

Workshop 5/5

At 2:30 PM, we drove towards the Kawasaki Ikuta area, about 47 km away, although most of the journey was on the motorway.
We were heading to our final workshop of the day at Ikuta Elementary School, where we were going to play handball together with Ikuta Handball Club Bombers.
When we arrived at the parking area, two ladies were waiting to welcome us.
One of them asked me if I knew the man in the green shirt in the picture.
"Yes, since yesterday!" I said. He had contacted me on Messenger.
It was Dan Muurholm Juurgensen, who had moved to Japan to train handball.
Several of the players helped us carry our luggage into the sports hall.
There were 50 players in this youth team, and they trained 2–3 times a week, sometimes for two hours at a time.
So, they were already very good at handball!
They warmed up themselves with shooting practice. Afterwards, Hiroyuki explained the Street Handball rules, and suddenly they were playing five-minute matches.
And they played FAST!
I have never seen that kind of energy before. They were really enjoying themselves.
Thank you to Ikuta Handball Club Bombers for letting us visit!
And a huge thank you to Mr. Shioya, Mr. Hiroyuki and Kanagawa Handball Association for making all of this possible.
Kind Regards Soren Guldberg Kjer

👉 Read all 3 diary posts here: ⬇️
https://www.streethandball.com/category/my-street-handball-diary/

01/10/2026

🎉 𝟮𝟬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟! 🌍🤾‍♂️
𝗜𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱… 🌍 ❤️

Today, October 1, 2026, we celebrate 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹! 🎂 🥳

A huge 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙆 𝙔𝙊𝙐 to everyone who has been part of the journey – players, coaches, volunteers, clubs, schools, organizations, families and friends around the world. ❤️

My recent trip to 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻, where we celebrated the anniversary together, was an unforgettable experience! 🇯🇵🎉

𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 – 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀! 🤩

Let’s keep playing, building community and spreading joy through 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 – 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁? 🌍 🤾‍♀️ ❤️

🇯🇵 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻!

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹! 🎉

See more - https://www.streethandball.com/20th-anniversary-with-street-handball/

🌍🤾‍♂️✌️

20/09/2026

Street Handball at Mpezeni School Ground in Chipata Eastern Province of Zambia 🇿🇲🤗. Thank you so much team Zikomo Project and Joseph Yusuf Daka 🙏🤩 --- 🌍🤾‍♂️✌️

19/09/2026

Come and join us 🇯🇵🤩🌏🤾‍♂️✌️

It’s finally the last day!
Today is the friendly tournament.
We’re hosting the event with KK Handball as our special guests.
Please come out to the venue! 😉

19/09/2026

5 Workshops in Yokohama, Japan 🇯🇵 and today Street handball Instructor Workshops and tomorrow Street Handball Festival 🤩🌏🤾‍♂️✌️

19/09/2026

We are are ready and part of this 🤩🌏🤾‍♂️✌️

It finally kicks off today‼️
We value fair play and want to support the children’s growth with an impartial eye.
Above all, we believe this sport should contribute to world peace.
So, to express our heartfelt gratitude
for the connections between people
and to keep encouraging each person right in front of us,
we’ll give it our all
over these next two days 😄

15/09/2026

All for 🌍🤾‍♂️✌️

There are now just four days left until the “Street Handball Festival in Yokohama.”
I hope everything goes smoothly. I look forward to making history together with all of you. 🙇