Though the weather was threatening the day with rain, the 2007 Drum Corps Japan (DCJ) All-Japan Championships marched on without delay. Japan's finest came together in Tokyo this past Sunday to compete for the national title. 2007 marks DCJ's 15th anniversary as Japan's premier marching experience. To celebrate, championships were held outside for the first time at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo. This year also marks the introduction of a new competitive division.

The contest began with the newly formed Any-Key Division, a division setup for marching ensembles that use bell front instruments not tuned in the key of G. The White Shooting Stars of Shonandai High School swept all division captions, earning the title of DCJ's first Any-Key Division Champion. Hoshino Gakuen followed in second with Genesis in third, Sendai Vertures in fourth and Silver Arrow in fifth.

After a devastating 3rd place finish (bumping them out of a spot at nationals) at the Japan Marching Band & Baton Twirling Association's Kansai Contest two weeks ago, the Jokers from Kyoto bounced back, earning a first place finish in division two and the Spirit of Konno Award in their first DCJ appearance. Less than a point behind was Phoenix Regiment, followed by the defending division 2 champions Imperial Sound. Cherry Blossoms topped off Osaka's Legend of Angels, followed by the Sonic Lancers.

In division 1, it was a photo race to the finish as the Yokohama Scouts and Yokohama Inspires divided the high caption awards among themselves, only to have the Yokohama Inspires come out on top by a tenth of a point, defending their division 1 championship title and Spirit of Arita award. Tokyo Phoenix followed in third place.

The evening ended with a finale performance of "You Raise Me Up" by the competing drum & bugle corps.

2007 Drum Corps Japan Results:

Any-key Division
1st 83.50 Shonandai H.S.M.B.
2nd 78.40 Hoshino Gakuen M.B.
3rd 73.30 GENESIS
4th 71.75 SENDAI Verdures
5th 57.75 Silver Arrow

High General Effect:Shonandai H.S.M.B
High Brass:Shonandai H.S.M.B
High Percussion:Shonandai H.S.M.B
High Visual:Shonandai H.S.M.B
High Color Guard:Shonandai H.S.M.B
Any-key Division Champion:Shonandai H.S.M.B

Drum Corps Division
Division 2
1st 74.05 Jokers
2nd 73.45 Phoenix Regiment
3rd 68.80 Imperial Sound
4th 66.60 Cherry Blossoms
5th 66.55 Legend of ANGELS
6th 65.65 Sonic Lancers

Division 1
1st 91.60 Yokohama Inspires
2nd 91.50 The Yokohama Scouts
3rd 84.80 Tokyo Phoenix

High General Effect:The Yokohama Scouts
High Brass:Yokohama Inspires
High Percussion:The Yokohama Scouts
High Visual:Yokohama Inspires
High Color Guard:Yokohama Inspires
"Spirit of Arita" Award(Div.1 Champion):Yokohama Inspires
"Spirit of Konno" Award(Div.2 Champion):Jokers

Judges for this event were provided by both Drum Corps International and Drum Corps Japan. Recaps of the 2007 All-Japan Championships can be found at dcjpn.org.