japan national rugby union team

right Japan (often known as "The Cherry Blossoms") is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia, with only occasional losses to Korean rivals in the region, but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years since this Western sport was introduced in 1899 by Professor Edward Bramwell Clarke and Tanaka Ginnosuke. Rugby in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union, founded in 1926.

History

Japan's World Cup record

Japan has participated as Asia's representative in all five Rugby Union World Cups since the inaugural tournament held in 1987. However, the team has not yet matured sufficiently to progress beyond the pool stages to the quarter-finals, and it has only recorded one victory so far, albeit a decisive one by 52 points to 8, over Zimbabwe at Belfast in the 1991 Rugby Union World Cup, the second of the series. In the fifth Rugby World Cup, RWC2003 held in Australia, Japan was hailed as the best of the so-called 'minnow' nations and left a lasting and delightful impression with its speedy play and sportsmanship, gaining many new Japanese and foreign fans in the process, but unfortunately the team still failed to win any games. It is also prone to occasional major hiccups, notably a humiliating world record 17-145 loss against a typically ruthless New Zealand All Blacks side (captained by Paul Henderson with many reserves who had a point to prove to their coach) at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa in the third World Cup, RWC1995. Since then Japan has beaten Taiwan 155-3 in a RWC2003 qualifying game on July 5, 2002 which has helped to lay the ghost of Bloemfontein to rest, while underlining Japan's dominance in Asia and its responsibility to help the development of other Asian nations weaker than itself, in its own interests as well as those of its neighbours and of the sport worldwide. (This is probably what lies behind Japan's bid to hold the first ever Rugby World Cup in Asia in 2011.) However the dreadful RWC1995 result arguably postponed the development of rugby's popularity in Japan by several years, as the Japanese general public and most of the media - quite understandably - only supports, and shows interest in, winners. Consequently as a team sport rugby is still a distant third in the popularity ratings behind Japanese baseball and soccer (the J. League), and this reality is unlikely to change until Japan's national rugby team becomes consistently successful on the world stage, especially at the Rugby World Cup. At present rugby is rarely seen on the terrestrial TV channels, and is mainly restricted to CS and cable subscription channels, which hinders its growth. (Sometimes the bigger games are shown on NHK TV - e.g. the University championship rugby final and the Microsoft Cup.)

Past successes (1989, 1983, 1971)

There have nevertheless been one or two notable Japanese successes and some very impressive results which might be termed "near misses". While they were a long time ago, and are almost forgotten by many rugby fans, they do point to a brighter future. On May 28, 1989 a strong Japan coached by wily tactician Hiroaki Shukuzawa defeated an under-strength Scotland missing nine British Lions then touring in Australia, for the first time ever at Chichibunomiya in Tokyo, 28-24. The Japan team included such Kobe Steel stalwarts as centre Seiji Hirao (captain), and locks Atsushi Oyagi and Toshiyuki Hayashi (38 Japan caps and a member of Oxford University's all-time best XV). Sinali Latu at No. 8 was then a fourth year student at Daito Bunka University, and speedy Yoshihito Yoshida on the wing (no. 14) was a third year at Meiji University. Scotland missed an incredible seven penalties and refused the kicking tee which was generously offered - as a surviving video of the game shows. It was incidentally almost the same Japanese team which defeated Zimbabwe in RWC1991. Going even further back in time Japan have also come embarrassingly close to major upset victories over England and Wales. The Japanese lost by just 3-6 to England in Tokyo on September 29, 1971 in the RFU's centenary year, and gave Wales a fright in losing by a slim five-point margin, 24-29, at Cardiff Arms Park on October 2, 1983. It is worth noting that this remarkable result occurred during the so-called "Golden Age" of Welsh rugby, 1970-87.

Recent disasters (The tour of Europe in 2004)

On Saturday November 13, 2004 a surprisingly weak Japan representative touring side lost 8-100 to the full Scotland team at McDiarmid Park in Perth in the Caledonian region, a historic points record for Scotland; a week later to Rumania 10-25 on November 20th at Steaua soccer stadium in Bucharest; and then on November 26th Japan succumbed miserably to Wales at the Millennium Stadium, 0-98. It was Wales's biggest ever winning margin, played on a Friday evening in Cardiff before a massive 56,380 crowd. Before the Scotland game the Japan coach publicly, and some JRFU officials privately, expressed their dissatisfaction and disappointment that the game was not going to be played at Murrayfield. To the prestige-conscious Japanese, playing at an unknown soccer stadium in Perth was viewed as second best and even an insult to their country, though the venue was partly chosen by the SRU because Perth is the headquarters of the Black Watch, to show support for that famous Highland regiment which was in danger of imminent disbandment, and whose soldiers were then in harm's way in Iraq. (Five Black Watch soldiers died shortly before the game.) Thus with the wisdom of hindsight the Japan coach would have done much better to save his energy and concentrate on the business of winning the game. It was in fact the legitimate policy of the Scottish Rugby Union to play some international games away from Murrayfield in autumn 2004, in order to gain new fans in the Caledonia and Glasgow regions. (Thus Australia also played once at Hampden Park, Glasgow in the same series, and Australia's coach Eddie Jones had no objection to doing so, though Australia did also have one game at Murrayfield, as befitted their status as one of the world's top teams.) The Perth game was virtually a sell-out of the 10,278 capacity McDiarmid Park, and as TV commentator and former Scotland great David Sole remarked during the game, that number would have rattled around in the much larger Murrayfield stadium (capacity 67,500). Furthermore, there are reasonable doubts as to whether this was Japan's strongest available team, even though the captain Takuro Miuchi insisted it was after the game. If it was essentially just a development side as it appeared to be, then it was all the more unreasonable and unrealistic for Japan to demand to play at Murrayfield anyway. Apparently under the mistaken impression that Japan had beaten Italy in the summer, the Scotland coach (Matt Williams) paid Japan the compliment of selecting his strongest team, and the historic result was as already recorded above. The Japanese tour party (listed here) was indeed weaker than it could have been. It did not include the experienced Tongan Ruatangi Vatuvei, which with hindsight seems a puzzling omission. New Zealander Adam Parker (formerly a teammate of Vatuvei at Toshiba) who had played in Japan's 19-32 loss to Italy (coached by former All Black John Kirwan) at Chichibunomiya on July 4, 2004 was apparently refused permission to travel by his new club, NTT Higashi Nihon, which had league commitments. The only non-Japanese member was Feleteliki Mau of World Fighting Bull. Of course, in any team new players have to be 'blooded' and given a chance to prove themselves if the team is to make progress, especially in the international arena, but another very important objective is maintaining reasonably competitive results against sides which are higher in the IRB world rankings. (Wales was 8th, Scotland 9th, Rumania 13th and Japan 18th in November 2004.) To do this a greater number of experienced players was needed than were taken on the tour. Meanwhile, Scotland presumably will have no objection if Japan decides to play them at a small soccer ground outside Tokyo the next time they visit Japan. There is no shortage of stadia throughout Japan, and the JRFU might wish to increase the number of rugby fans in regions such as Kyushu, Tohoku or Hokkaido, in the same way as the SRU has done. In the end it is the size and suitability of the pitch and above all the result which really matters, not the venue - which should be chosen by the home union.

General remarks

The Japanese team are known for their speed and resourcefulness but have sometimes been at a disadvantage due to their relatively smaller size compared to Southern hemisphere and European players. This is changing, however, as the Japanese diet increasingly includes more meat at the expense of fish and resembles Western diets more closely. (Japan is after all the nation of sumo, so there is no obvious reason why they cannot produce large rugby players!) Training regimes and coaching are of a generally high standard, though sometimes it seems that politics interferes in the national squad's coaching and selection, with unfortunate results. The national team is also usually reinforced at and before the World Cup by one or two foreigners who qualify under IRB regulations. Of these Andrew Miller and Andrew McCormick, both from New Zealand, and Sinali Latu from Tonga have been the most successful.

Japan's best results so far

versus England - Lost 3-6 (Tokyo, 1971)
versus Scotland - Won 28-24 (Tokyo, 1989)
versus Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) - Won 155-3 (Taipei, 2002)
versus Wales - Lost 24-29 (Cardiff, 1983)
versus Zimbabwe - Won 52-8 (Rugby World Cup, Belfast 1991)
In May 2004 Japan won the second Super Powers Cup played between four nations in Tokyo, beating Russia 29-12 (May 27) and Canada 34-21 (May 30) in the process. The USA beat Russia in the third-place play-off. In the Taiwan game, fullback Toru Kurihara of Suntory scored a world record individual points tally.

Future prospects

The present national coach, Mr. Mitsutake Hagimoto (appointed in 2004 after winning the first Top League title with Kobe Kobelco Steelers) is seeking to take the "Brave Blossoms" (as they are now called) to a more consistently successful level. The present captain is Takuro Miuchi (No. 8), of NEC Green Rockets. Hagimoto's first game in charge saw a disappointing 19-19 draw against Korea in Tokyo on May 16, 2004. (It may be that he feels hampered by having only a one year contract, which is not a huge vote of confidence in his coaching by his employers.) After the draw with Korea, Japan won the second Super Powers Cup but lost to Italy 19-32 in July - this game might well have turned out differently if Daisuke Ohata had not fumbled the ball when in the clear and so butchered a certain try. (Italy's coach John Kirwan acknowledged Italy's good fortune after the game, and said it could have gone either way.) Nonetheless, and despite the disastrous tour of Europe (Scotland, Rumania and Wales) in November 2004 (see above), Japan should qualify once again for the Sixth Rugby World Cup (2007) without too much difficulty. This is perhaps more a reminder of Asia's relative weakness than of Japan's strength. Ultimately the lack of serious rivals in Asia (except for Korea) does Japan no favours, and the result is that Japan is caught in the middle: a big fish in the small pond of Asian rugby, but still at present a relative minnow in the vast ocean of world rugby. In 2003 the Top League was created to improve the overall standards of Japanese rugby, and this will of course benefit the national team in the longer term. It is Japan's first nationwide league and is a first step towards professionalism. So far the league is proving to be successful with many closely fought and exciting games, though attendances at games are generally not high and tend to be limited to diehard fans and company employees. The perennial and key question, however, is whether Japan can at last begin to win some games against stronger opposition, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in 2007. This is what her loyal, passionate and long-suffering fans most dearly hope for and deserve. (As in several other rugby-playing countries, there are those who believe that a foreign professional coach with a relatively free hand would be the best way to achieve this.)

Current & recent national team players

Past players & coaches

Toshiyuki Hayashi, legendary lock with Kobe Steel, Oxford and Japan
Seiji Hirao, centre, former Japan captain and coach of Japan (RWC1999)
Kensuke Iwabuchi, the first Japanese to play professional rugby in England (for Saracens)
Masahiro Kunda, hooker for Toshiba and Japan, coach of Toshiba Brave Lupus
Sinali Latu - now coach of Daito Bunka University RFC
Andrew McCormick, son of All Black Fergie McCormick, centre and captain of Japan
Andrew Miller, fly half for Kobe Steel and Japan
Shogo Mukai, full back for Toshiba and Japan, coach of Japan (RWC2003) and Coca-Cola West Japan (2004-)
Wataru Murata, now finishing his career with Yamaha Jubilo
Atsushi Oyagi, lock, Kobe Steel and Japan, now a TV personality (talento)
Yoshihito Yoshida, world class Japan wing, known especially on the Sevens circuit