Rugby World Cup 2019

Back in October, Japan had the honour of being the first Asian country to hold the Rugby World Cup. Unlike the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, it focused more on involving the entire country, with games played across all islands, and cities without scheduled games acting as host cities for teams.

Kumamoto was lucky enough to host two games: France vs. Tonga and Wales vs. Uruguay. Of course once the tickets were released last year, I rushed to bag myself a ‘Stadium Pack’. Never have I had to hand over so much cash at a konbini in one go, but it was nice having four tickets for anyone wanting to join me.

In the lead up, interest, especially in the general Kumamoto population, was pretty lacking. Not many people I spoke to really knew about it, as most have little to no interest in rugby. Once it started gaining more popularity though, my students began to embrace my score updates on my English board, and would look forward to me showing them the previous days match highlights in the break between classes. 

I got a chance to volunteer at the fan zone too, helping a bunch of French and Tongan supporters with general questions and transport advice. Once the Kumamoto games were over the fan zone was taken down, which was a shame really, because people were really banding together watching games. I have to admit, only when I saw around 50 people stand during national anthems that weren’t their own, did I truly realise how respectful Japanese people can be.

Once the Welsh arrived, I quickly realised how out of touch I am when I sometimes couldn’t decipher whether they were speaking Welsh or English. It was usually the latter. It was such an odd experience to have Kumamoto overrun with so many foreigners, but I’ve never been more proud of my city. 

We welcomed everyone so well, everything went so smoothly, and the whole tournament is up there in my top memories during my time here. 

Here’s a breakdown of my favourite moments:

• Watching Japan vs. Ireland, the excited atmosphere at the fan zone, and a festival with dragon floats and fireworks happening at the same time about 20ft away.
• Giving sneaky updates to my principal during a wedding and him getting me another glass of wine each time England scored.
• Karma for the dickhead comments made by some French to the fact I was English? Annoying them at the game afterwards, whilst proudly wearing Japan shirts, knowing if anything kicked off the huge Tongan men sat behind us were fully on our side.
• Buying too many Strong Zeros at the match, despite knowing battery acid would be better to consume.
• Reuniting with ex-students at the matches who I used to have a kick about with after school.
• Rushing back from the stadium to watch the Japan vs. Scotland game only to find the fan zone full, sprinting to find a bar, and the loudest chants of 日本。。。日本。。。coming from every nook and cranny downtown.
• The Uruguayan player who went to the local club, tackled a security guard and ripped apart a giant teddy bear. Only in Kumamoto.
• The kind restaurant owner in the middle of a tiny onsen town in Saga, who streamed the final for me on his laptop.

Laura, a friend from Liverpool/Keele, decided to embark on her second trip to Japan, with the rugby playing a huge part in the timing. Having already been to Japan before, this was a truly a Kumamoto focused trip. 

We spent time eating all of her favourite Japanese foods, introducing her to new haunts, smashing a fab night of karaoke, visiting the newly re-opened castle grounds, giving her a chance to wear my kimono, and finally a day trip to Kurokawa onsen. 

It was truly a wildly busy few weeks, but definitely something I won’t forget any time soon. Even my nails came into their own, sparking conversation between myself and old ladies wondering why I was supporting two teams. Despite that, let’s not talk about the result. Japan have the better kit and the most beautiful player anyway.