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.

Undoukai: The Japanese sports festival

Yesterday, I was asked to attend one of my elementary schools sports festivals. From the word go I was playing the clueless foreigner card, as I had no idea what was going on for the majority without asking a few questions.

The day was a mixture of the usual races, dance performances, and other events that were only comparable to something you’d see on Total Wipe-out. The second graders at all of my elementary schools have been wandering around with flower basket hats lately, and I finally got a chance to watch this schools rendition of hanagasa, or “flower basket dance”, which melted my heart.

One thing I absolutely loved about the day is that only certain grades compete in a designated race for that year. That meant all of the students got a chance to compete, and despite being split into the “red phoenix” or “white dragon” team, the amount of enthusiasm, teamwork and comradery was something I’ve never seen at sports days back home. It was lovely to see how the children also consider themselves one big family, with the 6^th graders taking it upon themselves to comfort the little ones if they came last or fell over.

Did I mention I got roped into racing 4^th graders in their 100m dash? God forbid a child is sick and their race has one less participant. At least I showed willing, and if anything, gave the kids a slight panic attack amidst their exclamations of “eh? Keito sensei?!” at the start line.

Along with bumping in to a few teachers from my other schools, who were pleased to know I was teaching their kids, I found a British companion. She has been living here for 15 years after coming to teach English, and found out about me thanks to a rather large picture of me in the school newsletter; one I was completely unaware of might I add. It’s nice to know someone who’s got their life settled in Kumamoto, but can also relate to the position I’m in. I’ve already been invited to afternoon tea too!

In the evening, I was invited to the schools enkai celebrating their successful day. This was hands down the liveliest enkai I’ve been to, as the teachers had the day off today. The highlight had to be everyone dancing to the music from the festival earlier, and I’m not sure what I loved more; the cute hanagasa by the 2^nd graders, or the drunken rendition at a Chinese restaurant using seat cushions in place of a flower basket. Once the words nijikai (second party) were mentioned, I had to put my foot down before being bullied into karaoke by my principal. He wanted to perform “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for me, something that will have to wait until next time, as I’m not usually one to turn down a bit of karaoke.

All in all, I had a great day, despite wallowing in self-pity at my desk now. I’m pretty sure I hallucinated the smell of a bacon butty earlier, which helps explain my current state, but here’s to regretting drinking a bottle of plum wine, and waiting for 5pm to come. Happy Monday!