Japanese Rugby

[Hugh Jarse]

There seem to be a rather large number of former international and provincial level professional players plying their trade in Japanese Rugby.

I know very little about Japanese Domestic Rugby. I think the teams are largely based around company teams, and that there is fairly good money to be made for top flight former international players.

It is full of surprises. Who would have thought that Craig Wing would pop up at centre for the Brave Blossoms.
How many ex-pat players are there in Japanese rugby? Are the numbers regulated or is it open slather? What sorts of crowds do they get?

What are the numbers like at grass roots levels?

Do they broadcast Soup Rugby and SH tests? If so how does it rate, and what sort of following does it have?

Anyone able to spill the beans on the state of Heavensgame in the land of the Rising Sun? Does JRU (or the clubs over there) have the money, connections, and influence to become a future power broker?

 

[wamberal]

According to a knowledgeable poster on another forum, Japanese sport in general is in pretty diabolical shape. In particular, rugby is not doing particularly well at the grassroots, and the World Cup will be an embarrassment (in terms of crowd support particularly).

I lived in Hong Kong for quite a few years, saw the Japanese national team play a couple of times, and they were not very good, frankly.

 

[Bardon]

I've spent some time living in Japan and plan to move there on a permanent basis next year. Domestic rugby isn't in that great a state there.

My fiancée who is Japanese worked for a major Japanese company who have one of the major club rugby teams. The company would "encourage" employees to go along when the team was playing. But she said most of the time they'd sit high up in the stands so they could watch the baseball game next door.

In the Japanese sporting landscape baseball is king. Most Japanese people are really into it including my finacée. Soccer is definitely on the rise recently. I remember last year being in a bar in Osaka watching the Japanese team qualify for the Soccer WC when they drew 1-1 with the Socceroos. There was a great atmosphere and the Japanese were really into it.

In terms of profile Baseball and Soccer are the foreign sports where the stars are used for advertising etc. Rugby doesn't get a look in.

I was in the crowd when Japan beat Wales during the summer. There was a fantastic atmosphere and for once no one even noticed the baseball game going on next door. I wouldn't say I converted my fiancée from baseball but she definitely enjoys rugby more than she used to.

I think the win over Wales definitely raised the sports profile at a national level. But it's going to be a fair few years before the domestic scene becomes more than a rich companies/executives play thing.

As for showing S15 and SH tests being broadcast I never noticed any. But then I was watching them through my sky tv subscription so wasn't looking out for them on Japanese TV. I do know though that it's very hard to find a pub that will show rugby. I couldn't find anywhere that would show the Lions series because it clashed with the Japanese baseball and soccer games.

I'm not to sure about the WC not being well supported as it was seen as a major win for them to have gotten the competition. Plus it will be seen as a dress rehearsal for them to get ready for the 2020 Olympics. However they were certainly much more excited about the Olympics.

I think there will be plenty of Japanese at the WC games but they may not be all that knowledgeable. Hopefully all the games have assigned seating because the Japanese turn up ridiculously early for sporting events when they're not. For the Wales game we went 1.5 hours before kickoff to secure a half decent vantage point and the stadium was already half full.

I hope they do keep some of the other stuff though. Like the people who go around selling cans/cups/jugs of beer to you in your seat.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

HJ, this link from the IRB provided some stats on player/club numbers in Japan http://www.irb.com/unions/union=11000010/index.html

Interesting names in the top league. When I think of the Japanese top league team "Suntory Sungoliath" all I can think of is that Bill Murray scene in "Lost in translation".

Baseball & Soccer being popular in Japan are just two more reasons why Rugby must thrive there. I mean, I've played Baseball & its fun to play but to watch it I need to be wasted. We have developed a pretty good rivalry with the Japanese in the Soccer I've got to say (won't ever forget our 3-1 victory over them at the world cup).

I think if more Japanese come to play in the Soup comp like Tanaka & Shota Horie then it may start to get more attention in Japan.

Someone needs to create a pub in Japan specifically catering to rugby I really hope they do provide the allocated seating for the RWC too (as Bardon said), I know a number of people who are interested in going & arent really keen on the lining up idea.

Also HJ I don't know how accurate this is as it is a wiki article.....but regarding the top league these are the latest rules/laws I could find on foreign player numbers specifically related to how many can play:

"From the 2008–09 season, three foreign players will be allowed on the field at one time, one more than previously allowed. In addition to the three foreigners, one member of an Asian union, such as South Koreans Kim Kwang Mo (Sanyo Wild Knights) and Choi Ki Joon (Fukuoka Sanix Blues), will be allowed to take the field. From the 2009–10 season one of the three must have played for Japan or be eligible to do so. (Daily Yomiuri, 28 February 2008). Video referee decisions will be introduced in this season's Microsoft Cup."

The rest is in here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_League

Note: On Craig Wing, I'm sure I heard that the "National Rugby team of the Philippines" wanted him to play for them at one stage. Now, Rugby in the Philippines, there is an interesting one. I think they are called the "Hurricanes".

 

[Mr Wobbly]

I've also spent a fair bit of time in Japan, usually around two months or so each year. I went to both the Wales and All Black test matches this year, good fun! I'm no expert on Japanese Rugby but I've seen a bit of it.

As mentioned, rugby is largely ignored by mainstream media, baseball is clearly number one followed by soccer and then, during their seasons, sumo and ice skating.

On pay TV there is pretty good coverage though. Top league games are shown every week, several university league games are replayed and they usually show about four Soup games from each round. This year they pretty much showed all of the Rebels and Highlander games live. They even have a Rugby Club kind of show. All of Japan's test matches are shown live as well as a reasonable number of other games, particularly All Blacks tests.

From the games I've been to, the crowds at the uni games are quite often bigger than the Top League.

I heard that the recent All Blacks game was the first time a test match was sold out at Prince Chichibu Stadium (about 25,000 very uncomfortable seats). Except for the areas behind the goals it was all allocated seating, I'd expect it will be the same for the world cup. Prince Chichibu stadium is pretty horrible but the new stadium they're building for the world cup is going to be something to behold... http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/rugbyworldcup2019/news/newsid=2063797.html#innovative national stadium boost rwc 2019

If they can get more Tier 1 test teams playing there it will give the sport a huge boost.

There are at least a couple of pubs in Tokyo that show all of the Soup matches live, including this one in Roppongi... http://www.legendsports.jp/
(I'll be the guy wearing the Rebels cap).

A lot of the Top League players are just company employees, that is, they work at the company in a regular job for a salary but get to knock off early for rugby training. The foreign players and a number of higher profile Japanese players are on rugby contracts though.

One other thing, among the fans Eddie Jones is like a god in Japan. At the end of the Wales game people were chanting "Eddie, Eddie" when he had his after game interview. He gets a bigger cheer than any of the players when they put his pic up on the screen at the team announcement.

 

[wamberal]

For those posters who do not know, Eddie's mother is Japanese, and so is his wife.

 

[Bardon]

There's a good article on the BBC about how rugby is Japan is hoping to get a similar boost in popularity to that of soccer after they were joint hosts of the 2002 soccer WC.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24853540

 

[FingalRaven]

Even a thesis from 2004 on the topic!

http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/10092/2277/1/Thesis_fulltext.pdf

Chapter 2 is worth a read for an overview of the history of the sport in Japan and the decline of it's media coverage.

According to recent JRFU statistics (JRFU, 2003), Japan is fourth in the world in the
number of registered players (125,508), and easily top in the number of registered clubs
(3,506)22. Yet, a cautionary note must be added. Despite the large number of affiliated
players and clubs, and the many domestic competitions, it is still fair to say that rugby is
not a major sport in Japan. This is because rugby, which was slower to turn professional
than other major sports in Japan such as baseball and soccer, has gradually lost the vital
media (especially television) exposure that had helped to enrich it23. The converse of a
virtuous circle for other major spectator professional sports", has been that rugby has

22 This is despite the number of clubs falling dramatically from its peak of 4776 in 1992 (JRFU, 2003).
23 Rugby had enjoyed significant media coverage since the 1960s. From the mid-1980s, along with the
boom in company rugby, television coverage especially expanded dramatically. However, with the sudden
surge in popularity of soccer after the launch of the J.League in 1993, media networks moved their focus
away from rugby and along with the reduction in broadcast time came a fall in TV revenues and overall
popularity.
24 Nippon Professional Baseball was formed in 1936. Baseball has remained one of the most heavily
attended sports in Japan, with professional and high school level the most popular. There are 12
professional baseball teams (six in the Central League and six in the Pacific League).
Japan's professional soccer league, the J. League, was established in 1993. At present, the J. League has
26 teams, 16 in division one (called the II) and 12 in division two (J2). From 2005, there will be 28 teams
in this league, with the II expanding to 18 teams.