I would like to reflect on the eight-year history of Shibuya International Rugby Club.
The founding date of Shibuya International Rugby Club (hereafter SIRC) is 20 September 2017. This date was chosen as the founding day because it falls exactly two years prior to the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019 (Japan vs Russia) on 20 September 2019.
In 2017, whilst serving as Executive Director of the RWC 2019 Organising Committee, I was also travelling extensively across Asia as President of Asia Rugby. In February of that year, during an Asia Rugby Executive Committee meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, I suddenly lost my voice due to excessive stress.
At that moment, it occurred to me: ‘If I don’t start thinking about the post-World Cup era now, the World Cup will surely arrive in the blink of an eye and be over just as quickly.’ That prompted me to consider establishing an international rugby club for children in Tokyo.
Having served as Director of International Affairs for the Japan Rugby Football Union since 1994, and having participated in the bid campaign for the Rugby World Cup Japan for six years from 2003, the most challenging aspect I faced was the reality that Japan had very few friends around the world. This led me to conceive the idea of founding a club with the motto: ‘Make friends around the world through rugby.’
I began by introducing the founding principles on my own Facebook and similar platforms, gathering a few people to form a preparatory group. Among the preparatory members at that time were Ms Emi Hashimoto, who now serves as Director General, and Mr Hisayuki Igeta, who was a director until this summer.
We visited several rugby clubs and academies to observe their operations. One day, whilst attending a training session at “Rugby Park”, run by Leo Kawai, I met one of the coaches there, an Englishman named Roy Yorke.
At Roy’s invitation, one day in June, I went to observe a rugby practice session held at the British School in Tokyo (BST) within Showa Women’s University in Sangenjaya. There, BST children were enjoying touch rugby, filled with cheerful shrieks of delight.
Seeing this scene, an idea struck me: ‘If we could integrate Japanese children into this group and have them play rugby together, it would surely be a fascinating international experience.’ When I mentioned to the British School parents around me that I was planning to start a new club, they responded, ‘We’d love to play matches against Japanese teams too.’
Subsequently, we held several preparatory committee meetings. After all, we had neither funds nor a pitch. But if we didn’t start something, nothing would begin. While consulting various stakeholders, we received a most welcome offer from Mr Ryota Shishido, the rugby coach at Aoyama High School, located directly opposite Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground: ‘Why not try using our pitch?’ He proposed it strictly as a ‘joint practice session’ with the school’s rugby club.
It was therefore decided to hold a trial practice session first. On the hot day of 23rd August 2017, with Roy Yorke as the main coach, we held it at the same school under the banner “Let’s Play Rugby in English”. Though I only advertised it on my Facebook, we managed to gather 16 children.
As this first practice session took place at Aoyama High School, located in Shibuya Ward, the roots of what would later become the “Shibuya International Rugby Club” were established at this time.
(To be continued)