“Make friends globally through rugby” is our motto at Shibuya International Rugby Club (SIRC). We are an international rugby club for local and international children who enjoy playing rugby and tag rugby.
Our main training venue is the sports field at the British School in Tokyo (located within the Showa Women’s University campus). We will also start new classes at BST Azabudai Campus from October 2023. We have 30 training sessions a year on Sunday mornings which are conducted in English. We also run a weekday class both on Wednesdays (at Showa) and Thursdays (at Azabudai from November 2023) Our sessions are open to everyone, including beginners and those who are new to rugby at all age groups.
Club History
Koji Tokumasu, who was instrumental in bringing Rugby World Cup 2019 to Japan, established the club on 20th September 2017, exactly two years before the opening of the RWC 2019 in Japan.
SIRC Values
- Delivering a coaching programme with its core focus centred on enjoying the spirit of rugby whilst nurturing and encouraging the individuality of each member.
- Provide an environment to foster communication and lifelong friendships between members of different backgrounds, nationalities, cultures and languages.
- The Club’s foundations formed and maintained by a strong global community of supporters, members, volunteers and their families.
Activities
- We have local Japanese children and children from international schools playing rugby together at our club. We offer training to children at all age groups from pre-school to primary and secondary to high schools.
- Our coaches come from all over the world including England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France, Canada , USA and Japan (with the core group of coaches who run the coaching program being certified rugby coaches).
- Our training is conducted in English.
- As in September 2023, we have over 260 members. Half of the children speak English, a quarter of them speak Japanese and the rest are bilingual.
Yearly Schedule
- Spring term (April to July): 10 sessions
- Fall term (September to December): 10 sessions
- Winter term (January to March): 9 sessions
Principal Officers
Under the leadership of Club Representative (Founder) Koji Tokumasu, the following officers are in charge of the club’s operations.
- President：Willian Hill
- Vice President：Norman McElhenny
- Chairman (also Founder) : Koji Tokumasu
- General Manager：Keisuke Ishii
- Director General：Emi Hashimoto
- Coaching Director：Duncan Grey
- Head of Rugby：Masafumi Yamaguchi
- Chairman of Medical Committee: Hideyuki Aoki
Partnership
The club has partnerships with British School in Tokyo, Richmond Club (England), The King’s School (Australia) .
