The Art of Japanese Rugby - Part 2
by Ben Darwin | 23 February 2009 (12:03)
As I said in my previous column I have learned that in order to understand Japanese rugby, you must first get an appreciation of Japanese culture and history. It is an ongoing process that doesn’t contain much of anything that is cut and dried, or black and white, as it has a lot to do with the way players, coaches and managers interact and conduct themselves over the rules or games themselves.
Key points to remember are that this is a nation whose culture is long steeped in tradition and honour and whose history is a bloody one, where the Japanese were not only pitted against other lands, but also against each other at various times throughout the ages.
An equally important point to note is that even though we are now in 2009, the same notions that applied when the Emperor Jimmu founded Japan in 600BC still hold their own in Japanese society today, whether they are relevant or not. Questioning such processes is out of the…well it is out of the question!
Some of the distinctive features of the game are as interesting as they are baffling such as:
- Mandatory pre-game meetings with referees and the JRU members occur to discuss the game, which is accompanied by tea and a self-introduction (“Hi I am Ben Darwin from NTT Communications”). This goes on for around 15 minutes.
- Players bow to the field after every training session, as well as to the crowd and to the opposition benches after every game. Respect towards the referees is probably at its highest level worldwide.
- The notion of “gambarimasho” is the most honourable way to play the game for the Japanese, loosely translating into “collectively do your best”, a mindset left over from the times of the samurai. So in Japan often playing the game in the spirit of “gambarimasho” is more important that the final result.
- It is with this attitude that, traditionally, the teams are more than happy with long training sessions, which is viewed as a way of building up a fighting spirit. Such sessions, particularly those of the Top League teams still dominated by local coaches and methodology as well as the university teams, are known to go for three hours or more of drill-based work.
- This in turn explains why teams warm up for anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes on game day, often hitting the field exhausted – and all before kick off.
Cultural aspects or not, the profile of the sport is undoubtedly on the rise with Japanese athletes from other sporting arenas looking for opportunities to get into rugby. I recently met with some prospective players who were Japanese. One of them was particularly massive at 6’8” and 130 kilos and had previously been playing basketball at a professional level. He wanted to get into rugby for the sport, as well as the future job opportunities within the company – and also because, as his basic English put it he “likes to hitting people.”
And the popularity increase is not just occurring locally either, with more and more foreign players looking to play for Japanese teams, along with international coaches and trainers coming to work here too.
