I'm gathering some documents about early Japanese rugby ... Above is a full page print published in Harper's Weekly, May 1874 showing, as caption explains, "a foot-ball match between Englishmen and Scotchmen near the city of Yokohama, in Japan" (king size picture here). Searching the web, I've found these explanations from author Mike Galbraith in "History of Rugby in Japan" on Yokohama (YC&AC) Rugby Club website.
Rugby seems to have first been played in Japan by the British in the late 1860’s or early 1870’s when the foreign settlement was established in Yokohama. A battalion of “Tommies” was stationed on “Camp Hill” (presently known as Minato No Mieru Oka Park) between 1864 and 1874 and they were well-known as ‘a sporting lot’. Many of the first rugby matches in Japan probably involved these “Tommies”.
According to Wikipedia, "local" rugby was later introduced to students at Keio University in 1899 by two Cambridge fellows, Edward B.Clarke and Tanaka Ginnosuke... sorry, no picture yet...
We also have to consider New Zealand "regional" influence in the development of Japanese rugby, as per this cover of Otago Witness from May 1908 (click for larger copy) showing Kobe Rugby Interport and Yokohama (again...) Interport Rugby Teams. The scan is poor, but the captions are explicit about Kiwi influence : team players are mainly expats (but not only...) and the captain of Kobe team is C.L.Spence, late of Dunedin, whereas Yokohama is captained by Mr G.K.Totton of Auckland (from the "Yokohama branch of the New Zealand Insurance Company"... the newspaper said). (credit and warm thanks to PapersPast, online archives service of NZ National Library... so many documents to dig there...)
(break) Note to myself for a future post: Universities and Ports... cradles of worldwide rugby...
Japanese Rugby Union was created in 1926 (say, just 6 years after French Rugby Union...)... and did welcome Canada for its first international fixture in 1932 (Japan b Canada 9-8). Has someone some pictures to share ? Instead (!), I'm posting this fine Japanese illustrated postcard from the 1920s (errr... my guess...).
I'll be very happy if someone could identify the teams and translate the caption below the rugby picture (my guess is that it simply reads "rugby football"...Oct 6 : correct ! thanks Naly D) ! Here is a zoom...
Okay... I still have a couple of pictures to share... next time !
edit Oct 6 : just found a well documented "brief history of Rugby Union in Japan". I don't know who to credit ? this page is here @ pakistanrugby.com
Phil Atkinson also recalls a series a photographies recently sold on eBay about the Canadian tour in 1932. If the owner reads these lines... I would be happy if he/she would agree to share some of his pictures here ! ("sample" below...)
