Rugby has been a popular sport amongst a niche group of people in Japan but it was never a major sport compared to other sports such as baseball and football.
However during the Rugby World Cup 2019 held in Japan, there has been a big movement of people starting to watch rugby. Some people have never been exposed to the sport and have no idea about the rules yet they watch it purely because it is held in Japan. But this is not the major factor, the major factor is that the “Brave Blossoms” have made history in Japan and the history of Japan Rugby. This has inspired people from Japan and all over the world, breaking new broadcast records in 2019.These include:
・Most-watched rugby event ever inspires a new audience for rugby
・Most-watched Rugby World Cup final ever, despite challenging time-zone for participating nations
・Japan smashes domestic market broadcast record
・Germany and Asia lead emerging markets boom
・RWC final most watched sports event of the year in the UK
・Before the recent Rugby World Cup, in 1995 Japan’s National Rugby Team suffered a humiliating defeat against New Zealand with a final score of 145-17 at the Rugby World Cup playoffs.
At the 2015 games, the team came roaring back to beat South Africa in the World Cup with a final score 34-32 in their opening Pool B match, an upset that is considered by some to be the most shocking moments in the history of the sport. Since then, rugby in Japan has taken on a new significance as a symbol of diversity and pride. From a sport that was dominated by a select group of nations, to one which is welcoming a group of countries to compete against the best team.
Some say that the biggest achievement for Japan Rugby was in 2015 and 2019. When the Brave Blossoms beat South Africa in Brighton, and they through to the quarterfinals in 2019. That was the biggest change that Japanese rugby has made for the last 25-30 years.
South Africa actually wanted to host the Rugby World Cup 2019. So in those years there were a lot of arguments and some of the people in the rugby world asked whether Japan really deserved to host the Rugby World Cup. But after the game against South Africa in 2015, everything changed. It used to be that only traditional countries hosted the World Cup. But I’m sure now that Japan is seen as one of the strongest commercial markets for rugby in the world. The Rugby World Cup 2019 was the most successful ever, even surpassing the 2015 games.
This is mostly because there was a movement of parents who wanted their children to stop playing rugby because they thought that rugby was kind of dangerous. But then,a lot of parents saw the Rugby World Cup and they saw that rugby was a good sport. The Japan Rugby Organization has tried to encourage more parents to let their children play rugby. In addition, the women’s rugby population in Japan has grown dramatically for probably the last five years after rugby was included in the Olympics.Although not as popular as men’s rugby, these may be the area that they will be concentrating on in the near future.