Japan's veteran maulers happy to die in their boots

Japan's veteran maulers happy to die in their boots

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Japan may have been seen as a leftfield choice to host the Rugby World Cup but if you want a sense of the country's long love affair with the game, you could do worse than to get along to Tokyo's Fuwaku club.

The dozens of players running, passing, mauling, scrummaging and crashing into one another in the shadow of the Aquatics Centre being built for the 2020 Olympics are unremarkable in all but one thing -- their age.

. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Fuwaku, founded in 1948, is one of approximately 150 Japanese clubs that stage competitive, full-contact matches for players over the age of 40 and the oldest man on the park is sprightly 86-year-old lock Ryuichi Nagayama.

As in rugby clubs around the world, the attraction is only partly the love of playing the game which originated in an English private school and can look to the uninitiated like legalised brutality.

"You tackle and battle each other, but the gathering after the play is so enjoyable and fun," said Nagayama, who is the oldest active player but junior to three club members in their 90s.

. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Nagayama (left) participates in his team training.

"We talk about how each other plays and no one gets angry about how we played. The atmosphere is great.

"In short, there is nothing but rugby (for me)."

. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Nagayama examines a patient at his hospital in Tokyo.

As a doctor, Nagayama is well aware of the risks involved in playing a high impact sport at his age and the club’s website gives detailed advice on health precautions and even links to a life insurance company.

"Since I joined Fuwaku Club, I have broken ribs many times and broke my collarbone too," Nagayama, who is still practices medicine, said with a dismissive shrug.

. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Nagayama prays in front of an altar for his deceased wife at his house.

"There are many other things too. When I noticed an irregular pulse, I would take medicine to adjust. So, I can still do it. I can’t stand not playing. That’s it.

"This may sound strange, but I have lost my wife years ago and now I would say I don't mind dying playing rugby."

. Fukaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Fuwaku Rugby Club players make a scrum during their friendly match.

The World Cup, which starts next month, will certainly boost awareness of the game in Japan and, organisers hope, bring through a whole generation of young rugby players.

The country, though, has long been in the top 10 in the world for the number of rugby players with more than 120,000 at the last World Rugby census.

. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Fuwaku Rugby Club player tackles against another club team player.

Fuwaku's General Manager Mitsuaki Okajima estimates there are around 10,000 veteran rugby players currently playing at clubs across Japan and his club alone has 300 players competing across all age categories.

In a country where there is much concern over the loneliness of the elderly, rugby not only keeps the players active but also offers a ready-made social life.

. Fukaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Fuwaku Rugby Club players make a scrum.

Among them is 71-year-old Englishman Tony Hartley, who is not alone as a foreigner who has found rugby to be a way to negotiate the sometimes tricky path towards building friendships with locals.

"I was at the Tokyo Sevens and I got chatting to a guy next to me because he had a shirt on that said 'Fuwaku Rugby Club since 1948', which is when I was born, so I was curious," Hartley explained.

"He said he could introduce me to the club, which he did the following week and I have been playing more or less ever since. That was seven years ago.

"I was really surprised because the scene doesn’t really exist in the UK, certainly not at 60, 70. It was a really welcome surprise and a good way of making friends."

. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Fuwaku Rugby Club players have a drink at a restaurant after their match.

At 54, Norihasa Yamada not only plays but officiates with a vibrant authority he says is modelled on Welsh referee Nigel Owens, who will take charge of the World Cup opener between Japan and Russia on Sept. 20.

Owens and English referee Wayne Barnes recently visited Fuwaku and Yamada took them for a Japanese barbecue lunch after training.

"It was so much fun and an honour to meet them," said Yamada, showing off a photograph of Owens at the lunch on his phone. "We spoke all about rugby, which is my favourite thing."

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Slideshow

Nagayama waters his garden.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama waters his garden.

Nagayama eats his breakfast.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama eats his breakfast.

Nagayama makes green tea after having a breakfast.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama makes green tea after having a breakfast.

Nagayama stretches as he watches a televised exercising program.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama stretches as he watches a televised exercising program.

Nagayama exercises at his house.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama exercises at his house.

Nagayama changes before his training.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama changes before his training.

Fuwaku Rugby Club players prepare to play their friendly match.
. Fukaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Fuwaku Rugby Club players prepare to play their friendly match.

Nagayama practices before a match.
. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Nagayama practices before a match.

A Fuwaku Rugby Club player (left) plays against another club team player.
. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A Fuwaku Rugby Club player (left) plays against another club team player.

Players of Fuwaku Rugby Club play against another club team.
. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Players of Fuwaku Rugby Club play against another club team.

A player of Fuwaku Rugby Club reacts after a match.
. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A player of Fuwaku Rugby Club reacts after a match.

A Fuwaku Rugby Club player wears traditional wooden sandals after a match.
. Kumagaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A Fuwaku Rugby Club player wears traditional wooden sandals after a match.

Players of Fuwaku Rugby Club change their clothes at a friendly match.
. Fukaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Players of Fuwaku Rugby Club change their clothes at a friendly match.

A uniform of Fuwaku Rugby Club lies on the ground during a friendly match.
. Fukaya, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A uniform of Fuwaku Rugby Club lies on the ground during a friendly match.

Katsuhiko Maruyama , a Fuwaku Rugby Club player, works out at a gym.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Katsuhiko Maruyama , a Fuwaku Rugby Club player, works out at a gym.

Maruyama stretches at his house.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Maruyama stretches at his house.

Rugby balls are displayed in Maruyama's room.
. Tokyo, JAPAN. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Rugby balls are displayed in Maruyama's room.