1976: 78th Season

日本語 Español
[JRFU] The JRFU held an extravagant 50th memorial ceremony at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium and invited various VIPs including Princess Chichibu, the chairman Richard E. Jeeps from the England Rugby Football Union (RFU), the chairman Kenzo Kono of the Japan Sports Association. The JRFU published "JRFU 50-Year History". The Oxford University team was invited for a memorial match on March 27. The Japan national team had a test match against them but lost narrowly by a score of 20-16, failing to grace the 50th anniversary.
* The Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium, which had been under refurbishment, was completed and contributed considerably to the rise of Japanese rugby. On September 26, on the field of the refurbished stadium, with a seating capacity of 12,000 and even 25,000 when standing room was counted, a memorial match was held between the Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland team, and the Japan national student team.
* On April 4, the Kansai Rugby Football Union's 50th memorial ceremony, memorial matches, and a banquet were held. The memorial matches were an intra-squad match of the board members and the All-Kansai vs. All-Kyushu match (both were at Hanazono Rugby Stadium).
* The Japan East Rugby Football Union published the 50-year history: On November 23, "Japan East Rugby Football Union 50-Year History" was published.
[Japan] The Japan national team toured Canada, with one win and four losses, Britain and Italy. Additionally, Japan's international match schedule became tighter with various events with the Asia Rugby Championship in Korea, and foreign teams' tours to Japan, such as Canada BC University team, Ireland Queen's University team, and Oxford University team.
[Japan Rugby Championship] In the 14th Japan Rugby Championship, Waseda performed well but failed to break the stronghold of Kamaishi 27-12. Kamaishi became the Japanese champion for the first time.
[University] In the 13th All-Japan University Rugby Championship, Waseda got revenge against Meiji 34-6 and claimed their eight-championship title and for the first time in two years. In the 47th Kanto Inter-University Rugby Tournament, Waseda claimed their 21st tournament title for seven years in a row, continuing consecutive wins without a loss. In the 10th Kanto University Rugby League, Nihon claimed their first league title, winning all their seven games. Nihon University's title was the third one in their career, and the first time in 16 years and the first title since 1960.
In the 48th Kansai University Rugby League, Doshisha won all their seven games and claimed their 26th league title and for the first time in four years. In the 16th Kyushu Region University Rugby League, Fukuoka Institute of Technology beat Kumamoto 45-4 and claimed their seventh title for three consecutive years.
[Company] In the 29th Japan Company Rugby Football Championship, Nippon Steel Kamaishi overwhelmed TOYOTA 27-3 and claimed their second title and for the first time in six years.
[International] The University of British Columbia (UBC) team from Canada came to Japan with five wins and one loss. UBC defeated All-Waseda 37-21, All-Akita 59-17, Japan company team 29-10, All-Hyogo (Kobe Steel) 26-4, and the Japan selection team 31-10, while losing to All-Kyushu 26-15, resulting in five wins and one loss. The Queen's University Belfast team from Northern Ireland came to Japan with three wins and two losses, lost to All-Meiji 18-16 and the Japan selection team 13-6, and won against All-Hokkaido 29−7, the Doshisha-Tenri combined team 24−18 and the Japan national student team 49-3, resulting in three wins and two losses. The Oxford team came to Japan, having four wins, and defeated the Japan national team 20−16, Nippon Steel Kamaishi 22−16, Toyota Motor 37−19 and the Kansai team 35−11, resulting in victory in all their four matches. In March 1977, All-Meiji toured New Zealand and came home with seven losses.