Keio's Overseas Tours as the First Japanese Team

Keio having the roots of rugby boasted invincible mightiness in Japan at that time; therefore, it was natural for it to become the first Japanese team to carry out an overseas tour. Seeking for stronger opponents, Keio participated in the Inter-port Match held by Hong Kong in Shanghai. The Keio expedition team left Kobe by ship named Shanghai-maru on 23 December 1925. They were defeated by a narrow margin against Shanghai Club 12-13 on 26 December, but won a sweeping victory 8-3 over Hong Kong which won over Shanghai on 30 December. They finished this tour with a record of 1-1 among three teams. The Keio expedition team consisted of a total of 22 members, including 19 players along with the manager, Ko Hata, the head coach, Kunimatsu Majima, and the assistant coach, Kotaro Masuda.
The actual members that played in these two matches were Shuzaburo Iwashita, Seikichi Kobayashi, Yonejiro Nakamura, Yuichi Yoshimoto, Hideo Miyaji, Masao Takahashi, Tsuneo Kadokura, Shinichi Ayabe, Jobu Hagiwara, Yuji Kishida, Koya Kitano, Shinzo Tomizawa, Rokusuke Yamaguchi, Seizo Hamada, and Shimaji Takano. Hideo Miyaji, who captained the team during these matches, also continued to play as the captain in a later tour in Canada of the Japan National Rugby Union Team in 1930.