Establishment of the Japan Rugby Football Union

With the launching of both the Kanto and Kansai Rugby Football Unions, the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) was established on 30 November 1926. The JRFU started with the board members consisting of the chairperson emeritus, Ginnosuke Tanaka, the vice chairperson, Yoshihiro Takagi, and the board director, Kumazo Tanabe. Launched as the organization to represent Japanese rugby, the JRFU established a system that manages various rugby matters including the rugby rules, international matches, and domestic tournaments. Another reason for the hurried establishment of the JRFU was to receive a permission to use the Cup of Prince Chichibu for the east-west inter-university rugby tournaments.
Since there were various theories for the date of establishment of JRFU and the first chairperson, I was asked to look into the matters in 2002 when I was serving as the vice chairperson for from JRFU. The JRFU board meeting conducted on 25 April 2003 unanimously approved the research results that the date of establishment was 30 November 1926 and that the first chairperson post was vacant at first when the union was established but Yoshihiro Takagi assumed this position in 1928.