Japanese rugby entered into its first prosperous period after 1935, while the tragic outbreak of the war crept up from behind. A successful tour to Canada by the Japan National Rugby Union Team in 1930 and the visits of Canada followed by the all-Australian student team and New Zealand coming to Japan started to open the way to the world. Japanese teams also actively had exchanges with East Asian nations based on a challenge to the Korean Railway Rugby Team in which graduates from various Japanese universities gained employment. International exchanges based on university teams promoted rugby knowledge and skills. This led the Japan National Rugby Union Team to becoming able to compete on an equal footing with those university teams in rugby-advanced nations.
The rugby boom continued to heat up in Japan, while competitiveness between Waseda and Meiji gained much popularity. Under such circumstances, Japanese rugby faced the first Waseda-Meiji era. In Kanto from 1931 through 1942, Waseda and Meiji split the title six times each.
The same thing also occurred in Kansai, where Kyoto and Doshisha shared the first prize alternately. However, the Kansai universities continued to lose the championship to the Kanto universities.
The rugby boom was fueled and in 1942, Keio having the roots of rugby completely recovered to the extent that they beat Waseda and Meiji, and became the national champion for the first time in the preceding13 years. However, the breakout of World War II brought an end to this prosperous period.
Through the period where the term “Toukyu (ball battle)” was used instead of the English term “rugby” due to the war, in 1943 all rugby games were suspended. Then the war finally ended on 15 August 1945.
The rugby boom continued to heat up in Japan, while competitiveness between Waseda and Meiji gained much popularity. Under such circumstances, Japanese rugby faced the first Waseda-Meiji era. In Kanto from 1931 through 1942, Waseda and Meiji split the title six times each.
The same thing also occurred in Kansai, where Kyoto and Doshisha shared the first prize alternately. However, the Kansai universities continued to lose the championship to the Kanto universities.
The rugby boom was fueled and in 1942, Keio having the roots of rugby completely recovered to the extent that they beat Waseda and Meiji, and became the national champion for the first time in the preceding13 years. However, the breakout of World War II brought an end to this prosperous period.
Through the period where the term “Toukyu (ball battle)” was used instead of the English term “rugby” due to the war, in 1943 all rugby games were suspended. Then the war finally ended on 15 August 1945.