Nobuyuki Takashima contributed the following essay to “SEIKEI Rugby Football Club - The First Eighty Years 1923-2002”. “In 1944, after graduating from the then Junior High School attached to Tokyo Higher Normal School (present High School attached to Tsukuba University), I enrolled in the Faculty of Letters German category at Seikei High School. [...] We couldn't do enough practice, but we met Seijo in December the same year. It was lucky for our high school that Sanji Harada, who was a science-related student of the agricultural department of the University of Tokyo, visited us for the entire time because of getting a deferment. There were many people who experienced rugby, such as Fukui and Miyamoto, who advanced from the regular course, Eiichiro Takahata and Kozaburo Kimura from the science course, and others. But I don't think we were able to practice rugby without the instructions given by Harada. I also remember that Harada kindly arranged a match with Seijo, which was held at the Seikei sports ground. Seikei won easily. This was the last match that we played at that grass ground. From the Seijo team, Takagi and Tazaki who went on to Kyoto University, and Yatabe played in this match according to my memory.”
It is quite surprising and a valuable record that a rugby match was actually held during wartime where B-29 bombers flew from Saipan for air raids on Japan's mainland. I have written that there was no rugby activity during 1944, but just found that it was totally wrong. Another record says that a rugby match was held between Daisan High School and Doshisha College of Commerce at the Daisan High School sports ground on 19 May 1944, resulting in a score of 33-3. (Source: “The History of Football at Daisan High School”)