Construction of Tokyo Rugby Stadium (present Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium)

“Jingu Gaien Stadium became practically unusable due to condemnation by the U.S. military. So the directors of the Japan East Rugby Football Union at that time, namely Tsunazo Nishino, Takashi Kaite, Chuji Kitajima, Hiroshi Ijuin, Kazutsugu Nishiumi, Satoru Kanokogi, Sanji Harada, and others got together to discuss if they could somehow build a rugby stadium.
They thought they could find a suitable place for stadium construction while the surrounding areas were almost completely burned immediately after the war. They carried out this plan around March 1947. Their attempt led them to obtain a memorandum prepared to borrow the site of Gakushuin Women's College in Aoyama, which opened the way to construct the Tokyo Rugby Stadium. Kajima Corporation undertook this construction work at 1.5 million Japanese yen. This work was to dig down one meter in the field to land up remaining soil to make it stands for spectators. The JRFU actually had no fund to commission this work. But a favorable condition was offered where only 300,000 Japanese yen was needed to get the project started and the rest to be payed later. To avoid letting this opportunity slip through their fingers, Waseda, Keio, Meiji, Tokyo, and Rikkyo universities decided to cooperate together to procure the needed funds. They were so enthusiastic that some individuals tried to convert watches and cameras into cash. They finally prepared the required amount. Many ruggers also voluntarily worked, spilling their sweat on the ground. They made faithful contributions to constructing their own rugby stadium.” (Source: “The History of Japanese Rugby”)