Rugby Match

On Sunday I went to one of Japan's most popular rugby games in the National Olympic Stadium (国立競技場). This was also the last game in the Olympic stadium before they shut it down for renovations for the upcoming Olympics. I couldn't believe it reached max capacity (57,363) for a college game (Waseda University vs. Meiji University). However, I have to admit that this wasn't the best experience I've had in Japan so far...it was really hot with the sun shining in our face, it was so crowded that people were sitting in the aisles and stairs of the stadium, and I had no idea the rules of the game and couldn't follow what was going on. It was also strangely quiet...Japanese people only cheered when they scored but didn't chant during the Japan or even chat with the people next to them. It was so silent you could hear the players on the field shouting to each other. But Waseda won!!

Regardless, what was really cool is that my friends and I were personally invited by three of the Waseda rugby players. They were sitting next to us at a restaurant one night in Takadanobaba and we started chatting. They reserved us special VIP tickets that allowed us to cut the line to get into the stadium. As one of the only western looking people at the match, I'm sure people were very confused as to how I got the special tickets :)

I went with Dahee, Allison, and Katy - and we also got free towels and face stickers with our tickets.