Land of the rising scrum: Japan packs down for World Cup
Overview of the Fukuoka Hakatanomori stadium, one of the venues for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in Fukuoka. — AFP pic
Fukuoka’s 20,000-seat, saucer-shaped stadium, surrounded by trees, is being spruced up with new lighting, seats and screens, and fresh turf. “By the time the tournament rolls around, we will be able to offer a full list of onsens that fans can enjoy,” Kazuhiro Shinohara, head of the regional organising committee, told AFP.
Fukuoka will be the only host city where fans can slake their thirst at traditional street bars, or “yatai”, tiny stalls seating only a dozen or so which sell booze and comfort food.A Fukuoka speciality, around 100 yatai line the city streets, the idea being to visit several in an evening — good news for bar-hopping fans.
“They told me there would be 3,000 French fans in one day,” joked Grenard as he chatted with customers, only stopping to extinguish a brief kitchen fire or pose for selfies with locals.After previously warning local organisers to raise their game, tournament director Alan Gilpin told AFP they were “exactly where we want to be with 100 days to go”.
The ejection of Japan’s Sunwolves from Super Rugby, meanwhile, has raised doubts about how to capitalise on the World Cup to build the game in the country and across Asia.“I am not personally interested in it,” said Tomoaki Ueda, a 50-year-old salesman, adding that his American-football-playing colleague is more excited. “I am from the baseball generation.”
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