Foreign fanatics at World Cup travelling past fit-hosting towns

Fans who have come to Japan for the Rugby World Cup are traveling past cities hosting the matches during their stays, be it to Mt. Fuji, temples in Kyoto, or the Hiroshima peace memorial, to absorb myriad points of interest throughout the nation.

The inbound rugby fans, whom organizers expect to top 400,000 for the six-week match, enjoy the hosts’ hospitality and savor beers and local cuisines while Japanese retail and tourism industries attempt to woo such lengthy-lived, beneficiant spenders.

Jon Moore and his wife Cindy said they came to Japan for two weeks to watch Wales play Georgia in Aichi Prefecture in principal Japan, France and the USA in Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, South Africa, and Italy in Shizuoka Prefecture in principal Japan.

The Moores, from Springfield, Missouri, in the United States, were traveling to Japan for the first time.

“Everyone has been amazing. They do not even know English; they’ve helped us as much as they probably ought to. And everything is so smooth and high-quality. So we would like. S. A. To understand that we’re delighted with you men and that you’ve executed well,” Cindy stated before the France-U.S. Clash in Fukuoka.

“The noodles had been remarkable, and the tempura, the shrimp, and the vegetables, I simply cherished,” she stated. The couple also stopped at Kanazawa on the coast of the Sea of Japan, which is famous for its centuries-old samurai residences and home to one of the most famous gardens.

The pair said they’re celebrating their wedding anniversary by coming to the World Cup. They’ve been to Wales, England, France, and New Zealand tournaments and plan to visit France in 2023.

“Rugby is simply part of our existence. Rugby is global; the sport is performed identically everywhere in the world, and because of that, we have pals everywhere in the world,” Jon said.

Being well familiar with rugby’s beer-consuming subculture, Jon tipped his hat to the brews he has attempted in Japan.

“Here (the Japanese beer is) a lot higher (than American beer.) We’ll be searching the ones up on the liquor store when we get back,” Jon said.

Since the tournament kicked off three weeks ago, on Sept. 20, rugby enthusiasts have been seen ingesting before and after games at Japanese-style izakaya restaurants and buying canned beers in bulk at supermarkets and comfort stores.

At stadiums, enthusiasts queued at stands for a beer or bought it from “Yuriko,” the Japanese phrase for beer carriers that walk up and down the stands sporting kegs on their backs.

“Usually at seasoned baseball video games, I promote a hundred and fifty cups of beer, but today I sold like 250 cups,” said a 19-12 months-vintage Yuriko at Sapporo Dome on Sept. 22 for the England-Tonga healthy. She is among 1,650 Yuriko organizers who have deployed across tournament venues.

“I had heard of the popularity that overseas rugby lovers drink lots of beer; however, I am surprised at how a great deal they truly do,” said a spokesman for Japanese beverage maker Kirin Brewery Co., which handles products for RWC professional beer sponsor Heineken in Japan.

“It’s also interesting how they could buy several 500-milliliter cans at one time at the same time as a mean Japanese individual could begin with one 350-ml can,” he stated.

Estelle Dupin, a 40-year-old antique nurse from France, said she is staying in Japan for a month through Oct. 15 with her husband Fabian, 41, her husband’s brother, and her sister-in-regulation to observe four games.

In between suits, they traveled to Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto, stayed at a temple in Mt. Koya, and walked the pilgrimage route for about four hours before making trips to Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kumamoto.

“The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum turned into first-rate. It changed into very sad, however extremely important,” Dupin said.

“The humans in Japan are very welcoming. Very, very, very beneficial,” she said. “The Japanese are usually very quiet and don’t get excited. But the people (at the games) are very excited and satisfied to look at us.”

In Kumamoto, Laure Maysonnave, from Pau, in southwestern France, said she came for two weeks in Japan with her sister, brother, dad, and mom. The five in Kumamoto to watch France tackle Tonga deliberated going to Kyoto and Hiroshima earlier than touring Tokyo and Yokohama.

Maysonnave stated the family had enjoyed sampling extraordinary forms of Japanese delicacies. However, it had been specifically inspired by the hospitality they had acquired from everyday human beings.

“We love Japan; it is top-notch,” she stated. “Japanese human beings are so sweet. Everyone we have met has been so excellent and helpful. We have also noticed Japanese humans always seem to be on time!”

Some foreign enthusiasts took the time to learn about Japanese rugby and its roots. At a fan region in Kobe, they were introduced to the western Japan town’s vicinity in the game by sorting out an exhibition introducing the late Seiji Hirao, acknowledged in the United States as “Mr. Rugby.”

Toby Shannan, 50, and Sean Kennedy, 51, from Perth, Canada, have traveled to Japan for eight days to watch six games. “It’s exciting how charismatic and handsome and what a leader (Hirao) turned into; he must’ve been interesting,” Shannan stated.

“I’ve been to a World Cup earlier than, and they’re tremendous. You have humans worldwide and remarkable sportsmanship- it is like a large celebration,” Shannan said.

Rugby World Cup organizers stated in their record released in March 2018 that the match would bring in 437.2 billion yen ($ 4 billion) in monetary benefits due to sales of tickets and items and spending with the aid of as many as 400,000 predicted overseas site visitors.

The legit Megastore selling World Cup gifts and garb for guys, ladies, and children has also seen overseas fans binge-buy. A vendor at the store in Shinjuku in Tokyo stated that overseas tourists normally pay tens of hundreds of yen to buy gadgets on one visit.

The World Cup matches were held at 12 venues around Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in southwestern Japan.