The Japan Men’s National Team arrived in the Philippines today ahead of the Regional World Cup Qualifying tournament which begins tomorrow (Saturday).
During the tournament Japan will play two matches against Indonesia, South Korea and the hosts, Philippines with the winner being the team with the most points at the end of six matches.
It is the first time since 2014 Japan have faced Indonesia and Philippines, while this will be Japan’s second tournament of 2018 to include South Korea in what is developing into an excellent rivalry.
Head Coach Stephen Zayler, of Cricket Victoria, said: “We’re all excited. Our preparation has been good, obviously winning the East Asia Cup in September, and we want to build on that. If we perform at our best, I think we could do really well out here.”
The team will be captained by Masaomi “Amigo” Kobayashi while Dhugal Bedingfield travels as Assistant Coach, Shuichi Okawa as Physio and Alan Curr as Team Manager. The full playing squad was announced in October and can be seen here.
The full fixture list can be found on the JCA Website Events Page. The best way to follow the tournament is through our Social Media platforms. Twitter (@CricketJapan) will post updates every five overs during the matches in both English and Japanese and use the hashtag #GoJapan, while Facebook will have daily reports in both languages.
Match reports will appear on the home page of the JCA website and will be replaced by each following match.
Live scores should also be available on ESPN Cricinfo and the ICC website, please check Twitter and Facebook for those links once they are live and please send any messages of support through Facebook.
The winning team will go through to compete in the next phase of qualifying against Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu to be held in March 2019.
The final post for my time in Japan starts with a flying 48 hours in Kyoto, a city in Kyoto prefecture, and a place renowned for its culture, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Arriving into Kyoto via the Shinkansen was an experience in itself: it was very similar to flying, just very close to the ground! I kicked off my visit by heading straight to Kyoto tower to watch the sunset over the city, before heading to the Gion and Pontocho area to soak in the Japanese nightlife… and more importantly find out what Kyoto’s most renowned dining areas had to offer!
Plenty of coaching opportunities were available through school visits during the day and junior clubs in the evenings. The enthusiasm and willingness to engage in all elements of the sessions by the children always make coaching a highlight of the week.
Before I left Japan, Masami made a great effort to help me have a true local Japanese experience. Masami showed me some hotspots in Tochigi and took me to experience must do’s – this I am very thankful for. We hiked a mountain in Ashikaga, a neighbouring town to Sano, and enjoyed the viewpoint overlooking Ashikaga town; got talking to a fruit farmer who owned a shop on “fruit road” in Sano and he gave us a private tour of his orchids and showed us and educated me about the fruit he grew. The care he took to nurture the fruit was second to none, and his passion and pride in his work made the whole experience amazing! I have tried some amazing food with Masami such as unagi, koi sashimi and Japanese pear, but the experience with the fruit farmer was by far a stand out!
The Kurihara’s and Dhugal deserve a massive thank you for their hospitality and both taking such great care of me during my time in Japan. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes with such open arms, taking such great care of me, and also for all the new and yummy different types of food!
I now have just under two weeks left in Japan. My schedule during this recent middle period with the JCA has again involved plenty of variety in work, and numerous coaching opportunities through junior clubs and school visits. I believe my coaching skills to have significantly developed, specifically my communication skills, despite not verbally communicating as much as I would do during coaching sessions in England due to the language barrier. I find I am delivering coaching points through clear visual demonstrations supported by providing basic, clear verbal prompts. It is amazing to see just how much you can teach youngsters and just how big an impact you can have on an individuals learning just through showing them what to do.
provide cricketing tasters for individuals to experience. The recreation festival provided a chance to experience various activities and sports for individuals of all ages to try and hopefully take up in the long term. It was great to see so many new people experiencing cricket and enjoying it! We were situated next to the folk dancing and a Japanese slow moving dancing areas so attracted many older individuals who didn’t have to wonder too far over. It was amazing at just how much fun they had, how much they enjoyed it, and how positively they reflected on the experience. This is an audience I had no prior coaching experiences with before, but one that I will definitely try to expand and reach to upon return to the UK. I also snuck in the opportunity to try some new Japanese activities. My favorite being a version of golf played with a large badminton shuttlecock! Sanomaru made an appearance and I seized the opportunity to meet Sano’s iconic mascot!
Days off were spent on day trips into Tokyo and Yokohama. A packed day of exploring in Tokyo included visited the Imperial Palace gardens before heading to Shibuya and Harajuku and the Meiji Jingu temple. Ueno was next to check out the markets and park, lotus pond and temples. A truly great day spent exploring such a great city! I also managed to venture south for a day trip to Yokohama on my next day off. Yokohama was a very clean, modern, and lively place; after escaping the labyrinth of Yokohama station, undoubtedly the biggest train station I have ever seen and subsequently taking me 40 minutes to escape, I walked along the bay towards Chinatown, seeing all the major sights en route.
Japan has been chosen to host the Under 19 World Cup Qualifier which will take place in June 2019.
A fantastic first week had flown by, and before I knew it I had begun my second. This week saw a huge variety in the tasks undertaken as part of my placement and has provided me a true insight into the various different job roles required and how they work in conjunction and interlink to run an international sporting organisation.
My second week provided time to explore Tokyo and the greater Sano area (Sano being my base for my 5-week placement), both things I had been keen to do since arriving. I rose early one morning and ventured into Tokyo for the day before having to be back for evening coaching with the junior clubs. I negotiated the train and subway public transport systems of Japan with ease, almost comparable to a seasoned commuter, with the days running order consisting of: surviving the hustle and bustle of Tsukiji fish market, a spot of people watching in/and exploring the bright lights and buzzing Shibuya area, and finally finished off with a visit to the market, temples and shrines of Asakusa… my step count for the day was through the roof! Tsukiji fish market transits the majority of seafood that’s consumed in Tokyo, so it was a bustling working marketplace with tradesmen and women shouting, frozen tuna carcasses being hauled about, and small working carts whizzing the produce across the market place – It was great to get a chance to visit Tsukiji just two days before it was due to close. It was definitely the highlight, despite going later in the morning when it was slightly less hectic!
Accommodation wise, my stay with Dhugal Bedingfield (from the JCA) was over and I began my weeks stay with the Kurihara family; Naoki Kurihara had so kindly showed me around Nikko last week. Thanks to Dhugal for his hospitality and a fun week, and to the Kurihara’s: Naoki, Callie and their children Tomoki and Marina, for welcoming me into their home with such open arms and taking such great care of me. They are a cricket loving Kiwi-Japanese family who also have a passion for the English language, and I am excited for my stay.