1952 Japan v Oxford University

Rugby - Japan v Oxford University - 1952

Oxford University played seven games in Japan on their 1952 tour.

In the first match on 14 September Oxford University defeated Keio University 28-6. In the second match on 17 September Oxford University defeated Waseda University 12-8. In the third game on 20 September Oxford University defeated Meiji University 20-3.  In the fourth game on 23 September Oxford University defeated a combined Kyoto, Dohshisha and Kanseigakuin University 42-8. In the fifth game on 28 September Oxford University defeated a Kyushu XV 43-0. The final two games were against the Japan National Team on 1 & 5 October and Oxford University won both games 35-0 and 52-0 to make it seven wins out of seven.

The official Japanese  programme for the Oxford University tour and a medal probably originally presented to one of the players or officials is shown below. The programme has 38 pages, 14 of which are adverts and is almost all in Japanese. The programme opens with four pages of welcome introductions in both Japanese and English, followed by a page listing the results of past Oxford University games and 4 pages with details of the Oxford University players including small photos of each player. Five pages then list the players and a team photo for each of Keio University, Waseda University, Meiji University, the combined Kyoto, Dohshisha and Kanseigakuin University and the Kyushu teams. There are two pages with space to write in the results of the Oxford University tour games followed by two pages with past results for the Japan national rugby team.  Finally there are 3 pages with a list of the names of the companies and organisations sponsoring the Oxford University tour of Japan.

Programme