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Japan RWC 2019

RJV

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I want to go to Japan for RWC with my wife.
PLEASE HELP!
I don't want to go via England rip off merchants planned tours. Any Ideas?
 
I'll be following this thoroughly ! :)
 
I am doing the same. Myself and my (rugby adoring) wife are planning to go to the last 3 weeks of the Japan RWC.

We also went to the New Zealand 2011 RWC, and did not use a travel company or deal. We balloted and were successful for nearly all the tickets we wanted, I booked flights the minute they were available on the website for best deal and choice of seats, plus booked the various domestic flights to make sure we got to each game, and booked hostels based on reviews for each night. Job done!

For the New Zealand trip the plan was simply spend the weekdays doing activities such as walking, kayaking, biking etc... then watch any weekday matches in a local pub, and then weekends were focussed on match days and drinking! Will be looking to do a similar approach with Japan.

I will start researching activities and places to visit in the next year or so, so will share any insights I have. But any suggestions are very appreciated?
 
Well I am Australian and have a Japanese wife. I'll be based over for the tournament duration. I've travelled Japan extensively and studied the culture at Uni. So I'll be pleased to help anyone in this thread going forward.

One word of advice Japan is a lot cheaper, accessible and fun than you think! :)
 
Well I am Australian and have a Japanese wife. I'll be based over for the tournament duration. I've travelled Japan extensively and studied the culture at Uni. So I'll be pleased to help anyone in this thread going forward.

One word of advice Japan is a lot cheaper, accessible and fun than you think! :)

A fellow Japan-a-phile. I haven't been for a few years, but speak the language to a reasonable degree and work for a Japanese government body in Sydney. You heading over for any of the SunWolves games? How does your wife like Rugby? My boss is a Japanese woman and she got right into it in the last world cup. So much so that she even started watching the NRL too haha.

Funniest thing ever coming to work after last years NRL Grand Final and having my petite Japanese boss excitedly asking me if I watched the Cowboys win lol.
 
i have an idea how to reach japan from England.

1-go to France, than drive through belgium-Germany, poland, Russia and you will be in Vladivostok, than hire some Eskimo boat and swim to Japan.

or, go to Airport and ask 2 tickets to Tokyo for you and your wife.
 
Hi, I might be out of place here, but I work for a Japan travel specialist called InsideJapan Tours who will be doing trips over to Japan for the RWC - We will probably be doing small group tours and can tailor to suit individuals and their budgets to take in the rugby and experience a bit of the culture whilst travelling around. We have an office in Bristol and Brisbane. Let me know if you want any ideas. We know our stuff and Japan RWC is going to be like no other. Cheers, Jim
 
This will be my 5th WC in a row, and I've never used an agency.

Here are some tips:
  • Sign up for ticket updates as soon as you can.
  • As soon as the schedule is announced, try and come up with a plan of what matches/cities you want to visit.
  • Book hotels (cancellable reservations, obviously) for cities where you want to see matches, way before you get tickets. Even double book if there are two matches in a day and you can't decide which you want. Hotel prices jump up but most will allow booking 12-18mths in advance before they've adjusted their rates! Even if you haven't got tickets yet, book hotels anyway!
  • Same with flights. As soon as you know your dates, 330 days before most flights go on sale so get those booked. If you're after saving money, but have the extra time, play around with routes and stopovers. Chances are, booking early, you'll get a decent option on a direct flight for a decent price
  • Apply for tickets for more matches than you want. If you get them all, great - you can always put some back on re-sale through the official websites. If you don't, you'll at least have some. I've never had issues getting tickets. I bought a ticket for Eng v Georgia in Dunedin the day before the match and the SF between NZ and SA I bought on the Thursday before. There is always availability.

Good luck to all :D

- - - Updated - - -

Well I am Australian and have a Japanese wife. I'll be based over for the tournament duration. I've travelled Japan extensively and studied the culture at Uni. So I'll be pleased to help anyone in this thread going forward.

One word of advice Japan is a lot cheaper, accessible and fun than you think! :)

Accessible and fun, definitely, but I wouldn't say cheap! Everything there is so well organised and convenient though, and the people are some of the friendliest I've ever met!
 
Japan RWC will be amazing whether you do it alone or with someone - depends what you want to do really. You can do it alone and you will have an excellent time in this completely different culture and on match days enjoy the party atmosphere at the rugby - the Japanese people are more than welcoming and will ensure that you enjoy their country. As someone who works as a Japan travel specialist, doing it with someone who knows all about the place, where to go and how to get there, it will allow you to make the most out of your time in Japan - See the rugby, enjoy the atmosphere, see some of the 'must see' sights/hidden gems, insight into the culture and turn a great RWC into an amazing one. Japan is going to be like no other RWC and a must for any rugby fan looking for something different. NZ RWC was good, England was great (apart from the England team), Japan will be out of this world.
Tips for doing it alone - Book a Rail pass, stay at least one night in a traditional ryokan (a Japan only experience), book your accommodation before you go to Japan, learn a few words of Japanese ('Ganbatte Nippon' - when supporting Japan :) - it will make you friends straight away), learn how to spot the words, 'nomihodai' in Japanese - drink as much as you like - usually for about £20 and for 2hrs, take an 'onsen' ho spring bath for a bit of post match relaxation....there are loads of things as well as buying your tickets and flights, but it will be great.
And Japan is cheaper than you think.
Happy to offer advice if needed, or take a look a look at InsideJapan Tours for ideas. Cheers
 
Japan should be great BUT I am interested in how the Japanese people will handle a large influx of non Japanese speakers, the majority either don't speak English or can but to shy to speak it themselves. Will certainly be a good litmus test for the Olympics.

I'm hoping to go to the 2019 RWC either with someone or on my own.
 
This will be my 5th WC in a row, and I've never used an agency.

Here are some tips:
  • Sign up for ticket updates as soon as you can.
  • As soon as the schedule is announced, try and come up with a plan of what matches/cities you want to visit.
  • Book hotels (cancellable reservations, obviously) for cities where you want to see matches, way before you get tickets. Even double book if there are two matches in a day and you can't decide which you want. Hotel prices jump up but most will allow booking 12-18mths in advance before they've adjusted their rates! Even if you haven't got tickets yet, book hotels anyway!
  • Same with flights. As soon as you know your dates, 330 days before most flights go on sale so get those booked. If you're after saving money, but have the extra time, play around with routes and stopovers. Chances are, booking early, you'll get a decent option on a direct flight for a decent price
  • Apply for tickets for more matches than you want. If you get them all, great - you can always put some back on re-sale through the official websites. If you don't, you'll at least have some. I've never had issues getting tickets. I bought a ticket for Eng v Georgia in Dunedin the day before the match and the SF between NZ and SA I bought on the Thursday before. There is always availability.

Good luck to all :D

- - - Updated - - -



Accessible and fun, definitely, but I wouldn't say cheap! Everything there is so well organised and convenient though, and the people are some of the friendliest I've ever met!

Great advice from an obvious expert in World Cup travel - thanks for that!

I'm also planning to do the trip with my girlfriend, and want to avoid tour operators - not just because they're overpriced but also because it's a **** way to do any holiday - give us the freedom to pick our own itinerary, thank you very much.

I've looked at the WR website (http://www.worldrugby.org/rwc2019) and RWC website (http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/) but info seems to be sparse at this point Does anyone know:

- when you can sign up for ticket updates/which website?
- when the full schedule is announced? All the RWC website says is the opener is 20 September in Tokyo and the final is on 2 November in Yokohama

Any info appreciated, I'll certainly be keeping tracks on this thread too.
 
Hello everybody,

I started this tradition with my son, going to the Rugby World Cup every 4 years. We've been to England last year and we would love to go to Japan in 2019. He is going to be seven by then and I would love to do more than just attend a match or two and visit the country a little bit. I would love to get to know more about the Japanese rugby, its supporters, even do some volunteer work to help the RWC or just a grassroot organisation. I've been looking on the web to try to find Japanese rugby supporters but it's pretty difficult to find English version of the sites.

Do you have any clues how to get in touch with them?

Thanks.
 
Sunwolves FB page - Yeah, English language content on there is pretty poor. I expect it will improve over the next couple of years though. Next season they'll have fixtures vs NZ teams. (Not that they'll be competitive)

The union has almost-OK english content on their website. I never bothered with the Top League etc. but followed the Asian Rugby Championship vs Hong Kong and Korea a little.

In 2018 they might have another enlarged Pacific Nations Cup with Japan, Canada, USA like in 2015.


Actually yeah, it does feel a bit like all the Japanese fans are MIA, hiding on the other side of the language barrier.
 
I'm a veteran of 2 Rugby World Cups - 2007 in France and 2015 in England.
Watching 7 games and 15 games respectively.
Japan is definately on my list.
What I have managed to work out so far bearing in mind that the pool draw will not be confirmed until 10 May 2017.

Tokyo has 2 airports - Haneda and Narita
Haneda - www.haneda-airport.jp/inter/en/
Narita - www.narita-airport.jp/en/

Use price comparison sites for flights instead of the obvious sites such British Airways.
www.farecompare.com
www.skyscanner.nl

Use price comparison sites for car hire instead of he obvious sites such Hertz, Avis etc.
www.economycarrentals.com
www.rentalcars.com
www.holidayautos.com
www.arguscarhire.com

Be aware that your need a International driving license.

Cheers
Alan
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39854555

RWC draw is taking place tomorrow.

The pots

Band One: New Zealand, England, Australia, Ireland

Band Two: Scotland, Wales, South Africa, France

Band Three: Argentina, Japan, Georgia, Italy

Band Four: Oceania 1, Americas 1, Europe 1, Africa 1

Band Five: Oceania 2, Americas 2, play-off winner (between Europe 2 and Oceania 3), repechage winner
 
Damn, so it's possible that one pool may consist of:
1.NZ
2.SA
3.Argentina
4. Fiji
5. Samoa

While another pool may consist of
1. Aussie
2. Scotland
3. Georgia
4. Namibia
5. Uruguay

That seems a bit broken lol. Would be pretty funny if it happened though :D:D:D
 
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