Bledisloe

Lord Bledisloe, it seems, enjoyed 2 things in life: Rugby, and giant silver cups, like the one he donated to an annual tournament held between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies, possibly the 2 best teams to ever play the sport of rugby. The four game tournament, now known as the Bledisloe Cup, has been played every year since the early 1930s, with venues alternating between the countries. Last year, all that changed when game 4 was played in Hong Kong. Wanting to make a tradition out of moving the 4th game, the decision was made to play in Tokyo. I, not wanting to miss what may be my only chance to attend a professional rugby event ever in my entire life, decided to ditch all of my Halloween plans and hop the first flight to Tokyo.

I stayed at a friend's house Friday night in Matsue. I walked to the bus station the morning of the 31st, eighty bucks richer from a poker game the night before and eagerly anticipating my first international sporting event. My plane touched down at Haneda Airport in Tokyo at 1:30. The gates to the game opened at 3:30, with kick off being at 5:30, so it seemed as if I'd have plenty of time. And then I realized that I was in Tokyo - a city whose infrastructure consists of a literal maze of more than a dozen subway and train lines. But, after two hours of map checking and second guessing myself, I had arrived at Tokyo's National Stadium, once home to the 1960 Olympic Games.

The first thing I did was head to the nearest merchandise tent since, let's be honest, anything rugby-related is hard to come by in the States. After 30 minutes of standing at a table so crowded I could only reach one unseen tub of merchandise with one arm, I walked away with a new Haka hoodie and an All Blacks Jersey, albeit not a great one, as there was no number on it, and being Japanese, was a little tight on me. Now that I looked the part of a mediocre rugby fan, I decided to grab a beer and what Japan thought were hot dogs and go find my seat.

Five minutes later I was on the 4th row from the front, within spitting distance of the All Blacks' bench. Now all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the show. Oh and take a ton of pics...


And a video...

The above is my attempt at filming New Zealand's infamous Haka - a traditional Maori war dance they often perform before their games. There are several variations, but this one was still pretty cool.

After the game, I braved the subway, now crowded with thousands of gaijin, and made my way to a wonderful hostel just east of downtown Shinjuku. There was a "Halloween party," as they called it that night, and I went as an All Blacks fan. I had a fun time and met some interesting people, but I didn't stay up late, as I wanted to give myself plenty of time to find my way back to the airport for my 10:35 flight Sunday morning. All in all, a great experience, though I am regretting not asking for Monday off so I could've done some more sight seeing in Tokyo.