High And Low: The History of American Football in Japan - Part 2

World War II was in full swing; Japan aligned with Germany and Italy to form The Axis Powers. The United States funded and supplied weapons to the Allies of World War II before officially joining them in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Japanese and American soldiers would converge on the islands of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. The battles and bloodshed culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Emperor Hirohito made the announcement over the radio on August 15, 1945, “We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration.”

The occupation of Japan followed shortly thereafter. With a pair of cities left shattered and the citizens critically injured, homeless and on the brink of starvation, President Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur to spearhead the redevelopment of Japan’s government, economy and culture. The mission was to establish democracy, liberalize the right to religion, speech and assembly, and to disarm the Japanese military to prevent them from being an aggressive global power in the future.

American efforts to reconstruct a debilitated nation would not be swift. Since the beginning of the war, the Japanese government propagated the war to reflect a divine purpose for their actions, justifying the invasions of nearby Asian countries with the belief that they had to liberate Asia from western ideals. To reiterate the message to the public, Japanese officials banned or censored the English language and American sports from their cultures, specifically within the school system. Now that Japan had suffered a great loss at war, optimism and the belief of Japan being a sacred land had disappeared.

All hell was breaking loose. Anti-American sentiments from Japanese locals to the occupying servicemen ensued and amounted to moments of terror. Ultranationalist violently clashed with communist sympathizers and black market demands for food supply and shelter caused turf wars between organized crime syndicates that accumulated many casualties. McArthur’s mission would evidently be met with great challenges.

In order to ease these anxieties and frustrations, however, McArthur recognized that athletics were a valuable part of the culture of both countries and felt that reintroducing American sports, particularly baseball and football, would be a fine way to establish social diplomacy and improve morale on a cultural level while political and economic matters were being resolved.

Though not as popular as baseball in Japan, the gridiron game had found a niche following among the private universities in Tokyo, mostly to the credit of Paul Rusch (as detailed in Part 1) with the development of the Tokyo Collegiate American Football League. By 1938, the sport’s popularity would increase enough to spawn the creation of a new nationwide governing body of the sport to replace the TCAFL; the Japan American Football Association, with Rusch serving as it’s first chief director. Within it’s first two months, JAFA staged the first East-West Exchange game played in front of 25,000 spectators as the East won 21-0, and by 1941, three more universities would field teams and join the association.

But upon the declaration of war by the United Sates against Japan, the Japanese Empire outlawed the practice of “enemy sports,” and thus football and baseball teams around the nation were disbanded. Once the war was over, football would be reintroduced to Japan, but not for the purpose that General McArthur had intended just yet. Rather, the homesick troops that were stationed in Japan over the holiday season pleaded to their respective commanding officers to organize athletic competitions to give them the nostalgic feeling of the college bowl season that was happening in America.

In Nagasaki, Major General and Second Marine Division commanding officer LeRoy P. Hunt and Colonel Gerald Sanders organized a football game for the Marines. Sanders appointed two team captains that would attract great publicity; Angelo Bertelli, former Notre Dame quarterback and 1943 Heisman Trophy winner, and “Bullet” Bill Omanski, former fullback for the Chicago Bears and 1939 NFL rushing leader. Bertelli would captain the Nagasaki Bears against Omanksi’s Isahaya Tigers in what was to be coined as the “Atom Bowl.”

Due to the debris that still remained from the bomb, the captain’s decided the game would be two hand touch as opposed to tackle (though the soldiers till borrowed equipment from the Navy as a precaution). The game, taking place on New Year’s Day 1946, was played in front of 2000 Marines cramped into makeshift bleachers, along with Japanese citizens who watched from afar. Though the captains privately agreed to end the game in a tie to avoid a post game brawl, Omanski broke the pact once he kicked the extra point for the Isahaya Tigers win, 14-13.

Though the Atom Bowl was one of, if not, the first American Football game played in post-WWII Japan, it wasn’t impactful in the sense of inspiring the native people to adopt the pastime as their own. In an ironic twist of fate, Judo and Kendo were banned from Japanese schools for the fear that they would encourage militarism amongst Japanese youth, leaving many students longing for some sort of activity to fill the void. This observation would prompt Peter Okada, a young serviceman stationed in Osaka, Japan with the 108th Military Government Team, to introduce American Football to high school students in his free time.

Okada’s journey to Japan as a Japanese-American Nisei was anything but direct. As a young man, Okada, along with his three brothers and his widowed mother, were detained at the Santa Anita Japanese internment camp following the attack on Pearl Harbor. While detained, Okada learned of Father Edward Flanagan, an Irish priest who was offering jobs to Japanese-American captives at Boys Town in Nebraska, a non profit orphanage for disgruntled juvenile boys. Okada wrote a letter to the priest and was accepted as a landscaper. After working there for a year, Okada enlisted in the Army. He began in Military Intelligence before serving with the 2nd Marine Division for a brief time, and finally ended up with the 108th Military Government Team in Osaka, Japan to reform the Japanese education system.

Upon seeing the hindered attitudes of the Japanese youth, Okada received permission from McArthur and the local schools in Osaka to introduce American football to the students. Once granted permission from all parties, Special Services sent Okada footballs and on his days off began teaching the game to the students of Toyonaka and Ikeda high schools, including the types of formations and how to pass a football. At the end of that first year, the first high school American football match in Japan resulted in a Toyonaka victory over Ikeda, after which many other regional high schools began adopting American Football. Though Okada would downplay the significance of bringing American Football to Japanese high school curriculums, his student would honor him in 1992 with the Peter Okada Trophy at halftime of the Christmas Bowl (the Japanese high school national championship game).

While Okada was teaching football to high school students, college football in Japan was recommencing to continue the altruistic vision of Paul Rusch. As previously documented, Paul Rusch’s affinity with Japan ran deep, devoting his adult life to preaching Christianity and democracy to the Japanese people. While his efforts provided worthwhile meaning to the students he taught and the players he coached, his optimism would fade once he returned to the United Sates.

As tensions between Japan and the United Sates grew, the American Church Mission, an initiative of the Episcopal Church that funded Rusch’s missionary work, gathered for a conference in Japan and decided that they would be withdrawing missionaries from Japan. An emotional Rusch, attached to his student, university and the land of Japan, informed the Bishops that he would not be leaving, going so far as to submitting a resignation letter to the Episcopal church.

After his comrades had fled back to America, Rusch, only one of a couple hundred Americans left in Tokyo, resumed his life as an educator and football coach, but was met with much scrutiny Japanese authorities, even being the subject of secret surveillance from despite making public statement claiming that, “Japan is misunderstood by the United States.” Once the attack on Pearl Harbor had been completed, however, Rusch’s sympathetic words toward Japan would not be enough to prevent him from being arrested as an “enemy of Japan” and detained at an internment camp. He was sent back to America in the summer of 1942, and upon his return, grappled with the reality of Japan and ultimately acknowledged the necessity for war against the Imperial Army.

Having serving as a first Lieutenant for the Military Information Services to recruit Japanese-Americans into the armed forces, Rusch returned to Japan as a member of General McArthur’s staff. Once he arrived back in Japan, Rusch was pleased to see that college football was being played again. In 1947, a newspaper editor named Chikao Honda organized an East-West College Championship and called it the “Koshien Bowl,” that would become a staple in Japanese college football. One year later, American football leaders renamed the game the “Rice Bowl” and invited Rusch to the opening ceremony where he was welcomed with overwhelming applause. In his pregame speech, Rusch declared “Here we go again” and made the first kickoff of the game. To this day, Rusch’s influence remains supreme amongst the Japanese football community, being referred to as “The Father of American Football In Japan.”

Into the 1950s and 60s, football in Japan had steadily increased in popularity. More universities adopted the game and NHK (Japan’s leading broadcasting company) broadcasted more games on the radio for the public to tune in. Intramural matches between Army bases were still being played and attracted modest crowds as well.

Japan was also gaining international exposure for it’s passionate following. In 1964, Sports Illustrated columnist Arthur Myers chronicled the work of Donald T. Oakes, an American missionary that coached Rikkyo University from 1949-1952 and the influence his teaching and coaching had on his student players. Also in 1964, the University of Hawaii hosted a Japanese All-Star team to commemorate the 30th anniversary of American Football in Japan, though Japan would not measure up to the speed and athleticism of their American opponents.

The greatest exposure came in 1971 when Chuck Mills, former Utah State University head coach, made an agreement with Japanese coach Ken Takeda to travel to Japan to play a two game series against the All-Japan team, making it the first time a single university traveled to Japan for an international match. Utah State won both game without trouble by scores of 50-6 and 45-6.

Despite the wide margin, the young student athletes on both teams appreciated the value of playing against their international counterparts. After the game, Mills commented, “I think it would be a good idea for an American university team to come to Japan once every three years. It not only would help to stimulate interest in American football, but would also give the Japanese teams a chance to find out their improvement and their level of play.” Takeda was equally grateful for the opportunity to play against and American team: “They had a big impact, because we didn’t have to go over there but they came over here,” said Takeda. “And the coaches and players coached us even though they would play against us the next day or the day after. Through that experience, we were able to feel closer to American college football.”

Surely, American Football’s presence in Japan would not have been possible had it not been for the men with a passion for education and desire to provide a cathartic release for the impairing Japanese youth after World War II. Many Japanese students have maintained communication with previous coaches, telling them about how football has changed their lives, validating that the game left an impression on those high school and university students that played the it.

And soon enough, they would have the opportunity to play the game they loved after graduation.

References

1. Peterson, Matt. “The Father of Japanese Football.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20030731&slug=japan31.

2. Nagatsuka, Kaz. “Coaches Recall Trail-Blazing '71 Utah State Visit.” The Japan Times, 2016, www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/01/20/more-sports/football/coaches-recall-trail-blazing-71-utah-state-visit/#.XmboIy2ZOb-.

3. BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL IN JAPAN-2018 FISU World University Championships American Football, wucaf.hrbcu.edu.cn/info/1034/1259.htm.

4. Zappaomatic. “The Atom Bowl.” Zappa's Writing Archive, 26 Jan. 2020, zappawriting.wordpress.com/2020/01/26/the-atom-bowl/#more-371.

5. “Peter Okada Oral History Interview, Part 5 of 6, April 9, 2000.” Go For Broke National Education Center - Preserving the Legacy of the Japanese American Veterans of World War II, www.goforbroke.org/ohmsviewer/viewer.php?cachefile=2000OH0113_05_Okada.xml.

6. McDonald, Andrew T., and Verlaine Stoner McDonald. Paul Rusch in Postwar Japan: Evangelism, Rural Development, and the Battle against Communism. The University Press of Kentucky, 2018.

7. Gems, Gerald R., et al. Touchdown: an American Obsession. Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2019.