Rugby: Namibia-Canada clash in Kamaishi cancelled due to typhoon

 KYODO NEWS – Oct 13, 2019 – 08:46 | SportsRugby2019AllJapanKamaishi

Rugby World Cup organizers said Sunday morning they have canceled a match between Namibia and Canada in Kamaishi, which was scheduled to take place later in the day, due to a powerful typhoon that made landfall in Japan.

The match at Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium in northeastern Japan is the third match to be called off due to Typhoon Hagibis.

The New Zealand-Italy Pool B game, scheduled to be played in Toyota, central Japan, on Saturday, and the Pool C match between England and France in Yokohama, near Tokyo, the same day were canceled earlier in the week.

As for other matches Sunday, a Pool C match between the United States and Tonga at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka Prefecture, and a Pool D match between Wales and Uruguay in Kumamoto will go ahead as scheduled, the organizers said.

Canada and Namibia were coming into their final Pool B match after suffering heavy defeats to New Zealand, South Africa and Italy.

While the match was canceled to ensure the safety of players, fans, volunteers and tournament officials, it came as a disappointment to locals, who had been looking forward to hosting World Cup matches as part of their reconstruction efforts from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The stadium, the only newly built venue at this tournament, stands on the grounds of two schools that were swept away by the tsunami. The disaster claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in the city.

Kamaishi also staged a Sept. 25 game in which Uruguay defeated Fiji 30-27.

I just visited the area where Would cup Rugby game was supposed to be held

I just visited the area where Would cup Rugby game was supposed to be held,  Kamaishi city Iwate prefecture.

What a sensation for them to welcome world top sports team after the disaster of 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami which destroy for 400 km of coastline at the pacific ocean.

The reality turns out that pinpoint hit by typhoon 19 to Kamaishi city with strongest rain which provoke Yama Tsunami, destroy Moantains and strong wind which blow ships away to the ocean, the match was cancelled…again missing , injured people …

One of them said [Tsunami by ocean we go up, but the the mountain falling, nowhere to go?

After the catastrophe 2011 we had a courage, we fought strongly. But this time our hearts are broken….said a lady. Yet she continues [in order to see the Kid’s future ,we live long till 100years !! War? we have NO time and energy to fight against people .we fight and live together with Nature. That is our  everyday’ s life !]

Nature disaster , people forget , there are unfortunately so many now in the world out of the scale.But the re-construction doesn’t come in a few years. Therefor we continue to support and remember even a one day a year for Tohoku people through the music. That is our aim.


I saw a video of a beautiful chorus to Thank all over the world for their help which was to be sang at the ceremony at the World cup 13/10/2019 at the stadium!

I also visited the memorial park and pavilion [life for future ]constructed and hold by young people . Touching to see them working for their region with smile and hope .one girl said it [I would  like to build a house or school against Tsunami ,I don’t have to go away to study ,just being with them here and watching carefully ,all answers are in .

Therefore we would like to help them to donate our humble contribution from Fukko Concert 2020 from Brussels !

News from Kamaishi and this year’s concert program

 Januari, 2019 Brussels

Dear Fukko Concert Audience,                  

Thank you very much for your fidelity to Fukko Concert.

In 2019 we will celebrate our 8th concert.(the first edition was called “Play and Pray” in 2011) 

Last year we visited Kamaishi, Tohoku, where the sea is beautiful. However, despite the sun and the heat, the beach was completely empty. There are still 400 missing peopleand nobody dares to swim in the sea out of respect for the victims since the catastrophe in 2011.

In 2019, the city of Kamaishi will host the Rugby World Cup, and all the seats are on the mountain side just in case of another Tsunami. The catastrophe is still in people’s minds. 

There, we also experienced the warmness and passion of the people of Kamaishi, and they are still able to offer the best conditions to visitors from all over the world.

From last year’s event we were able to donate to the Tohoku Children’s village.

We’d like to thank you once again for your contribution.

This year, we are delighted to have part of the Fukko Concert dedicated to Taiko, the traditional Japanese percussion, played by a Belgian expert Grete Moortgaat and friends.

Furthermore, Yuya Okamoto, who you may remember after his beautiful cello performance at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and the young and brilliant Belgian pianist Yannick Van de Velde will both be joining me for this special event. Their music is beautiful and inspiring, and they will both be excellent additions to our event. 

We will be playing Beethoven’s masterpiece, the Piano Trio [Archduke], starting with [Kodaly Duo] for Violin and Violin cello. You might think of Japan as our Japanese and Hungarian Folk tunes are very similar!

Join us for the next Fukko Concert on the9/3/2019 20h at Concert Noble.

Looking forward to seeing you all there. In the meantime, have a wonderful winter holiday! And I wish you a beautiful new year 2019. 

This event would not be possible without all the people around it, and I will end this letter by once again showing all my appreciation to the entire Fukko Team, Bravi, our sponspors and all the musicians who have contributed to Fukko Concert for Tohoku Japan by alphabetical order: Salvatore Adamo, Martha Argerich, Mika Akiyama Brussels Chamber Orchestra, Liesbeth Baelus, Luc Berge, Julius Berger, Luc Devos, Nicolas Dupont, Akiko Ebi, Clara Evens, Makiko Goto,Nana Kawamura, Yu kurokawa, Anastasia Laurent, Istivan Loga, Jean Marc Luisada, Mischa Maisky, Lily Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Ana Julija Mlejink, Katsura Mizumoto, Kaoru Oe, Jeroen Rueling,  Akane Sakai, Ryo Sasaki, Ivan Smeulders, Yuya Tsuda, Rei Tsujimoto, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, and Emile Verstraeten.                            

Yours sincerely 

Yuzuko Horigome

Piano Donation Organization in Sendai

( translation of the sentence on the picture : ” Thank you for the piano“)

This is the result of your support for Fukko Concert.
We support the Piano Donation Organization in Sendai.
Thank you for your warm support, and let’s continue to bring music for them !