The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) has sent three rugby coaches to two Asian countries with the cooperation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, President: Akihiko Tanaka) and through the JICA’s volunteer project as a part of its regional contribution activity called “Asian Scrum Project”.
The purpose is to develop the Game of Rugby in the countries the coaches were sent and they engage in the activities of regional promotion of rugby toward young people, technique and skill coaching for clubs and national team(s) to improve their performance and education of local coaches and rugby staff.
The coaches are assigned as the JICA’s “short-term volunteer (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JODV))”, which the volunteers between the ages of 20 and 39 work by utilizing their skills and experiences on the basis of requests from developing countries.
“Asian Scrum Project” is what the JRFU has been working on to promote and develop Asian rugby and build a cooperation system between Asian countries toward the Rugby World Cup 2019, the first-ever rugby world cup held in Asia.

-JICA Volunteer Programme 　the JICA’s website:
JICA’s volunteer program are operated by JICA in the budget of the Japanese government’ ODA. Based on needs from developing counties, the JICA recruits, select, train and then send volunteers who have and “wish to utilize” their skills, knowledge and experiences as appropriate “for people in such developing countries”. The main purposes are; (1) to contribute to economic and social development and reconstruction of developing counties, (2) to cultivate international standpoint and return volunteer experience to society.
Particularly, the JOCV program was inaugurated in 1965 and over 37,000 volunteers participated dispatched its long history.
Recruitment targets Japanese citizens between the ages of 20 and 39 (JOVCs/Youth Volunteers for Nikkei communities) and other Japanese citizens between the ages of 40 and 69 (Senior Volunteers/Senior Volunteers for Nikkei Communities) separately. The areas of cooperation cover wide range including agriculture, forestry and fisheries, sanitation, education and culture, sports as well as planning and administration. The characteristic of the JICA Volunteer Programme is that volunteers can utilize their own knowledge, skills and experiences. The regular dispatch period is two years while short-term volunteer programme is also available for a minimum of 1 month.

Volunteer coaches/Countries/Period

Name:         Josuke TAKAHAMA
Date of Birth:    April 15, 1977 (35 y/o)
Place of Birth:    Kyoto, Japan
Company:    Japan Rugby Football Union
Position in the Programme:    Development Officer
Working for:    Vientiane, Laos
Period:        March 27, 2013– June 23, 2013

Comments of Josuke TAKAHAMA, Development Officer;
“I am glad to be given such an opportunity. I will make my best efforts to development of Lao rugby from player population to improvement of international performance. At the same time, I would also like to work on so that the Asia Scrum Project becomes something meaningful for the Rugby world Cup 2019, the first-ever rugby world cup held in Asia.”