Katsuhiko Oku (奥克彦 ''Oku Katsuhiko'', 3 January 1958 – 29 November 2003) was a Japanese diplomat who played rugby for

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. In Britain he was known as "Katsu".

Character and life

A very popular and dynamic personality, he later became a diplomat and was sent from the Japanese embassy in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

where he was killed by unknown assailants with his colleague Masamori Inoue and their Iraqi driver when their car was ambushed on 29 November 2003 near

Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...

. He was promoted posthumously to ambassador in recognition of his work by the

Japanese foreign ministry The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organiz ...

(Gaimusho). Oku made a point of visiting many countries and finding out what the local people wanted. He saw it as the first duty of a diplomat. Since 2004 an Oku Memorial Trophy has been contested annually in Richmond, London by the Kew Occasionals club (founded by Katsu Oku's good friend Reg Clark), London Japanese RFC and some Japanese teams. (See RFU's official newspaper ''Touchline'', February 2007 issue).

Charitable fund

A charitable fund has been set up in his name for the children of Iraq and a collection at the 2004

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

went towards that fund. Proceeds from the recent game in Japan between Waseda and Oxford (which Waseda won for the first time ever) also went to the fund, and the game was called the Katsuhiko Oku Memorial match. It was played on 20 September 2004 and Waseda won 25-9. The average weight of the forwards was Oxford 107 kg, Waseda 99 kg. The record now stands at one win, one draw and ten losses. Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, the coach of Waseda's highly successful rugby team 2001–2006, was a friend of Mr. Oku, and is a trustee of his memorial fund in Japan. Together they invented a slogan "ULTIMATE CRUSH".

References

ULTIMATE CRUSH: Waseda University Rugby, Leadership and Building the Strongest Winning Team in Japan
by Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, translated into English by Ian Ruxton (September 2006).

References

External links

The Oku-Inoue fund
for the children of Iraq (English version)
Waseda University Rugby Football Club
(in Japanese)
Oxford University Rugby Football Club

London Japanese Rugby Football Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oku, Katsuhiko 1958 births 2003 deaths 2003 murders in Iraq 20th-century Japanese diplomats Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Japanese people murdered abroad Japanese people of the Iraq War People murdered in Iraq Unsolved murders in Iraq Waseda University alumni Waseda University Rugby Football Club players Japanese rugby union players Oxford University RFC players 21st-century Japanese diplomats

Character and life

Charitable fund

See also

References

References

External links