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Yoshihiro Sakata (坂田好弘) is a rugby union official and former player who gained sixteen full international caps with the
Japan national rugby union team The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms (), or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's international rugby union. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed ...
1967–1973. He played as
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
for Kintetsu and Canterbury RFU and was nicknamed Demi Sakata. He was the first Japanese player to be inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame.


Early life

Sakata was born 26 September 1942 in
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, Japan.. He practiced judo before taking up rugby.


Club rugby

He played as
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
for Kintetsu. He moved to New Zealand in 1969 to be a student at the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
and was the first Japanese player to play for their rugby team. He played provincial rugby for Canterbury RFU and scored 30 tries in 27 appearances. He had introduced himself as "Deme" (relating to big eyes) but people instead called him "Demi" (meaning small or half-sized).


International career

He first played for Japan on 12 March 1967 against New Zealand students at Osaka. In June 1968, he scored four tries in the 23–19 victory against the Junior All Blacks. He was selected for the 1973 Japan rugby union tour of Wales, England and France. On 6 October 1973 he played against a Welsh XV at
Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...
, the first representative match between the nations. The final match of the tour was against France at Bordeaux on 27 October 1973, this was his last cap.


Coaching

After retiring from playing rugby, Sakata has held coaching and administrative roles in the sport..


Honours

In 2012, Sakata was the 51st player to be inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame, the first from Japan. A ceremony was held at Mizuho Rugby Stadium in
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
.. In the
2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
, Sakata was appointed an honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to New Zealand–Japan relations and rugby.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakata, Yoshihiro Living people 1942 births Rugby union players from Kyoto Rugby union wings Japan international rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Canterbury rugby union players Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Honorary members of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Canterbury alumni Japanese rugby union players