London, August 23. At Wembley Stadium in northwest London, the mecca of the football world, The Football Association Chairman David Bernstein presents a gleaming silver cup to his Japanese counterpart Junji Ogura, president of the Japan Football Association. The cup is symbolic both of personal friendships and of the revival of a footballing relationship that dates back to the beginnings of the game in Japan.
The story begins in 1918, at a time when Japan still had no national structure in place to unite teams and players under a single organization. That year, several regional tournaments happened to take place in the major population centers of the country, mostly involving teams drawn from the higher schools and colleges of the prewar education system. In attendance at the Kanto tournament, contested by teams from the Tokyo and Yokohama region were the British ambassador Sir William Conyngham Greene and William Haigh, a young secretary working at the embassy. The early decades of the twentieth century were something of a honeymoon period for diplomatic relations between Britain and Japan. In 1902, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance had been signed as part of an effort to contain the ambitions of tsarist Russia, and in 1918 plans were underway for the state visit of the Japanese Crown Prince (later Emperor Hirohito) to Britain and a return visit to Japan by the Prince of Wales (later king Edward VIII), due to take place in 1921 and 1922. A proposal submitted from the British Embassy in Japan to the Foreign Office, and from there to the FA in London, resulted in a decision to donate a cup to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and foster the development of the game in Japan. A silver cup duly made its way across the seas from England to Japan in March 1919.
The arrival of a cup with such an impressive pedigree caused more than a little consternation in Japan, where there was no nationwide association in place and where games were still organized on an informal basis. The enclosed letter contained clear instructions that the cup should be awarded to "the winning team of the Japanese national championship." At first, Tairei Uchino, in charge of the football club at Tokyo Higher Normal School (today Tsukuba University) was unsure of what to do with this unexpected gift from across the seas. The clinching piece of advice came from Jigoro Kano, the martial arts master and educator famous as the founder of judo. Kano was the principal of the school at the time, as well as the president of the Greater Japan Sports Association. "This is a golden opportunity. You should hurry and form a proper association," he said. With help and advice from Haigh, Uchino worked fast, drawing up a list of regulations and assembling the first board of directors for what was to become the Japan Football Association. At the same time, the All-Japan Association Football Championship Tournament was launched to determine the first recipients of the FA cup. The competition continues to this day in the form of the Emperor's Cup.
In spite of these auspicious beginnings, the cup that led to the foundation of both the Japan Football Association and the Emperor's Cup had an unhappy destiny. Japan and Britain eventually came to blows over their rights and interests in Asia and wound up as enemies when World War II broke out. At the height of the conflict, with materials in short supply, the Japanese government called on people to contribute to the war effort by donating any reserves of iron, bronze, and precious metals. In January 1945, the FA cup was donated to the government and melted down for its silver. Officially, the donation was voluntary. The trophy had been presented as a sign of international friendship and goodwill; in the chaos of wartime, it was now melted down for use as a weapon against its country of origin.
William Haigh died aged just 32 in the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama on September 1, 1923. When Haigh was inducted into the Japanese Football Hall of Fame in 2008, it occurred to Junji Ogura to find out what had been done about the cup after the war. Had the JFA ever formally informed the FA? Had anyone ever apologized? The trophy had led to the birth of the JFA. Was it possible, he wondered, that the FA would allow Japan to use a replica of the cup to revive the tradition that had been so cruelly interrupted by war? With the JFA set to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2011, there was surely no more fitting way of marking the occasion than by reviving the trophy that had played such an important role at the association's founding all those years ago.
Fortunately, newspaper articles and other sources made it possible to ascertain the size, weight, and design of the lost cup. Research carried out by a JFA employee undergoing training at the FA in London revealed that the company that had manufactured the original cup was no longer in business, but enquiries made with similar manufacturers suggested that it would still be possible to have a replica made. The only thing remaining was to obtain permission from the FA.
Earlier this year, Ogura made a stopover in England on his way back to Japan from a FIFA Executive Committee meeting to decide the number of teams from each continent who will participate in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. On March 4, he visited FA headquarters in Wembley Stadium, where he was led into the chairman's office for his first meeting with Bernstein, who had become FA chairman just two months earlier in January this year.
"A cup donated by the English FA was instrumental in the foundation of the JFA. Unfortunately, the original cup was donated to the war effort during World War II. I want to offer my apologies for what happened, and to ask for your permission to make a replica. The original was lost as a result of the tragedy of war?we want to revive the cup and use it to remind young people that the mistakes of the past must never be repeated."
At first, Bernstein looked surprised.
"This is the first time I have ever heard about the early background of the JFA," he said. Visibly moved, he went on with emotion in his voice. "What you've told me is a wonderful story. After what I've heard, I don't think that simply giving permission for a replica cup would be enough."
Now it was Ogura's turn to be surprised. "We'll make a new trophy and present it to you at Wembley," Bernstein said. With the top executives of the respective associations personally involved, the details were smoothed out in next to no time. It was arranged that the new cup would be ready in time for celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the JFA on September 12, and that an official presentation would take place at Wembley on August 23.
What should the JFA do to mark its 90th anniversary? When a committee was put together to discuss the question, it came up with the idea of compiling a collection of video images that could be passed on to future generations as an edited archive of Japanese football. Then someone made a suggestion:Given the vital support the JFA has received from so many people from around the world throughout its history, wouldn't it be a fitting gesture to put together something in print to provide people outside Japan with an account of the origins and development of the JFA? And so it was decided to mark the anniversary with a collection of three things: a printed book that would be distributed to representatives of the 208 football associations around the world, the re-launched FA Trophy, and a special commemorative painting of the Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow that is the symbol of the JFA.
Ogura was delighted to accept the new trophy on behalf of the JFA, having regarded Britain as his second home ever since spending time in London as an employee with the Furukawa Electric Company. Sir. Bobby Charlton and former FA Chairman Geoff Thompson had been a great friend of Japan and a fellow member of the FIFA Executive Committee. For Ogura, the donation of the new cup was a reminder of warm personal relationships as well as a gesture of friendship from England to Japan.
How should the new cup be used? In terms of its roots, the original cup was donated with the intention that it should be presented to the "champion club of Japan." The most appropriate thing would therefore be to present the trophy to the winner of the Emperor's Cup competition. Various cups and prizes are given to the winning team at the awards ceremony for the Emperor's Cup, including the Emperor's Cup itself and a cup carrying the name of the competition's media sponsors. But from the JFA, winners have until now received only an official certificate to commemorate their achievement.
A cup of this kind is a precious connection between past, present, and future, passed from one year's champions to the next as a symbol of the game's traditions. A trophy should not be hidden away inside a museum. It should be a living presence in people's lives, a topic of excitement on the lips of fans and players alike.
The JFA's anniversary year of 2011 has seen a number of auspicious achievements for Japanese football, including victory at the Asian Cup in January and the triumphant performance of the Nadeshiko Japan team at the Women's World Cup in July. But 2011 has also been a time of terrible national disaster, with the country still reeling from the unprecedented devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. These trying circumstances have reminded us of the power of sport. Many people in Japan were deeply moved by the performances of the Japanese women's team in Germany, rewarding them shortly after their triumphant return with the prestigious People's Honor Award?the first time this honor has ever been given to a sports team. One major reason why people responded so strongly to the players was surely the way in which their performances underlined for all to see the importance of close ties between teammates. In Japanese, the word used to describe the strong connections of companionship that bind people together is "Kizuna."
A joy shared is a joy doubled. In times of sadness, too, having people around us to share the burden is a vital source of solace and strength. It is the encouragement that comes from our "kizuna" that provides us with the strength to rise above adversity and the courage to overcome our setbacks and misfortunes.
The revival of the FA cup is a powerful symbol of how these ties of friendship and support can transcend national borders and bring people together across the vastness of the seas.
