Items Related to E.B. Clarke, the Father of Japanese Rugby

Keio University's 2026 began at "Hanazono." The Shiki High School Rugby Football Club made its first appearance in the National High School Rugby Football Tournament and advanced to the top 16. This became a major topic of conversation among Keio students and Keio University alumni during the New Year holidays, marking a moment when a new page was added to the history of Keio rugby.

A collection of items formerly owned by Edward Bramwell Clarke is deeply connected to the first page of that history. Born in Yokohama in 1874, Clarke was educated at the Victoria Public School in the foreign settlement and other institutions. After spending time in North America and Jamaica, he earned a degree from Cambridge University and was appointed as a teacher at Keio University in 1899. It was his teaching of rugby to Keio students who had too much free time in the autumn and winter, along with his friend Ginnosuke Tanaka, that opened the door for rugby in Japan. In 1901, the first historic match against a foreign team from Yokohama was held, and in 1903, the Rugby Football Club joined the Athletic Association with Clarke as its director.

The cap with the pelican emblem on the bottom right is a graduate cap from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, where Clarke studied. The culture of giving such caps to graduates was likely brought to the Rugby Football Club in its early days through Clarke and Tanaka and was called the "Eton Cap." On the bottom left is a patch sewn onto the surface of that cap. It is believed that the members devised the design, which features the letters "K" and "O" (with plant decorations) and The Pen Mark with the character for "Dai" (large) inside. The date "1902-04" is the oldest existing one.

Then there is the object. The pedestal is made of heavy marble, and the ball is made of copper. On the back of the pedestal, though some parts are chipped and unreadable, it is engraved: "30th Anniversary of Founding. Expressing sincere gratitude to the first rugby instructor in Japan. 1931 [unreadable] Keio University Rugby Football Club." This is thought to be a commemorative item from the 30th Anniversary Rugby Tournament held in April 1931 at the Nitta Ground (now the north side of Musashi-Nitta Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line, around Chidori 2-chome, Ota City), which was the home base of the Rugby Football Club. Clarke, who was working at Kyoto Imperial University at the time, was absent due to a delay in receiving the invitation, but he sent a letter reminiscing about the old days. Clarke passed away in 1934 and is buried in the Kobe Municipal Foreign Cemetery. These precious items that convey the origins of Japanese rugby were entrusted to the donor, who had interacted with Clarke's granddaughter in Kobe, and were donated to Keio University last year. They are currently on display at the Keio History Museum on the Mita Campus (until March 2).

(Hiroshi Yokoyama, Specialist, Keio History Museum)