As a Brit living in Japan, I really have mixed emotions when either Great Britain or England play against Japan in any sporting competition. It is admittedly not the biggest rivalry but for any sports fans in my situation it is one that matters but such meetings really have been infrequent during all the time I’ve lived in Tokyo.

In tennis, Great Britain defeated Japan 2-1 in the United Cup in January and 2-0 in the Billie Jean King Cup last year having lost 3-2 in the Davis Cup before that. England lost a friendly football match to Japan in March and two years ago the England rugby union team beat the Brave Blossoms when they visited Japan for the first time since 1979. Other than that, I can’t really remember too many other recent match ups of importance to me, but a new one recently appeared on the sporting calendar, and I was there for it.

Needing some exercise and wanting to save a bit of money I decided (perhaps foolishly!) to cycle for an hour down to Sumida on a boiling hot Friday afternoon in mid-July when temperatures were in the mid-30s! The location was Sumida City Gymnasium a.k.a. Higashin Arena which is located near Tokyo Sky Tree and a place I’ve watched sport at before.

The previous occasion was for handball but this time it was for wheelchair basketball where a tri-nations tournament was taking place over two days involving Japan, Great Britain and Turkey. This Sumida Nations Cup saw the trio of teams playing each other twice. The two daytime matches were free to watch but the evening one involved a fee. Britain defeated Japan in the previous evening’s match but thankfully this one on day two was a freebie.

After struggling to find a place to park my bicycle for free I was a little late for the start and so joined the action in the first quarter amidst a stronger than expected partisan home crowd.

I can’t pretend to have known any of the Great Britain team but for a site called Tokyo Fox I was naturally delighted to see that there was a player called Ben Fox among the ranks.

The action on court naturally swung back and forth as is the way in most basketball games.

During the half time break I wandered off to see what was happening beside the court and came across the following photo opportunity.

There were some drawings on the wall done by local high school kids wishing messages of luck to those involved.

Back in my seat for the third quarter, I realised that the person who took my picture was actually the guy sat next to me.

It was a highly competitive match as indeed I expected having seen a bit of it in previous Paralympic games. It seemed like a quite dirty match at times and for a novice it seemed more like a wheelchair rugby one at times. As the match drew to a close and Britain were behind the screen did flash up a message saying that the offence committed was for an unsportsmanlike foul.

It says unsportsmanlike foul

Japan eventually reigned supreme having been the stronger and more accurate team in the final two quarters.

Final Score: Japan 61-57 Great Britain

The British team seemed to have a lot to discuss at the end. Thankfully for such a minor sport I didn’t have to endure any gloating or chat about the match from any of my students!

Bonus: This international match wasn’t my first time to watch wheelchair basketball as I saw a couple of the 50th Emperor’s Cup matches at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium last year.

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