The sight of a couple of matches in the recent FIFA World Cup being heavily disrupted by thunderstorms was something of a new experience for many sports fans outside certain parts of the United States. Lightning strikes quickly though and within two weeks of that tournament ending it happened in Japan too.

The sports venue in question was Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium near Gaienmae station in Shibuya-ku. However, the iconic home of rugby in Tokyo was not being used for egg-chasing on this occasion as it was hosting the semi-finals of the World Lacrosse Women’s Championships Tokyo 2026.

For three consecutive summers, I’ve seen a different sport played at this rugby ground. There was football in 2024, American Football last year and this time it was lacrosse which is a sport I have actually seen once (also on a rugby pitch but in Edogawa-ku that time) before but my knowledge going into these semis was still very limited.

Free curry bread and pot noodles for visitors to freely take on entry was music to my ears!

Beforehand I was probably just expecting a few hundred Japanese people to be in attendance with the majority of them being members of Lacrosse clubs at local universities. They were indeed present but the overwhelming majority of the thousand plus crowd were all foreigners. It really was quite an eye-opener in terms of the attendants.

Lacrosse may be a minor sport in my world but it seems like it has many fans in certain countries who travel the world to see their countries in competition. I may be completely wrong but I think the majority of them travelled far for this 16-team tournament.

All other matches in this ten-day tournament took place at Oi Hockey Stadium in Shinagawa on blue synthetic turf so it was probably quite a change for the four teams playing on this day.

The first match of the day was between Canada and Haudenosaunee with the latter being a place I was completely unfamiliar with until earlier that week when I started to follow the earlier stages of the tournament in preparation for my attendance at the semi-finals. For the record, Haudenosaunee is an alliance of sovereign Indigenous nations in the north-eastern region of North America.

Hydration breaks in the recent World Cup caused something of a stir but they have been around for a while in the hot and humid Japanese summer season so it was no surprise to see a few here. Known as mizu (water) time or a water break, they are for just a minute without any tactical input from the coaches.

Another major talking point from the World Cup was the detection of lightning in the surrounding area.

Despite recent weather conditions becoming more and more volatile and unpredictable in Tokyo I’d never given any thought to such a thing happening here but after the first three quarters had been played the players left the pitch and the crowd were asked to take shelter in the upper area of the main stand. Rain never appeared and neither was there really any lightning unlike the night before when I’d ridden home from work amidst a sky of colour akin to a Jean-Michel Jarre light show concert!

After an hour, play finally resumed and Canada absolutely dominated possession and added about another half a dozen goals to their tally to take them through to the final in style. To be fair, they’d probably sealed victory in the first quarter.

Final Score: Canada 18-5 Haudenosaunee

Following the ball in Lacrosse is not always easy and it took me a while to get used to the style of the game but by the time the second semi-final started at 7:40 pm (instead of 7:00 pm) I was more accustomed to it all. When the USA went 3-1 up in the first quarter I thought it might already be game over but Israel struck back twice in quick succession to level things up.

Thoughts of a close encounter going down to the wire soon became a distant thought as the USA took control and blitzed their way to a big lead going in at half time.

There was yet another stoppage in the first quarter but this time it was for the fireworks display going on next door at the Jingu Stadium!

The USA ran riot as the match continued leading to a match up with Canada in the final two days later which they also romped.

Final Score: Israel 7-19 United States

A match being held up due to lightning being detected in the surrounding area was a new experience for me but it wouldn’t be long until it happened again! Not long at all as it happened 24 hours later just down the road at the nearby National Stadium which was hosting an international friendly football match between FC Tokyo and German giants Borussia Dortmund.

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