Japanese city turns red to welcome Wales squad
Kokura Castle has turned red to welcome the Wales squad to the city of Kitakyushu for a six-day camp in preparation for the Rugby World Cup WALES are set for the warmest of welcomes when they travel to Kitakyushu, for the Japanese city has quite literally been turned red.
Wales has become the city’s second team and has turned itself red in preparation for the players’ arrival, ahead of a six-day camp to prepare for the Rugby World Cup.
After arriving in Japan earlier this week, the squad have spent the last two days in Tokyo but they will be made to feel right at home when they up sticks to Kitakyushu.
For months, emergency vehicles and buses have turned red with the Welsh flag painted on the side.
A huge sign will greet the team at the airport and they won’t be able to escape their own faces as they wander around the city. The railway station has banners or flags hanging on just about every wall and pillar, and the trend continues throughout the city’s shopping arcades.
Local schoolchildren have been wowing WRU employees with brilliant renditions of the Welsh national anthem during school visits.
And the Kokura Castle, originally built in the 16th century, is already illuminated in red in preparation of the players’ arrival. It’s hoped thousands will turn up to watch Gatland’s men put through their paces in an open training session on Monday.
The special welcome is part of a legacy programme in the area to grow the sport of rugby and to whip up support for Wales ahead of the RWC.
The WRU have made a number of trips over in the last year and a half, with Ryan Jones Rhys Williams joined by community coaches and regional managers to help deliver courses, events and rugby festivals for the locals.
“It’s been an amazing partnership and the city have worked really hard with us. This is the culmination of all that,” said Williams.