India-Japan at hockey: When Japan Prime Minister travelled with Indian team in the train.

Historically speaking, but for Emperor Japan’s willingness to take part against odds, the Olympic hockey event of the 1932 Olympics would not have taken place.

The Great India, which would later become the undisputed hero for six more hockey Olympic hockey titles, would not have made the incomparable record but for Japan’s participation in Los Angles. There would have been a break, as recession spoilt Los Angles Olympics saw leading world powers giving a bye.

Japan, then a sporting power, far and higher than India, having taken part in the Olympics 1912 onwards, and have won eight medals till then, agreed to the Indian proposal of sending a field hockey team to Los Angles. Fittingly, then reigning Olympic hockey champions India toured Japan en route American sea journey as a return gesture. Ironically, Indian team sailed to the Olympics in a Japanese liner Tatsuta Maru.

When Indian team halted at Tokyo after brief stays at Kobe and Hong Kong, it presented them an opportunity to play Test match in the summer of 1932, which is the first ever hockey Test match between these two Asian hockey nations.

The first test match between them ended 11-0 in favour of India.

An incident occurred during the visit.

When the Indian team was travelling from Kobe to Tokyo, at about 9 pm a quite Japanese gentleman got into the train and occupied a seat in the compartment next to Indian team manager Pankaj Gupta. Journalist Pankaj wanted to pick up a conversation with him. He asked the train conductor who he was. It was none other than Prime Minister of Japan!

This bit of information is explained in a player’s personal memoir .

India later went on to defeat Japan at the Los Angles Olympics (11-1), but the fact is Japan is the first country to score against India at the Olympics! Legendary Richard Allan in goal was beaten for once. For India which did not concede single goal in the previous Olympics and also in many others subsequently, this goal had been an eye opener.

Beating Japan by dozen goals did not continue for longer.

Japan offered great resistance to India at the second most popular of hockey events after Olympics, namely the Asian Games when the competitions like World Cup, Champions Trophy were yet to don on the hockey horizon. World Cup came into being in the early 70s while the Champions Trophy in the late 70s.

Yes, it’s a fact that India defeated Japan with one-sided scores in first two Asian Games, 8-0, 7-0 respectively in 1958 and 1962, but the competitions have become tighter and tighter as years went by.

Often India struggled to get past Japan at crucial juncture at Asian hockey. A perennial semifinalist to lock horns against India at the Asian Games, India often won by breadth of a hair, especially in 1970 and 1998 editions. In 1998 — when India won the Asian Games gold after a gap of 32 years — Japan almost undid India when Kenichi Katayama struck in the 40th minute to reduce the score to 2-1 and then went on to miss a couple of penalty corners. A mesmeric field goal by Dhanraj Pillay saved India from the semifinal blues.

The scores from 3rd Asian Games vouchsafe for the fact that Japan is no more a push over.

1966 ; 3-0 semifinal
1970: 1-0 semifinal
1974: 3-0 league
1978: 2-0 2-0 semifinal
1982: 7-2 semifinal
1986: 3-1 league
1990: 3-0 league
1994: 1-0 semifinal
1998: 3-1 Semifinal
2002: 3-0 league
2006: did not meet

Old timers give lot of credit to Japan in the Asian context. Japan had been a force to reckon with, ranking only below India and Pakistan. India, a reluctant visitor to Asian countries in the 50s through 80s, chose to visit Japan in 1967 (see pics).

This was India’s return gesture and also preparation for the Mexico Olympics. Till then only Japan had been visiting India.

First visit of Japan: The visitors played at Kolkata, Lucknow, New Delhi, Amritsar and Bombay. In all five matches, winning nil, losing all, striking only two goals while conceding 25. The 1951 visit was a learning curve for the land of rising sun.

Second Visit of Japan: 13 years later, Japan came to India. Matches were played at Bombay, New Delhi, Patiala, Ldhiana and Amritsar. Japan just struck a goal in the whole tour, while India won all the test matches though with respectable scores.

Third Visit of Japan: Next year Japan toured some north Indian cities and played four test matches. This time the feature is Japan did not come to play test matches in India, but to play in the Nehru Cup. Then IHF just lapped it up on the opportunity to play them in a test series.

Japanese men hardly visited India in the last three decades, excepting 1986, but that credit went to their female counterparts. India-Japan women hockey is a special subject, which pioneered Asian Women’s Hockey.

However, Japan’s men team often came close to upset the applecart of India in the synthetic era.

2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup is a classic example. India met Japan in the opener, and it was billed by the media as the easiest of the rivals. But the reverse set in. Japan spoilt the Cedric-Dhillon party in the opener. India hardly managed a draw 2-2 again through a late goal by Dhanraj Pillay doing the magic. Goal tenders of Japan, Kazuyuki Ozawa and Tahakiko Yamabori almost came close to strike again.

This writer returned to hotel from the stadium in the same bus the Japanese were returning, and their joy in the entire trip was seen to be believed. A world Cup opener against reigning Asian Games champions ended in draw, their joy was truly justified.

Japanese women, on the other hand, mostly got upper hand over Indian girls, be it Asia Cup or Asian Games. When Japan is defeated, a bronze is sure for India nowadays, but we will reserve this women’s rivalry for a later date. That time we will cherish the likes of Sakae Morimotos.

Japanese hockey is mainly university-driven, always youthful teams but veteran do come by. Japan men at present seeks to establish their Asian hold which they lost to Malaysia and China of late. With Chinese men on downhill due to paucity of funds, Japan sees their chances to bounce back, and that is how they are here in India.

Last time Japan came to India was 2007 Asia Cup. India could beat them 4-1 in the semifinal with goals coming from Shivender Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Roshan Minz.

A couple of months before the Chennai Asia Cup, Japan went down to India in the Champion Challenge Cup at an encouraging score of 3-4. There in Boom, India was comfortably placed 3-1 at half time but thereafter a goal each by Keninichi Katayama and Takahiko Yamabori threatened a draw.

Japan is the most unexpected of visitor to India. This series in fact comes like a bolt from the blue. Japan comes to India after a gap of 7 years. Not much is known about them, but the fact is that Japan is friend of India, a traditional rival on the sports fields.

Fit and energetic, Japan will do all it can to do better against the hosts.

Pic Captions

India and Nippon (Japan) teams line up before a match in 1967

Indian vice-captain Haripal Kaushik negotiating the ball among a maze of Japanese legs and sticks

Coverage of Indian visit by a Japan newspaper Year 1960s

Japanese crowd enjoying an encounter with visiting Indian team