Business English and Sport: The Rugby World Cup 2019

Published: on 17 May 2016

With the aim of increasing Japan’s bilingualism, in 2015 Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced a plan that would see a native English speaker in every elementary and junior high school. While there can be no doubting Abe’s continual drive towards improving English in the Japanese educational system, many observers felt that this was, in part, due to concerns that Japan may be shown up for its low English literacy levels when the Olympics arrive in Tokyo in 2020.

Whether this is the case or not, there can be no doubt that the influx of tourism brought by the games means big business, and companies wishing to take advantage of this may too be evaluating their staff and considering their ability to communicate with international customers.

But while Abe and others may be looking towards 2020, many more are looking a year sooner to 2019 when the Rugby World Cup (RWC) comes to Japan.

Traditionally rugby hasn’t been a big draw in Japan, but following the national team’s shock dramatic victory over South Africa, one of the tournament favorites of the 2015 World Cup in England, the Brave Blossoms have risen in prominence. Their kicker, Ayumu Goromaru, in particular has become a household name and can frequently be seen making television appearances and promoting a wide range of products.

And so, with this inflated interest on Japanese rugby and the influx of foreign fans expected — nearly 2.5 million people attended the 2015 tournament making it the third highest ticketing sports event in the world behind the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics — surely businesses must be focusing on how they can take advantage of it.

Toyota City in Aichi, home of the motoring corporation that bears its name, was chosen as one of the 12 host cities of the games with matches to be played at its 45,000 capacity Toyota Stadium. The realization that vast numbers of international visitors would be descending upon their city has sparked the city council into action, and they have taken it upon themselves to find ways of making the games a more enjoyable experience for visitors as well as a profitable one for the city’s businesses.

Carl Taffe, Coordinator for International Affairs at Toyota City Hall, has been part of this drive:

“There has been a motivation towards the internationalization of the city. We want the city to be able to welcome international visitors and for the citizens to share our hospitality with as many visitors as possible, especially the significant number of rugby fans … who are also expected to bring a substantial amount of business to the city.”

With the RWC in mind, Toyota City Council has been running schemes to assist the local population in their development of English. Participants taking part in the schemes have included city officials, firefighters, volunteers, as well as children in the early stages of their educational experience.

As a follow-up to this, the council approached a local business association, designated as “ambassadors of hospitality” by the city’s mayor Toshihiko Ota, to gauge potential interest in English lessons for their members. The results were extremely positive.

“When the business association’s head was approached with the proposal to offer the group business English lessons in preparation for RWC 2019,” said Taffe, “they indicated that their group had already begun discussing the employment of language professionals to assist them towards that end.”

Following the council’s approach, the association, with the primary motivation of expressing hospitality to the RWC fans, eagerly took up the business English language course and according to Taffe, “to say that the business community is jubilantly anticipating the RWC would be understating their excitement.”

So with this smaller community galvanizing their citizens into developing their English abilities and thus embracing the coming RWC and hopefully reaping the potential commercial gains, what of the nation’s capital?

The tournament’s opening ceremony and inaugural match will be held at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium, thus bringing the same potential advantages for local businesses to the city. However, as a municipality that is already greatly internationalized, it is perhaps not surprising that the RWC is having less of an impression on the need for English speakers.

“We are yet to see a great impact of the Rugby World Cup on our clients,” said Matthew Nicholls, MD at RDF HR Agent Japan, the bilingual recruitment arm of Japan’s largest human resources agency, Recruit. “However, it is certainly beginning to start a conversation.”

Nicholls predicts that if businesses are smart, they will be looking for temporary and contract staff, particularly in sectors such as retail and hospitality, with keen business English communication skills. But while he is yet to see the RWC as a catalyst for the recruitment of English speakers in the capital, he can certainly see a correlation in the business community with PM Abe’s desire for a more bilingual nation.

“Whether or not the Rugby World Cup or the Olympics are factors, the market is naturally moving towards English. More international companies are coming to Japan and domestic companies are opening international divisions. And with a potential 20% higher salary for an English speaker, candidates are moving in that direction.”

So, while the RWC may have less of an early impact in Tokyo than the smaller municipalities it is set to visit, it is clear that English is just as high on the capital’s companies’ agendas as it is on that of the National Diet.

However, in the more provincial areas, it seems that there is a potential for a lasting legacy in bringing English to the country, something that Carl Taffe saw from the successes of the Toyota City Business English scheme.

“There was a noticeable improvement in the participants’ English ability, and we were able to arouse interest within the group to continue pursuing the study of English and help to inspire their robust passion to rally towards RWC 2019 and beyond.”

Written by Mark Guthrie, an English teacher living and working in Japan. Mark can be found on Twitter @markwguthrie and on Gaijinpot.

Photo credit: Patrick Bolger for Getty

Originally published at www.getnewsmart.com.