-Windhoek-The Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology, Toshiei Mizuochi, has congratulated the Namibia Rugby Union on the team’s qualification to the 2019 Rugby World Cup on Monday. Mizuochi is responsible for organising both the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games as Japan will be the first Asian country to host the Rugby World Cup. ”I hear that the Namibian team will be playing in four different pre-fixtures in Japan. There are unique tastes in each region, so I would like your team to enjoy the traditional culture during the competition“ Mizuochi said. Mizuochi, who is currently on an official visit to Namibia, added that the Namibian team will kick off their tournament campaign at the Hanazano Stadium, which is the temple of Japanese Rugby, where all youngsters in Japan allegedly wish to play one day. Namibia will play their last pool game in Kamaishi, one of the many cities that was hit by the 2011 Tsunami. Representatives from Mizuochi’s ministry hope to encourage people in the region through playing some World Cup games at the Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium. After all the formalities, Mizuochi was introduced to the local national players and given a tour of the changing rooms and high performance centre at the Hage Geingob Stadium. The NRU was represented by the vice president Governance, Etienne Coetzee, vice president Rugby, Ivan Gaya, Development Officer, Christo Alexander and Rehabilitation Specialist, Dominic le Roux. ”On behalf of the team and all the management representatives, we would just like to thank you for taking the time to meet all the players and thank you for the congratulations “ said le Roux. Rugby’s biggest show piece kicks off on the 20th of September next year with the opening match being played against Japan and Russia at the Tokyo Stadium; however, Namibia will only play their first match against Italy on the 22nd of September.