On Wednesday, Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi told World Rugby that Japan wants to host the men’s World Cup again,  in 2035. They also wish to host the women’s event in 2037.

The next few World Cup destinations are set in stone. England will host the women’s World Cup in 2025, before Australia stage the men’s World Cup in 2027 and the women’s in 2029. Then everything moves to the United States of America, where they will host the men’s World Cup in 2031 and the women’s in 2033.

Iwabuchi has said that Japan wants Rugby World Cup action on their shoes again and that by then they “want to be the number one team in the world when we host it”. He also explained that “We’ve informed World Rugby that we want to do it then at the earliest (2035), and we will move forward looking at when the conditions allow us to actually host it.”

Japan 2019 was the last World Cup put on with the old model, where host nations must guarantee the funding and financial security of the whole event, as well as all the logistics, themselves. Going forward, World Rugby take on the greater financial and logistical burden, in order, they say, to guarantee the best spectacle possible.

Was the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan a success?

Japan wants Rugby World Cup back, but how bug a success was it last time?

According to Ernst and Young, Rugby World Cup 2019 generated a total of ¥38.9 billion (£259 million) in ticket revenues. It is also estimated that around 242, 000 tourists visited Japan while the event was on. All told, EY reported that nearly £4.3bn was generated in economic output during the 2019 World Cup.

As for television in Japan, reportedly a total cumulative audience of 425 million tuned into RWC 2019. That is more than five times the Japanese viewership for England 2015.

Japan’s Pool A closer against Scotland in Yokohama – hours after Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan – was watched by a domestic peak record TV audience of 54.8 million. During the final, a live average of 17.2 million fans watched on.

Official figures suggest a global cumulative viewership grew from 679 million for England 2015, to 851 million in 2019 – a 26% jump.

Would you like to see Rugby World Cup 2035 back in Japan?

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