Powerful Typhoon Affects Rugby World Cup Welcome Events

Tokyo, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--Events planned in Japan for Monday to welcome foreign rugby players taking part in the upcoming World Cup for the sport were called off as powerful Typhoon Faxai disrupted traffic. A flight to take Tongan players from Tokyo International Airport at Haneda to Kochi Ryoma Airport was canceled. As a result, a ceremony to welcome the national team of the Polynesian kingdom, slated to take place at the airport in city of Nankoku in Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, in the morning, was aborted. Also called off was an afternoon event in which the 31 Tongan players were slated to walk around central areas of the city of Kochi, the capital of the prefecture, in four groups and interact with local people. A welcome party for the team planned for the evening is expected to be held as planned. An event planned at Odakyu Electric Railway Co.'s <9007> Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to welcome Australia's national team was called off, after the players' arrival in Japan was delayed. A special Romancecar limited express train decorated with the logo of the Wallabies, due to take six players to the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, was canceled. Odawara is set to host the team's training camp for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. A ceremony to welcome the team at Odakyu's Odawara Station was also canceled. Georgian rugby players' arrival in Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, scheduled for Monday morning, was delayed until the afternoon. The Rugby World Cup is set to start on Sept. 20, when Japan and Russia will face at Tokyo Stadium in the Pool A opening match. END