Katsuhiko Oku (奥克彦 ''Oku Katsuhiko'', 3 January 1958 – 29 November 2003) was a Japanese diplomat who played rugby for

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

. In Britain he was known as "Katsu".

Character and life

A very popular and dynamic personality, he later became a diplomat and was sent from the Japanese embassy in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

where he was killed by unknown assailants with his colleague Masamori Inoue and their Iraqi driver when their car was ambushed on 29 November 2003. He was promoted posthumously to ambassador in recognition of his work by the

Japanese foreign ministry The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organi ...

(Gaimusho). Oku made a point of visiting many countries and finding out what the local people wanted. He saw it as the first duty of a diplomat. Since 2004 an Oku Memorial Trophy has been contested annually in Richmond, London by the Kew Occasionals club (founded by Katsu Oku's good friend Reg Clark), London Japanese RFC and some Japanese teams. (See RFU's official newspaper ''Touchline'', February 2007 issue).

Charitable fund

A charitable fund has been set up in his name for the children of Iraq and a collection at the 2004

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

went towards that fund. Proceeds from the recent game in Japan between Waseda and Oxford (which Waseda won for the first time ever) also went to the fund, and the game was called the Katsuhiko Oku Memorial match. It was played on 20 September 2004 and Waseda won 25-9. The average weight of the forwards was Oxford 107 kg, Waseda 99 kg. The record now stands at one win, one draw and ten losses.

Katsuyuki Kiyomiya is a notable Japanese rugby union coach, formerly of Waseda University RFC (2001–06) and now (since 2006) of Suntory Sungoliath. Many in Japan had hoped he would coach the national side in the future however after he criticized the then cur ...

, the coach of Waseda's highly successful rugby team 2001–2006, was a friend of Mr. Oku, and is a trustee of his memorial fund in Japan. Together they invented a slogan "ULTIMATE CRUSH".

References

ULTIMATE CRUSH: Waseda University Rugby, Leadership and Building the Strongest Winning Team in Japan
by Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, translated into English by Ian Ruxton (September 2006).

References

External links

The Oku-Inoue fund
for the children of Iraq (English version)
Waseda University Rugby Football Club
(in Japanese)
Oxford University Rugby Football Club

London Japanese Rugby Football Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oku, Katsuhiko 1958 births 2003 deaths 2003 murders in Iraq Japanese diplomats Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Japanese people murdered abroad Japanese people of the Iraq War Male murder victims People murdered in Iraq Unsolved murders in Iraq Waseda University alumni Waseda University Rugby Football Club players

Character and life

Charitable fund

See also

References

References

External links