(born

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, 8 September 1973), is a former Japanese rugby union player. He played as lock.

Career

Originally from

, Akatsuka was educated at

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

and played for

Kubota Kubota machine is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...

, winning the promotions to Kanto League 3 in 1985, Kanto League 2 in 1991 and Kanto League 1 in 1995. Along with his teammate Hideki Nishida, he was the first Kubota player to play internationally for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Akatsuka was first capped in 1994, during the match against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, at Ehime, on 8 May 1994. He also took part at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

, where he played only in the match against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, in Bloemfontein. After a nine years void, he was called in the Japanese national team by the then-coach

Jean-Pierre Élissalde Jean-Pierre Élissalde (born 31 December 1953) is a rugby union coach and former player. Playing career Élissalde began his career with his local team La Rochelle. He went on to play for Bayonne for two years between 1978 and 1980 before returnin ...

in 2005. Akatsuka last played for Japan against

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, on 25 November 2006.Meiji: le rival mythique de Waseda
/ref>

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akatsuka, Takashi 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Osaka Japanese rugby union players Rugby union locks Japan international rugby union players Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players