JAPAN WE SALUTE YOU

This post does not involve talking about the weather (hurrah) or even me bleating on about a conspiracy to deny Scotland a QF place at the expense of the hosts. It simply celebrates the amazing people of Japan, who have welcomed fans of all nationalities with open arms.

OATH is fortunate to have a roving reporter in Alan "Doylie" Doyle out in Tokyo, Shizuoka and Yokohama (at his expense) to experience the hospitality first hand.

He are his thoughts:

"The Japanese people are illuminating this tournament. Today's memories include an amazing high school swing band in the fan park who reduced 1000 steaming Scots to mesmerised respectful silence through sheer quality of performance and great use of humour, the fans who turn up in the full kit of their adopted team with anthem pre memorised (Flower Of Scotland has only been heard louder at Murrayfield), the dozens of people who shyly stopped us for photographs in our kilts, the multiple people who went out of their way to congratulate us on our win when we were out in Hamamatsu celebrating and finally the group of salarymen who latched onto our celebration, bought us dinner and drinks and paid for our taxi home! As Father Ted would have put it "The Japanese. A grand bunch of lads"