Touch rugby gives American troops a workout and a social circle in Japan

Every Thursday evening, players gather at Yokota Air Base for touch rugby. Edmund Gadomski passes the ball during a weekly touch rugby match on Samurai Field at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Oct. 22, 2026. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes) YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A growing group of U.S. military members and their families is finding that rugby can deliver a serious workout — and a social life — without the physical punishment. Every Thursday evening, players gather at this airlift hub in western Tokyo for touch rugby, a fast-paced, gentler version of a sport famous for its bruising tackles and bone-crushing collisions. Air Force Maj. Sarah Brown-Fernandez, a nurse with the 374th Medical Group, and her husband, Eric, started the Yokota Touch Rugby Club in April after moving from Florida, where they also played.

What began with fewer than a dozen players has grown to a group of 94, with about 20 typically showing up each week, Eric Brown-Fernandez said on the sidelines of a recent match at Yokota’s Samurai Field. The rules are simple enough for newcomers to learn quickly. Instead of tackling an opponent, defenders stop the ball carrier with a touch. Play restarts when the ball is rolled backward, and teams have six touches to score by grounding the ball beyond the goal line. Forward passes are