Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As the Blue Jays return to Tokyo this June, Johns Hopkins' role in fostering lacrosse in Japan is remembered. In the mid 1980's, 10 friends from Keio University connected with Hopkins with the desire to launch a lacrosse program in Japan. Exchange trips, summer camps, and other training followed. Now, forty years later, that country has world rankings, and the many friendships made along the way endure. "The Japan lacrosse heritage or spirit always comes from the Hopkins DNA," according to Yusuke Sasaki, one of the original players and current president of the Japan Lacrosse Association. Visit https://giving.jhu.edu/lacrosse-makes-friends-between-jhu-japan to learn more.
Video by Renee Fischer
As the Blue Jays return to Tokyo this June, Johns Hopkins' role in fostering lacrosse in Japan is remembered. In the mid 1980's, 10 friends from Keio University connected with Hopkins with the desire to launch a lacrosse program in Japan. Exchange trips, summer camps, and other training followed. Now, forty years later, that country has world rankings, and the many friendships made along the way endure. "The Japan lacrosse heritage or spirit always comes from the Hopkins DNA," according to Yusuke Sasaki, one of the original players and current president of the Japan Lacrosse Association. Visit https://giving.jhu.edu/lacrosse-makes-friends-between-jhu-japan to learn more.
Video by Renee Fischer
