Noriyasu Takahira will be awarded the OSS Taisho Star

We are excited to announce two upcoming award ceremonies in Japan this year. The award ceremonies will be held by the Japan branch OSS in Kofu and in Nagasaki. They will be led by Kazuo Yamazaki, Daisuke Matsunaga and Prof. Will Reed. We will announce all the awardees shortly.

Great Shogun OSS Noriyasu Takahira will be awarded the Taisho Star during the OSS Japan special ceremony in November 2020.

Japan Rugby World Cup

Noriyasu Takahira was born in Nagasaki on 9th February 1957. He began working for Nagasaki City Hall in 1979 till 2017. During which time he became the director of sports. He had the vision to create a Rugby camp in Nagasaki City for the 2019 Rugby World Cup held in Japan. During that period he visited Scotland twice, including Aberdeen. 

For the Rugby World Cup ceremony, “Nagasaki Yokabai” a large choir was created to promote the “1000 people chorus” planned by the Scottish Rugby Union’s Nagasaki camp and their welcome party on 12th September, where more than 200 Japanese citizens enthusiastically sang ‘Flower Of Scotland’

Today, since 2017, Noriyasu Takahira is Director of Administration at the Nagasaki Foundation for Promotion of Peace. The foundation is involved in the operation of the ‘National Peace Memorial Hall‘ for the atomic bomb victims, and the remembrance of the nuclear bomb experience on a civilian population. Such an event has unthinkable, devastating consequences on victims, survivors and future generations, with broader implications for the global community. The hall commemorates the sacrifices and sufferings of the Nagasaki bomb victims. It aims to celebrate everlasting peace, by deepening the understanding of the catastrophe inflicted on both Nagasaki and Hiroshima among the people of the world. The foundation seeks to pass these lessons on to future generations, in the hope that the children of tomorrow will not inherit mistakes from the past. The Memorial halls also carry out a function in gathering and researching information on materials related to radiation exposure. They are sharing knowledge across the world about the realities of an atomic detonation with the hope it will never happen again. 

Noriyasu is also a keen karate enthusiast holding a 4th Dan in Nagasaki style Shotokan Karate.