TV commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith reflects on his own rugby experiences in Japan and looks forward to returning for Round 7 of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Sometimes it doesn't seem so long ago that Sri Lanka was called Ceylon, Hong Kong was a proud outpost of the GB Empire and the IRB (still the IB) had only just increased the value of the try to four points from three!

I was with England on a rugby flag-waving mission across the Far East, taking in Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. Seven matches in 17 days, including six internationals. No recovery rests and no prima donnas wrapped in cotton wool back in those days - just the regular salt tablets to counter the exhaustion of playing in sweltering mid-afternoon heat, fed to us by the sole member of our 'back-up' staff, Dr 'Salty' Kemp.

We did have a coach though. "You're playing for this," he would say in his broad Lancastrian accent, "this on your chest - the bloody rose!" A proud Englishman he was, John Burgess, or Bogus-san as he came to be known in Tokyo.

As for our team, it was a pretty useful outfit under the retiring Budge Rogers with the likes of Fran Cotton, Tony Neary, Roger Uttley, John Finlan, Jan Webster, Bob Lloyd, Peter Wheeler and Pete Larter.

I digress. It's just that the thought of returning to Tokyo - the focal point of that tour - will take me back for the third time to the very same stadium where England played Japan in the second of those first-ever tests and hammered them ... two penalties to one!

Little did I imagine that I would be back there two years ago. It was in that same stadium, named after the lady Princess Chichibu, for the Junior World Championship 2009. Smart, well-surfaced and compact, little had changed, though the crowd was not quite as substantial as when filled to capacity for England's maiden visit. That said, the crowd was certainly as enthusiastic, and definitely more rugby-knowledgeable.

New Sevens adventure

And now an even more exciting venture is imminent as Tokyo returns to the international Sevens scene as round seven of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Few will recall that Tokyo was one of the inaugural hosts in the first IRB Series, back in the days when Fiji and New Zealand were alone in ruling the roost. Fiji won there in 2000, New Zealand the following year, though it's worth recalling how home teams find inspiration in front of their home crowd, for Japan's best result in 40 events in the IRB Sevens was in that very first season when they won the Plate final, beating Papua New Guinea in Tokyo.

Not until now have Japan begun to fully take on board the game of Sevens, with their professional clubs not freely releasing players to represent their nation in Sevens events.

In past seasons Japan have dwelt amongst the Shield and Bowl aspirants, losing at the Bowl quarter final stage in the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009, but with recent Asian Sevens Series developments, a sharp upturn in Sevens activity in universities and the development of national Sevens squads for both men and women we can now expect a significant advance by the time of the Olympic qualifying events for 2016.

The Tokyo Sevens will be a fascinating experience for first-time visitors, players and spectators alike in a city of some 13 million.

Teeming streets and frantic shoppers; marvelous, immaculate, thronging Metro systems; sky-high buildings – and all set against the serene backdrop of the calm and the cultural treasures of the Imperial Palace, the gardens, shrines, temples and galleries, the courteous people and kind hosts.

It will all go towards making this a memorable tournament in its welcome return to the Sevens world.