Pacific Rim Bowl builds a cultural bridge between Rogue Valley, Japan
Published 6:06 am Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Football players from Ashland, Phoenix gear up for 18th meeting with Japan All-Stars to culminate event-filled week
One high school football team working on becoming a cohesive unit on the artificial turf at Walter A. Phillips Field in Ashland, another doing likewise on the adjacent grass field at Ashland High.
Two countries, one common goal in a cultural exchange unlike any other in Oregon prep football history.
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A week of activities leading up to Friday’s 18th Pacific Rim Bowl began Monday morning when the Japan All-Stars and a team featuring Ashland — and, for the first time, Phoenix High players — donned their pads for practice.
Players from the Kansai region in Japan enjoy a light-hearted moment at Walter A. Phillips Field in Ashland after Monday’s first practice for the Pacific Rim Bowl. (Kris Henry / Rogue Valley Times)
It’s a tradition that dates back to 1988, when a cultural and athletic exchange was born from a partnership between former Ashland High head coach Jim Nagel and Akira Furukawa, chairman of the American Football Association (Western Conference) in Japan.
“It’s super fun,” said Ashland senior tight end and linebacker Ayden Welch, who will be playing in his second PRB. “I’m looking forward to every day. This week’s going to go by fast, and I’m going to miss it, so you’ve really got to take it in right now.”
The Pacific Rim Bowl was designed to feature exhibition contests every two years in July at alternating sites, with the Japanese squad earning a 47-14 win in 2023 when the teams met in Kobe, Japan, to take a 9-8 advantage in the series.
That game was the first in-county meeting since 2017 due to COVID restrictions in 2021. This year’s matchup will be the first at Ashland High since 2011, after artificial turf installation resulted in the game being played at SOU’s Raider Stadium in 2015 and the 2019 contest was moved to North Bend due to air quality issues brought on by smoke in the Rogue Valley.
Tuesday’s schedule for the public includes a peace ceremony at 12 p.m. in the Lithia Park Bandshell in Ashland, as well as the Kitchell Summer Games at 5 p.m. at Ashland High, which features 7-on-7 games with other local high school programs and a lineman challenge.
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The Japanese all-star team, which is selected from more than 20 high schools from the Kansai region, will also participate in a trip to Crater Lake and jet boating on the Rogue River intermixed with their practice schedule before a Hall of Fame dinner Thursday night and the Pacific Rim Bowl game at 7 p.m. Friday.
Ashland and Phoenix football players survey the action during Monday’s practice in a buildup toward Friday’s 18th Pacific Rim Bowl against the Japan All-Stars. (Kris Henry / Rogue Valley Times)
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with valid ID for the Pacific Rim Bowl.
The international contingent is staying with host families in Ashland and the Phoenix-Talent area, largely those featuring local football players, throughout the week.
“Over the week, we’re going to have a lot of activities going on and it’s going to be really exciting for us,” said Kosei Kihara, a senior in high school from Kyoto who plays cornerback and is captain of the Japanese team. “Most players in our team haven’t really gone to the U.S. and don’t have experience with English, so that’s going to be a really important experience for not just me but all of us on the PRB team.”
At the heart of it all is the experience for teenagers from each corner of the world, and the common bond forged through their love of football.
“It was just so amazing getting to know all these other guys,” said Ashland senior lineman Liam Puckett of his first PRB in 2023. “There’s so many friendships to be had, it’s awesome. I still communicate with some of them, so there’s just great bonds.”
That sentiment also holds true for the Japanese players, according to Kihara.
Ayden Welch, Ashland football
“In the past, we’ve got a lot of history between the U.S. and Japan, but right now the friendship comes first for the PRB committee,” said the 17-year-old cornerback. “I love how the coaches around me support me to get the team together, and how all of this was planned. I want to thank all my coaches for that.”
Kihara was also thankful for the thoughtfulness already shown by his host family, who provided him a familiar treat with white rice for breakfast Monday and an interest in trying the snacks he brought with him from his home region.
“They understand my culture as well and I try to understand their culture, which makes it a valuable experience,” he said.
Kihara is the most fluent English-speaking player on his team and has traveled to the United States on a few occasions already, and has high hopes of becoming an architecture major at a university in the states like Oregon, Miami, UCLA or USC.
Kosei Kihara, Japan All-Stars captain
“Being selected for the PRB Japan team was really exciting for me, not just competition-wise but I was ready to feel the culture for the U.S. because I’ve wanted to go to a U.S. university from the age of like 6 in elementary school,” he said. “I really am happy to get the experience before college to feel what the U.S. is like living here.”
The Japan All-Stars practiced twice before coming to America, and feature players from the main Western Japan schools in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyōgo and Shiga.
“We’re from different teams, but we love the same sport of football,” said Kihara. “We connect through football, so although there are some language barriers with the teams — they use a different language for football — but the core values of football and fundamental-wise for like pursuit in defense and finishing in offense, that brings the team together.”
The same aspect of building cohesion can also be found in their American counterparts, with the addition of Phoenix this year creating a new wrinkle. The Ashland and Phoenix players will harken back to their football beginnings as the South Valley Wolfpack — a common melding of players from those areas in youth football seasons — for the Pacific Rim Bowl.
Liam Puckett, Ashland football
It’s a welcomed change for those on the Ashland side, which has been a little overwhelmed in recent matchups with Japan, as well as those in a Phoenix football program guided by Charlie Hall.
Ashland’s last PRB win was in 2015, a 31-23 triumph at Raider Stadium.
“It’s made us a lot stronger,” said Puckett. “We’ve had some positions where Phoenix guys have stepped up, and it’s been awesome. It’s kind of like we’re making an all-star team of our own to face them, so it’s getting us better. We’ve lost in the past couple of years, so we needed some help, so it’s good having us all together.”
Hall, who is half Japanese, served 12 years as head football coach at Ashland and six years as head coach at SOU before joining Phoenix. He was part of six Pacific Rim Bowls as head coach, posting a 3-3 record, and played at Southern Oregon University for Chuck Mills, who is regarded as the “father of modern Japanese football.”
Cody Martin, Phoenix football
Mills brought collegiate football to Japan in the 1970s, and laid the groundwork in Japan for future partnerships with American players.
Hall will serve as South Valley head coach, and first-year Ashland head coach Greg White will serve as assistant head coach. Japan is led by head coach Masaharu Nakao.
Phoenix senior running back Cody Martin said he didn’t really know about the Pacific Rim Bowl until Hall let his players know that a union had been formed this year with Ashland for the game, and was immediately excited by the prospect of being included.
“I was super excited, I thought it was the coolest thing,” said Martin. “I’m really interested in Japanese culture, and being able to meet people from Japan and talk to them and bond with them over a sport that we both love, it’s an experience like no other.”
While Friday’s game may culminate the week, Martin said the final score takes a backseat to the cultural aspects of the teams coming together.
Aaden Reyna, Phoenix football
“I’m most looking forward to meeting the Japanese players,” he said. “I look forward to making friends with them, maybe lifelong friends even, where maybe I go visit them sometimes. That would be pretty cool.”
Phoenix senior lineman Aaden Reyna has a similar outlook on what this week truly is about.
“You really don’t want to put it as just football,” said Reyna, who has Japanese ancestry on his maternal side of the family. “We’re not here to just be social or here to just play a game. We’re here to show them how it is down here in Southern Oregon and to just have all of us come together and share the culture. We’re all going to be friends even after how the game goes. We’re going to have a great connection and hopefully get a lot of photos together after the game.”
“There’s going to be a lot of hits, but there’s going to be no enemies after the game,” he added. “We’re all going to be stoked to have a great connection and all be friends.”
Puckett said the language barrier is easily overcome by just being patient and working through communications between players. If there’s still a breakdown, translators for the Japanese side help bridge the gap, or Google translate is another helpful tool.
While camaraderie and broadening horizons is the ultimate goal of the PRB, it’s only human nature to want to be on the victorious side once the clock runs out Friday night, and Welch knows all-too-well the challenges in competing with the Japan All-Stars.
A Japan All-Stars quarterback finds an open target for a reception during practice Monday at Walter A. Phillips Field in Ashland. (Kris Henry / Rogue Valley Times)
“They’re choosing from a whole country and we’ve got two teams from the Rogue Valley,” he said, “so we really have to bring it every practice, be super focused and take in all the knowledge the coaches have and just give it our all-out effort.”
Reyna said he has confidence in the local players’ ability to get on the same page and challenge for a victory, not only Friday but, hopefully, in years to come.
“After this game, hopefully Ashland and Phoenix can still be connected and in a couple years they’re able to keep a strong connection and Phoenix is able to go to Japan with them, too,” he said. “That would be really cool.”
Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035
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