Earlier this year, Principal Tony Darby shared how leadership at Rugby School Japan is rooted not in popularity or position, but in service, responsibility, and the positive influence pupils have on those around them.
Whether leading a team, serving the wider community, or representing the pupil body, our student leaders help shape the culture of RSJ through their actions, commitment, and example.
This year, we sat down with three pupils whose leadership journeys reflect the many ways pupils contribute to school life. From Jun (Year 13), who leads our United World Schools charity enrichment club, to Isaac (Year 9), captain of the rugby team, and Izzy (Year 13), one of our Heads of School, each brings a unique perspective on what it means to lead.
What unites them is a shared commitment to qualities such as resilience, courage, integrity, and service to others. Through their leadership, they inspire their peers, strengthen our community, and help bring the School’s values to life.
We invite you to watch the interview series below for a glimpse into leadership at RSJ through the voices of the pupils themselves.
Jun – Year 13
My name is Chun. I’m in year thirteen and I’ve led the United World Schools or UWS enrichment since September this year. UWS is a charity that provides access to education to remote or marginalized communities in Myanmar, Nepal, Cambodia and Madagascar. My role has been advocating and raising awareness about this charity. So in September, we had an enrichment fair and, I was able to meet with, the teachers who are organizing it. I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to, try and develop my leadership skills while trying to, involve myself with a positive cause. It’s definitely my first time contributing to a charity or like community. So we had a Christmas jumper day and we were able to raise a lot of money and I think was the biggest event where we were able to kind of introduce ourselves to the school and during the winter showcase we were able to sell Christmas postcards that we were able to have from the postcards club that they produced for us. For World Book Day, we had pupils and students and teachers and everyone the opportunity to dress up as their favorite book character for two hundred yen. Also during global day, you have the opportunity to face paint your face with maybe flags or colors of your home country for a donation as well. Think as a pupil, I think I was able to develop, obviously leadership skills. I think that was one of the biggest reasons why I joined it. And I think as a person, it’s given me a real sense of joy and it’s like this realization that I want to maybe do something in the future as well in terms of my career as trying to help other people. When we try and think of fundraising ideas, I tend to sometimes, like, get into my own world and, like, move things along by myself. I think in terms of leadership, it’s not just about having the biggest voice or it’s not just about having the biggest authority, but it’s also being able to help others, you know, contribute through ideas or thoughts or voices. I think one of the biggest would be it’s never too late because, well, I did this for the first time in year thirteen. I’ve never really done stuff like this before. Since I’ve never also, I’ve never done something like this before, it’s important because, you know, it’s something entirely new. You shouldn’t be afraid of trying something entirely different to what you’ve done in the past.
Isaac – Year 9
My name is Isaac. I’m year nine. I’m currently thirteen years old, and I’m the captain of the rugby team here at RSU. I started playing rugby when I was younger, around seven years old. And I really enjoyed it because of how fast paced and aggressive it was. So, yeah, that really intrigued me, especially because I love them both. And when I was watching it on TV with my dad, I really loved it. I took on the captain role recently around at Ijager. What motivated me is I think since it was our first rugby team here, and I think it was a really cool opportunity to just put myself out there. And also, I just wanted to bring, like, my own team. I wanted a team. I wanted everyone to have, like I want to show the best of them. I think the responsibility of being a captain in my way, I run training programs on Thursday enrichment times. I wanna show everyone’s best, and I know everyone’s really good. And I just wanna motivate them and also just make sure they’re happy while playing the sport. And I want them to enjoy it as much as I enjoy it. I think the proudest game we’ve had as a rugby team is our first ever game against Saint Mary’s, our first ever full contact game. We were glad enough to end it with a victory, which is really nice, especially it was on our first game. I think as a team and me, we’re very grateful to be trained by Greg Laidlaw, a former Scottish rugby captain. He brought a different view from a different country, which was great. And I’ve talked about it to a lot of my friends and teammates. It was so helpful for me too, and I really enjoyed it. I think rugby has built on my confidence, resilience, and teamwork, especially when I have to handle pressure on the field. Just with my teammates, they get a bit nervous, especially when it was our first game. I just need to calm things down, and otherwise, I think we do great. And I think those are the values that really built me as a rugby captain at Roshoot.
Isabel – Year 13
My name is Izzy and I’m in year thirteen and I am one of the two heads of school at RSJ. You closely work with the senior leadership team and ensure that the feedback from the students and the student body is well represented and supported, whether that be through official venue platforms such as the student council or just day to day listening to your peers. I think it is important as a head of school to uphold the school values. During an enrichment one day, a pupil came up to me and said, like, how do you make your speeches so engaging? It’s the one thing that everyone looks forward to hearing at the end of assembly. I was very surprised because it was very heartwarming to hear that the pupils want to listen and want to be inspired by the heads of school. Trying to balance between the different activities and the role to overcome that, I think it was the strong collaboration I had with my co head of school. It is very important that you work closely together, accommodate for each other and also know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and through that together you can lead and represent the student body well and in an efficient and well executed manner. Academically I would say it’s improved my communicative skills, leadership skills, and collaborative skills, but as a person I think I’ve gained more confidence in myself and learned to have faith in the decisions that I make and be confident in leading such a large group of people because even though day to day you might not hear it or see it, they do believe in you, and I guess that’s what matters.
