Power Products Supporting Mie Honda Heat Rugby Team
Rugby is a winter sport, but the Mie Honda Heat rugby team takes on a new challenge to make sure spectators enjoy hot matches.
Honda TARP Shuts Out the Cold Suzuka Wind
Suzuka City is located in the eastern part of the Kii Peninsula in the Mie Prefecture. Located in the Ise Plain, a wide plain stretching from north to south, the city is sometimes hit by “Suzuka-oroshi,” a seasonal wind from the northwest that brings snowfall to the Suzuka Mountains and their foothills in winter.
Suzuka is very cold even on the plains,” says Kaori Yoshizawa, a member of Mie Honda Heat’s business management group. Suzuka is well known as a motorsports town, but in fact, baseball, rugby, soccer, and other sports are also popular.
The Mie Honda Heat is a rugby team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, originally founded in 1961 as Honda’s Suzuka Factory rugby team. The team competes in the premier Division 1 in NTT Japan Rugby League One.
Rugby is a winter sport. In terms of the 2024-2025 season, preseason matches began in September, and the league season started on December 21. The final is scheduled for May 11. Thirteen of the 28 matches will be held at the home field, and around ten will be played in a cold Suzuka area.
“Rugby is a winter sport, so we talked among the staff about preparing warm seating that so that many people would come and watch. Some people think spectators should enjoy rugby in the cold, but we also want women and children to come,” said Yoshizawa.
Their wish of preparing seating that was not cold, an area that was shut off from the Suzuka winds, suddenly became possible when their heard of Honda TARP being developed for launch.
“We actually came up with Honda TARP during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Satoshi Hayashi who works in Honda’s Corporate Strategy Division.
“The concept was a personal space you can take with you. We planned it based on the idea that, in a time when people’s movement was restricted, their lifestyles would shift to freedom and openness, unrestricted by time or place. Honda TARP allows people to comfortably watch sports and enjoy outdoor activities while maintaining their private space.” (Hayashi)
Mie Honda Heat’s Yoshizawa heard about Honda TARP and approached Hayashi about using it. In May 2024, Honda TARP was implemented on a trial basis as Honda Heat Special Seats.
“I came to the event without knowing about the special seats, and when I saw the tarp, I wondered what it was,” a member of CLUB HEAT, the Honda Heat fan club said. This was early summer, and the sun was hot, so the seating acted as a comfortable sunshade.
E500 Power Warms Cold People from the Hips
“I was looking for a power source so that I could turn on the heater on a cold day, aiming for a better spectating experience. That’s when I found the LiB-AID E500 portable generator.”
“At first, I thought about using an electric heater for electric blankets for our knees and feet, but my massage therapist told me that warming the hips warms the entire body. We placed electric hot carpet connected to the E500 in the Honda TARP’s seating area, and also prepared ponchos for visitors’ knees and shoulders. This became the 2025 Honda Heat Seats!”
On January 19, 2025, four of the special seats were installed as a test in the grass area behind the vision display at the backstand at Mie Kotsu G Sports Forest Suzuka, home of the Mie Honda Heat, for the 5th official league match.
A couple came with their primary school daughter who plays rugby. The wife and daughter who watched the game on the Heat Seats said, “We learned about the Heat Seats from the fan club e-mail magazine and were able to use it. The previous time we came, we noticed the small tent-like thing.”
“Turning the hot carpet on make this place heaven! The Honda TARP blocks out the cold wind, and when your hips are warm, your whole body warms up. I come here often to watch the matches, and this time was the most comfortable,” the wife added.
The wife and two children from the another family group who tried the Heat Seats said,
“Our children are small, so it is very nice to have a private room like this. The last time we used this space in May, it was hot and it blocked out the sun, but even though the weather is nice today, the air is really cold and I was worried about the children, so it’s nice to have this space to watch the match. I think it’s good for women, because they can keep their hips warm.”
We installed the seats on a trial basis and they were well received, so from now on we plan to sell them as Heat Seats mainly to CLUB HEAT members. For the time being, we will aim to prepare 7 or 8 seats, and eventually fill up on the lawn area,” said Yoshizawa.
Heat Seats are a new attempt to make watching winter sports more comfortable. Honda power products support comfortable rugby viewing.
