Red, white and glad all over whatever the Rugby World Cup team

Tonga fans Jacob and Lavina Pohiva with their children JJ and Paula. Photo / Dean Purcell

Japan Rugby World Cup fans were in the minority last night despite many New Zealanders choosing to jump on the John Kirwan bandwagon.

But among those wrapped in All Black scarves who waved token Japan flags were Japan's most dedicated fans who had travelled almost 9000km to see their team play.

Friends Emi Sakanushi and Aya Takada made up their minds to come to the Rugby World Cup about a year ago and have been planning and saving since.

"New Zealand is a very good country, the people are very kind," Ms Sakanushi said.

"We wanted to watch Japan play, especially against the All Blacks. With Japan and New Zealand in the same group we had to come."

The pair, from Tokyo, got their wish and were at Japan's match against the All Blacks last Friday.

Dressed in red cowgirl hats and with their nation's flags emblazoned on their cheeks, the two friends thought Japan's chances against Tonga were much more promising.

Ms Takada, 38, thought they "hopefully" had a chance at ending the team's 20-year win drought. "It really depends on how they play - but they might maybe win."

The rugby-mad pair are outnumbered in their home country, with baseball and table tennis being much more popular.

Ms Sakanushi, 37, was to blame for the friends' passion for rugby after getting into the sport more than a decade ago.

As they proudly waved their autographed Japan national rugby team flags, people passing them dressed as samurai cheered.

On the other side of the stadium, a pre-match battle between Japan and Tonga loomed.

A man dressed in red and wrapped in a Japan flag stood on a hill above one entrance and rallied supporters by yelling aggressively in Japanese through a megaphone.

Beside him a small group of Tonga supporters, also wrapped in red, waved their country's flag and yelled back - but not with quite the same enthusiasm.

Lucas Marnihera, dressed in a red jumpsuit and white gumboots with a huge Tonga flag in hand, laughed at the dedicated Japan supporter and said: "Well, he's getting into it."

He said the night was extra special for him and his young daughters, who were both in red raincoats and had red-and-white butterflies on their faces which they made their dad paint.

"Their mum, she's half-Tongan, but she's singing in the choir before so it's a cool night for us. We get to support her and the team," Mr Marnihera said.

The Whangarei family stocked up on red-and-white paint, flags and clothing at a local store so they could "support their team properly".

It was also a special night for another young Tonga fan, who chose to come to the game for her tenth birthday.

Milika Kalolaine, who will have her first double-digit birthday tomorrow, was treated to a day off school so she and her parents could cover themselves in red and travel north for the match.

Her mum, Kalolaine, painted Tonga flags on her face before the family left their home in Manurewa yesterday morning.

"It was all her idea to come and to get dressed up like this," her father, Semisi, said. "It was sort of a birthday treat for her."

Milika said she did not mind if Tonga lost: "I'll still be happy anyway, they're my team."

But Mr Kalolaine, originally from Nuku'alofa, was much more hopeful that Tonga would have their first win this World Cup. "We still have the faith, hopefully this is the night."