R.U.E.D.G.

Apart from academic work, GB devoted much time to the English Drama Group (R.U.E.D.G.), developing it from a group of under 10 members doing one 40-minute performance a year to one of more than 40 members presenting two or three major 2-hour productions a year, one in Tokyo. English Drama in Reitaku has a long history reaching back to 1935, and GB was extremely lucky to find a strong drama tradition at Reitaku when he arrived in Japan, well established by late Professors Takeyuki So and Zenjiro Otsuka.

E.S.S.

Reitaku University English Speaking Society (E.S.S.) was founded in 1959, and GB was its advisor frrom 1969 to 1986, during which time he expanded its activities to include modern dramas, debates, three speech contests a year, recitations, variety shows, musical dramas, comprehensive summer and winter camps, video film-making, an annual TEA-V Room, and many others.

THE MANRYO LOGOS

Both R.U.E.D.G. and E.S.S. use the manryo (spear flower) in their logos (See photos below). The founder of the Reitaku campus, Chikuro Hiroike (1866 - 1938), chose this flower years earlier, as a symbol of modesty, because its fruit, red berries, hide beneath the leaves. GB continued the idea of students "achieving great things but remaining modest about them". The R.U.E.D.G. logo combines the manryo and Shakespeare’s coat of arms.

JAPANESE ARCHERY (KYUDO)

From 1970, GB took up the traditional zen sport of Kyudo (Japanese archery), his teacher being Hidehiko Shindo, then a student at the university. He achieved the 2nd Grade in 1974. From 1976, GB and some students established an official university Kyudo Circle, to which GB was advisor for several years. Above centre: GB in the Kyudo Dojo (Practice Hall).