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Japan

Nickname(s)	Cherry Blossoms/Brave Blossoms
Emblem	Sakura
Union	Japan Rugby Football Union
Head coach	Jamie Joseph
Captain	Michael Leitch
Most caps	Hitoshi Ono (98)
Top scorer	Ayumu Goromaru (708)
Top try scorer	Daisuke Ohata (69)
Home stadium	Chichibunomiya Stadium
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	11 (as of 21 May 2018)
Highest	9 (2016)
Lowest	20 (2006)
First international
Japan 9–8 Canada (Osaka, Japan; 31 January 1932)
Biggest win
Japan 155–3 Chinese Taipei (Tokyo, Japan; 1 July 2002)
Biggest defeat
Japan 17–145 New Zealand (Bloemfontein, South Africa; 4 June 1995)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1987)
Best result	Pool stage, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015
Website	www.rugby-japan.jp

The Japan national rugby union team (often known as the Cherry Blossoms and more recently The Brave Blossoms) represent Japan in international rugby union. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years. Rugby union in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), which was founded in 1926. They compete annually in the Pacific Nations Cup and the Asia Rugby Championship. They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup since the tournament began in 1987.

Rugby was first played in Japan's treaty ports as early as 1866. Popular participation by local university teams was established in 1899 and Japan's first recorded international was a match against a Canadian team in 1932. Notable games for Japan include a victory over the Junior All Blacks in 1968, and a narrow 6–3 loss to England in 1971. Famous wins by Japan include a 28–24 victory over a Scotland XV in 1989 and a 23–8 victory over Wales in 2013. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Japan drew 12–12 against Canada. In 2011, Japan displayed its progress by winning the 2011 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, played against Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Further progress was displayed in 2014 when Japan completed a string of ten consecutive test wins (a record for a tier 2 team) to rank in the world's top 10 teams.^[1] This continued into 2015 where they produced arguably the biggest upset in rugby history in a Rugby World Cup pool match against the Springboks, winning 34–32.^[2][3][4]

History

Rugby football game in Yokohama, 1874

The first recorded instance of a team being established and rugby being played in Japan was in 1866 with the founding of the Yokohama Foot Ball Club. Games, mainly between service personnel, were played on the Garrison Parade Ground in Yamate, Yokohama.^[5] In 1874 records also illustrate British sailors staging a game in Yokohama. Other games were played at other treaty ports such as Kobe between teams of long-term foreign residents and visiting ships' crews and garrisons, but they rarely involved indigenous Japanese. The date of local Japanese participation in the sport is most frequently cited as 1899, when students at Keio University were introduced to the game by Professor Edward Bramwell Clarke and Ginnosuke Tanaka both graduates of Cambridge University.

The formation of a national team and effectively Japan's first international match took place in Osaka on 31 January 1932 when a trade delegation from Canada to Japan supported an overseas tour by the Canada national rugby union team. The Japanese won this first match 9–8. In a second test match in Tokyo 11 days later again the Japanese side beat the Canadians 38-5.^[6]

Japan beat the Junior All Blacks 23–19 in 1968 after losing the first four matches on a tour of New Zealand, but they won the last five. The Japanese (coached by Waseda University Professor Onishi Tetsunosuke) lost by just 3–6 to England in Tokyo on 29 September 1971 in the RFU's centenary year. The 1973 Japan rugby union tour of Wales, England and France was less successful with the side winning only two of their eleven matches, and losing the international matches against Wales and France. Ten years later Japan gave Wales a fright in losing by a slim five-point margin, 24–29, at Cardiff Arms Park on 2 October 1983.

On 28 May 1989, a strong Japan coached by Hiroaki Shukuzawa defeated an uncapped Scotland, missing nine British Lions on tour in Australia, for the first time at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, 28–24. The Japan team included such Kobe Steel stalwarts as centre Seiji Hirao (captain), and locks Atsushi Oyagi and Toshiyuki Hayashi (38 Japan caps and a member of Oxford University's all-time best XV). Sinali Latu at No. 8 was then a fourth year student at Daito Bunka University, and speedy Yoshihito Yoshida on the wing (no. 14) was a third year at Meiji University. Scotland missed an incredible seven penalties and refused the kicking tee which was generously offered – as a surviving video of the game shows. It was almost the same Japanese team which defeated Zimbabwe in RWC1991.

Under Shogo Mukai (2001–2003)

After Hirao resigned, Toshiba Brave Lupus coach Shogo Mukai was appointed in March 2001 to lead Japan up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. After mixed fortunes in his first two years in charge, Japan put in some impressive performances at the tournament with good efforts against Scotland and France, nevertheless they still left the tournament having failed to reach their target of winning some matches but still won admirers for their exciting brand of play. Mukai left his post after the tournament to spend more time with his family.

Under Mitsutake Hagimoto (2004–2005)

After Shogo Mukai left after the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the JRFU initially tried to appoint Eddie Jones from his post with Australia but were unsuccessful and instead appointed Mitsutake Hagimoto in March 2004 after he won the inaugural Top League with the Kobelco Steelers. Under Hagimoto, Japan decided they would not select foreign born players after Mukai had been criticised for playing too many at the World Cup.

Hagimoto's first match in charge was a disappointing draw with Korea, but his first few matches in charge after that were promising with wins over Russia and Canada to win the Super Powers Cup and pushed Italy close losing 32–19.

However, in November 2004, Japan went on a disastrous tour to Europe where they were embarrassingly thrashed 100–8 by Scotland and 98–0 by Wales and also were comfortably defeated by Romania. Japan's performances were described as "pathetic", and the squad was called "a joke" with some key players ignored or not given permission to travel.

This disastrous tour forced a rethink from Hagimoto and foreign born players were brought back into the side in 2005, but after losing twice to Ireland in June he was sacked and with just 5 wins from 15 matches was the least successful coach for Japan in the professional era.

Under Jean-Pierre Élissalde (2005–2006)

Japan play Tonga at Honjo stadium on 4 June 2006

After Hagimoto left his post at the end of June 2005, Jean-Pierre Élissalde who had been appointed backs coach three months earlier took full charge and became the first foreigner to be the head coach for Japan. His first match in charge was a 44–29 win over Spain in November 2005.

In 2006, despite a disappointing campaign in the inaugural Pacific Nations Cup in June where Japan lost all their matches, and also lost to heavily to Italy 52–6, Élissalde was backed to lead the side to the 2007 Rugby World Cup. But Élissalde was later sacked in September after he took on a job with Bayonne without consulting the JRFU and then refused to give up his job with them.^[7] Assistant coach Osamu Ota took over as caretaker coach for two Rugby World Cup qualifiers in November 2006.

Under John Kirwan (2007–2011)

Japan plays Australia A on 8 June 2008

John Kirwan was appointed head coach on in October 2006 after Elissalde was sacked. He initially worked as an advisor to caretaker coach Osamu Ota before taking over the job completely in 2007.

After starting with large wins over the Asian opposition, Japan only won one of their remaining 10 fixtures in 2007, although in the 2007 Rugby World Cup they did gain a draw with a last minute touchline conversion from Shotaro Onishi against Canada to end a long losing streak of World Cup matches stretching back to 1991.

Results began to pick up after the 2007 World Cup and Kirwan led Japan up to a high of 13th in the IRB Rankings and to win their first ever Pacific Nations Cup title in 2011 after they beat Fiji away for the first ever time in Japan's history.

However, despite more positive results in between World Cups, Japan had a disappointing 2011 Rugby World Cup, losing 31–18 to Tonga who they had beaten four consecutive times in a row since 2008, and drawing again to Canada who they had beaten 46–8 and 27–6 in 2009, and Japan left the World Cup winless meaning they still hadn't won a match at the tournament since 1991. Kirwan came under pressure after the tournament and he resigned from his post after his contract came to the end at the end of the year.

The tenure of Kirwan as coach was notable for a large amount of imports he selected. Players who originated from New Zealand such as James Arlidge, Bryce Robins, Shaun Webb, Ryan Nicholas, Luke Thompson or Tonga such as Alisi Tupuailei and Sione Vatuvei all featured prominently under Kirwan. The large percentage of foreigners in the national team also caused criticism for Kirwan. However, despite failing to bring Japan a World Cup win, Kirwan left his post as the most successful Japan coach of the professional era with a win rate of 58.18% from 55 matches.

Under Eddie Jones (2012–2015)

Kirwan chose not to renew his contract as head coach when it expired at the end of 2011, and the Japan Rugby Football Union announced that former Australia coach, Eddie Jones, would be his successor.^[8] Jones stated that his intention was to take the Japanese national team into the top 10 on the international rankings, and that they must develop a style of play to allow them to win games against teams such as Scotland and Wales.

Jones made his debut as Japan head coach against Kazakhstan. He had selected a total of 10 uncapped players out of the 22 selected players. They went on to win the match 87–0. They then had a big win over United Arab Emirates where young 18-year-old Yoshikazu Fujita set a new Asian Five Nations record for the most tries in a single match with a total of 6. This was also Fujita's international debut.^[9]

In 2013, Jones led Japan to their sixth consecutive championship win in the Asian Five Nations, where Japan achieved a tournament record score of 121–0 against the Philippines. In May, the nation lost their opening match of the 2013 IRB Pacific Nations Cup to Tonga, followed by a defeat to Fiji in the second round. Following these matches, Japan faced a 2-test series against Wales. Japan lost narrowly, 18–22, in the first test, but won the second test 23–8, and the series ended in a 1–1 draw. This was the first time that Japan had recorded a victory over the Welsh.

On 16 October 2013, Jones was hospitalised after having a suspected stroke and was released from hospital 2 days later on 18 October 2013.^[10][11] With the announcement of his release from hospital, it was announced that Jones would miss Japan's 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests against New Zealand, Scotland, Gloucester, Russia and Spain, and former Australia skills coach and current technical adviser for Japan Scott Wisemantel would interim coach Japan for their 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests.^[12]

On 19 September 2015, Japan stunned South Africa by a last minute try from Karne Hesketh to win 34–32 in their opening group pool game at the Rugby World Cup in Brighton, England. BBC reported the win as "arguably the biggest upset in rugby union history".^[13] In 2015, Japan became the first team in World Cup history to win three pool games but still be eliminated at the group stage, due to their heavy loss to Scotland.^[14]

Tournament history

Rugby World Cup

Japan has participated in the Rugby World Cup since its inception in 1987, and has made appearances in all tournaments thus far. Despite this, they experienced little success until the 2015 tournament, with just one victory over Zimbabwe in 1991, and two draws with Canada in 2007 and 2011. In 2015 they defeated South Africa with a score of 34–32, their first win since 1991 against Zimbabwe, which they followed up with victories over Samoa and USA in the same pool stage.

They will be the home team for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which is to be held in Japan.

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	48	123		Automatically qualified
1991	Pool Stage	3	1	0	2	77	87		3	2	0	1	65	63
1995	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	55	252		4	4	0	0	210	52
1999	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	36	140		3	3	0	0	221	25
2003	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	79	163		4	4	0	0	420	47
2007	Pool Stage	4	0	1	3	64	210		6	6	0	0	379	60
2011	Pool Stage	4	0	1	3	69	184		4	4	0	0	326	30
2015	Pool Stage	4	3	0	1	98	100		8	8	0	0	658	41
2019	To be determined								Qualified as hosts
2023	To be determined								To be determined
Total	8/8	28	4	2	22	526	1259		32	31	0	1	2279	318

Pacific Nations Cup

• 
  2006: 5th


• 
  2007: 6th


• 
  2008: 5th


• 
  2009: 4th


• 
  2010: 3rd


• 
  2011: 1st


• 
  2012: 4th


• 
  2013: 4th


• 
  2014: 1st


• 
  2015: 4th

Asia Rugby Championship

Asia Rugby Championship record

Year	Round	P	W	D	L	PF	PA
1969	Champions	4	4	0	0	191	35
1970	Champions	3	3	0	0	111	39
1972	Champions	4	4	0	0	167	4
1974	Champions	4	4	0	0	140	37
1976	Champions	4	4	0	0	194	21
1978	Champions	3	3	0	0	97	30
1980	Champions	4	4	0	0	265	21
1982	Runner-up	4	3	0	1	112	30
1984	Champions	4	4	0	0	202	23
1986	Runner-up	4	2	0	2	232	54
1988	Runner-up	4	3	0	1	223	43
1990	Runner-up	4	3	0	1	200	34
1992	Champions	3	3	0	0	225	12
1994	Champions	3	3	0	0	226	17
1996	Champions	2	2	0	0	242	22
1998	Champions	3	3	0	0	221	25
2000	Champions	3	3	0	0	164	41
2002	Runner-up	3	2	0	1	93	54
2004	Champions	2	2	0	0	69	12
2006–07	Champions	2	2	0	0	106	3
2008	Champions	4	4	0	0	310	58
2009	Champions	4	4	0	0	271	40
2010	Champions	4	4	0	0	326	30
2011	Champions	4	4	0	0	307	35
2012	Champions	4	4	0	0	312	11
2013	Champions	4	4	0	0	316	8
2014	Champions	4	4	0	0	342	33
2015	Champions	4	3	1	0	163	40
2016	Champions	4	4	0	0	242	23
2017	Champions	4	4	0	0	172	56
Total	23 titles	107	100	1	6	6286	891

Overall

Men's World Rugby Rankings v t e
Top 30 rankings as of 24 December 2018[15]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	092.54
2		Ireland	091.17
3		Wales	087.24
4		England	086.22
5		South Africa	084.58
6		Australia	082.40
7		Scotland	081.84
8		Fiji	077.95
9		France	077.33
10		Argentina	077.05
11		Japan	075.24
12		United States	073.66
13		Georgia	073.42
14		Tonga	073.02
15		Italy	072.75
16		Samoa	068.78
17		Uruguay	066.82
18		Romania	065.45
19		Russia	065.20
20		Canada	062.95
21		Spain	062.24
22		Namibia	060.34
23		Netherlands	058.45
24		Hong Kong	058.11
25		Belgium	058.09
26		Germany	057.83
27		Portugal	057.08
28		Brazil	056.81
29		Chile	054.36
30		South Korea	053.59
*Change from the previous week
Japan's historical rankings
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 26 November 2018[15]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Japan national XV to 3 November 2018.^[16]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Arabian Gulf	3	3	0	0	100.0%	256	20	+236
Argentina	6	1	5	0	26.7%	159	259	−100
Australia	5	0	5	0	0.0%	88	283	−195
Australia A	4	0	4	0	0.0%	51	242	−191
Australian Universities	6	2	4	0	33.3%	60	90	−30
Emerging Wallabies	2	1	0	1	50.0%	41	39	+2
Canada	25	15	8	2	60.0%	612	581	+31
British Columbia Bears	6	2	2	2	33.3%	103	82	+21
Chinese Taipei	4	4	0	0	100.0%	474	27	+447
England	1	0	1	0	0.0%	7	60	−53
England XV	5	0	5	0	0.0%	71	131	−60
England Saxons	2	0	2	0	0.0%	30	92	−62
England Students	1	0	1	0	0.0%	0	43	−43
England Under-23's	2	0	2	0	0.0%	25	77	−52
Cambridge University	4	1	3	0	25.0%	52	110	−58
Oxford University	4	0	4	0	0.0%	28	130	−102
Oxford and Cambridge	3	0	3	0	0.0%	30	113	−83
Fiji	17	3	14	0	17.7%	312	467	−155
France	4	0	3	1	0.0%	91	151	−60
France XV	6	0	6	0	0.0%	31	272	−241
Georgia	6	5	1	0	83.3%	150	96	+54
Hong Kong	28	24	4	0	85.7%	1172	370	+802
Ireland	7	0	7	0	0.0%	118	336	−218
Ireland XV	2	0	2	0	0.0%	28	81	−53
Ireland Students	1	0	1	0	0.0%	12	24	−12
Italy	8	2	5	0	25.0%	146	241	−95
Kazakhstan	5	5	0	0	100.0%	418	23	+395
South Korea	36	29	6	1	80.1%	1614	517	+1097
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	0.0%	13	15	−2
New Zealand	4	0	4	0	0.0%	61	351	−290
New Zealand XV	2	0	2	0	0.0%	4	180	−176
Junior All Blacks	8	1	7	0	12.5%	98	337	−239
Māori	1	0	1	0	0.0%	22	65	−43
New Zealand Universities	15	2	11	2	13.3%	221	417	−196
Philippines	2	2	0	0	100.0%	220	10	+210
Queensland Reds	1	0	1	0	0.0%	6	42	−36
Romania	6	5	1	0	83.3%	152	119	+33
Russia	5	4	1	0	80.0%	237	90	+147
Samoa	15	4	11	0	26.7%	273	482	−209
Scotland	7	0	7	0	0.0%	84	313	−229
Scotland XV	4	1	3	0	25.0%	64	165	−101
Singapore	1	1	0	0	100.0%	45	15	+30
South Africa	1	1	0	0	100.0%	34	32	+2
Spain	3	3	0	0	100.0%	114	43	+71
Sri Lanka	3	3	0	0	100.0%	266	29	+237
Thailand	1	1	0	0	100.0%	42	11	+31
Tonga	17	8	9	0	47.1%	418	446	−28
United Arab Emirates	3	3	0	0	100.0%	310	6	+304
United States	23	9	13	1	39.1%	526	655	−129
Uruguay	3	2	1	0	66.7%	88	32	+56
Wales	10	1	9	0	10.0%	159	526	−367
Wales XV	4	0	4	0	0.0%	56	229	−173
Welsh Clubs	1	0	1	0	0.0%	9	63	−54
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0	100.0%	52	8	+44
Total	345	149	186	10	43.19%	9753	9638	+115

Tour

Wins against Tier 1 nations

3 June 1968[17]	Japan	23–19	Junior All Blacks	Athletic Park, Wellington
	Try: Yoshihiro Sakata (4) Akira Yokoi Tadayuki Ito Con: Tsutomu Katsuraguchi Pen: Tsutomu Katsuraguchi		Try: Mike O’Callaghan ??? (2) Con: ??? (2) Pen: ??? (2)	Attendance: 25,000 Referee: RC Fenton

28 May 1989	Japan	28–24	Scotland XV	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo

15 September 1998	Japan	44–29	Argentina	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
	Try: McCormick Ohata Watanabe (2) Con: Murata (3) Pen: Murata (4) Drop: Ken Iwabuchi (2)	Report	Try: Corleto Ledesma Martín Pfister Con: Fuselli Lobrauco Drop: Fuselli	Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Giovanni Morandin (Italy)

15 June 2013	Japan	23–8	Wales	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
14:00 JST (UTC+9)	Try: Wing 49' c Broadhurst 60' c Con: Goromaru (2/2) 49', 61' Pen: Goromaru (3/3) 14', 34', 76'	Report	Try: Prydie 44' m Pen: Biggar (1/2) 21'	Attendance: 21,062 Referee: Greg Garner (England)

21 June 2014	Japan	26–23	Italy	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
14:00 JST (UTC+09)	Try: Yamada 4' c Sa'u 59' c Con: Goromaru (2/2) 5', 60' Pen: Goromaru (4/5) 13', 22', 42', 48'	Report (In Italian)[18]	Try: Penalty try 17' c Barbieri 74' c Con: Orquera (1/1) 17' Allan (1/1) 75' Pen: Orquera (3/3) 7', 35', 52'	Attendance: 13,816 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

19 September 2015	Japan	34–32	South Africa	Falmer Stadium, Brighton
16:45	Try: Leitch 30' c Goromaru 69' c Hesketh 80' m Con: Goromaru (2/3) 31', 70' Pen: Goromaru (5/6) 8', 43', 49', 53', 60'		Try: Louw 18' c B. Du Plessis 33' m De Jager 44' c Strauss 62' c Con: Lambie (2/3) 19', 45' Pollard (1/1) 63' Pen: Lambie (1/1) 54' Pollard (1/1) 73'	Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

9 June 2018	Japan	34–17	Italy	Oita Bank Dome, Oita
14:45 JST (UTC+09)	Try: Mafi 17' c Fukuoka 27' c Lemeki 60' c Matsushima 65' c Con: Tamura (4/4) 19', 29', 62', 67' Pen: Tamura (2/3) 33', 57'		Try: Pasquali 14' c Steyn 35' c Con: Allan (2/2) 16', 37' Pen: Allan (1/1) 51'	Attendance: 25,824 Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)

Current squad

On 1 October, Japan named a 35-man squad for their 2018 November test matches against New Zealand, England and Russia and a warm-up match against a World XV side.^[19]

On 5 October, following a good show of form, Kai Ishii joined the squad for the campaign.^[20]

On 15 October, Ryohei Yamanaka joined the squad ahead of the World XV match.^[21]

On 20 October, Ryuji Noguchi withdrew from the squad due to injury, and Amanaki Lotoahea joined the squad as his replacement.^[22][20]

• 
  Head Coach: Jamie Joseph
  

Caps updated: 3 November 2018

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Franchise / province Kosuke Horikoshi Hooker (1995-06-02) 2 June 1995 (age 23) 0 Suntory Sungoliath Yusuke Niwai Hooker (1991-10-22) 22 October 1991 (age 27) 7 Canon Eagles Atsushi Sakate Hooker (1993-06-21) 21 June 1993 (age 25) 11 Panasonic Wild Knights Asaeli Ai Valu Prop (1989-05-07) 7 May 1989 (age 29) 4 Panasonic Wild Knights Takuma Asahara Prop (1987-09-07) 7 September 1987 (age 31) 12 Toshiba Brave Lupus Keita Inagaki Prop (1990-06-02) 2 June 1990 (age 28) 23 Panasonic Wild Knights Koo Ji-won Prop (1994-07-20) 20 July 1994 (age 24) 5 Honda Heat Masataka Mikami Prop (1988-06-04) 4 June 1988 (age 30) 34 Toshiba Brave Lupus Hiroshi Yamashita Prop (1986-01-01) 1 January 1986 (age 33) 50 Toshiba Brave Lupus Koki Yamamoto Prop (1990-10-29) 29 October 1990 (age 28) 5 Yamaha Júbilo Samuela Anise Lock (1986-08-30) 30 August 1986 (age 32) 11 Canon Eagles Uwe Helu Lock (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 (age 28) 10 Yamaha Júbilo Isileli Nakajima Lock (1989-07-09) 9 July 1989 (age 29) 1 Kobelco Steelers Wimpie van der Walt Lock (1989-01-06) 6 January 1989 (age 29) 7 NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Kazuki Himeno Loose forward (1994-07-27) 27 July 1994 (age 24) 6 Toyota Verblitz Michael Leitch (c) Loose forward (1988-10-07) 7 October 1988 (age 30) 57 Toshiba Brave Lupus Masakatsu Nishikawa Loose forward (1987-05-18) 18 May 1987 (age 31) 1 Suntory Sungoliath Shunsuke Nunomaki Loose forward (1992-07-13) 13 July 1992 (age 26) 7 Panasonic Wild Knights Yoshitaka Tokunaga Loose forward (1992-04-10) 10 April 1992 (age 26) 10 Toshiba Brave Lupus Hendrik Tui Loose forward (1987-12-13) 13 December 1987 (age 31) 41 Suntory Sungoliath Yutaka Nagare Scrum-half (1992-09-04) 4 September 1992 (age 26) 13 Suntory Sungoliath Kaito Shigeno Scrum-half (1990-11-21) 21 November 1990 (age 28) 6 Toyota Verblitz Fumiaki Tanaka Scrum-half (1985-01-03) 3 January 1985 (age 33) 68 Panasonic Wild Knights Rikiya Matsuda Fly-half (1994-05-03) 3 May 1994 (age 24) 14 Panasonic Wild Knights Yu Tamura Fly-half (1989-01-09) 9 January 1989 (age 29) 52 Canon Eagles Yusuke Kajimura Centre (1995-09-13) 13 September 1995 (age 23) 0 Suntory Sungoliath Timothy Lafaele Centre (1991-08-19) 19 August 1991 (age 27) 12 Coca-Cola Red Sparks Ryoto Nakamura Centre (1991-06-03) 3 June 1991 (age 27) 14 Suntory Sungoliath Will Tupou Centre (1990-07-20) 20 July 1990 (age 28) 4 Coca-Cola Red Sparks Ryohei Yamanaka Centre (1988-06-22) 22 June 1988 (age 30) 12 Kobelco Steelers Kenki Fukuoka Wing (1992-09-07) 7 September 1992 (age 26) 28 Panasonic Wild Knights Jamie Henry Wing (1990-03-11) 11 March 1990 (age 28) 1 Toyota Verblitz Kai Ishii Wing (1990-04-14) 14 April 1990 (age 28) 0 Ricoh Black Rams Lomano Lemeki Wing (1989-01-20) 20 January 1989 (age 29) 8 Honda Heat Akihito Yamada Wing (1985-07-26) 26 July 1985 (age 33) 24 Panasonic Wild Knights Amanaki Lotoahea Fullback (1990-07-14) 14 July 1990 (age 28) 7 Ricoh Black Rams Kotaro Matsushima Fullback (1993-02-26) 26 February 1993 (age 25) 30 Suntory Sungoliath Ryuji Noguchi Fullback (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995 (age 23) 13 Panasonic Wild Knights

Notable former players

• 
  Toshiyuki Hayashi, legendary lock with Kobe Steel, Oxford and Japan.


• 
  Seiji Hirao, centre, former Japan captain and coach of Japan (RWC1999).


• 
  Keiji Hirose, top scorer for Japan ever.


• 
  Kensuke Iwabuchi, the first Japanese to play professional rugby in England (for Saracens), also technical adviser to Sanix.


• 
  Toru Kurihara, top scorer in one match worldwide, 60 points scored individually (6 Tries, 15 conversions).


• 
  Sinali Latu – now coach of Daito Bunka University RFC.


• 
  Yuji Matsuo, fly-half (stand-off), Shin-Nittetsu Kamaishi.


• 
  Andrew Miller, fly half for Kobe Steel and Japan.


• 
  Takuro Miuchi, Number 8 and former captain at 2007 RWC.


• 
  Wataru Murata, player of Yamaha Jubilo.


• 
  Daisuke Ohata, World Record test try scorer.


• 
  Atsushi Oyagi, lock, Kobe Steel and Japan, now a TV personality (talento).


• 
  Kenzo Suzuki, better known as a professional wrestler, Suzuki was capped for the national team as well.


• 
  Yoshihito Yoshida, world class Japan wing, known especially on the Sevens circuit.

Coaches

Kit

Japan traditionally plays with white and red hooped shirts (with white collar and cuffs), paired with white shorts and white socks with red splashes. Between 2003 and 2011, the shirt was predominantly red with two white parallel hoops on the chest with white accents, sometimes with black or navy socks and shorts. The away kit usually consist of a navy blue uniform, white or navy shorts and navy blue socks, sometimes with white collar or panels, or black.
The kit supplier since the 1960s is Canterbury.
Currently, the jersey sponsors are Lipovitan D (in the front) and Toshiba (in the back). Previously, between 1997 and 2000, the shirt sponsor was Epson.

1960s-2002 Home

1960s-2002 Away

2003-2006 Home

2003-2006 Away

2007-2009 Home

2007-2009 Away

Individual all-time records

Most matches

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[24]

Most tries

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[25]

Most points

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[26]

Most matches as captain

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[27]

Most points in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Toru Kurihara	Wing	60	6	15	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tainan	21/07/2002
2	Daisuke Ohata	Wing	40	8	0	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tokyo	21/07/2002
3	Ayumu Goromaru	Fullback	37	1	16	0	0	Sri Lanka	Nagoya	10/05/2014
4	Ayumu Goromaru	Fullback	36	1	14	1	0	Philippines	Fukuoka	20/04/2013
5	Toru Kurihara	Wing	35	2	11	1	0	South Korea	Tokyo	16/06/2002
6	Keiji Hirose	Fly-half	34	1	1	9	0	Tonga	Tokyo	08/05/1999
7	Ayumu Goromaru	Fullback	32	2	11	0	0	Kazakhstan	Almaty	28/04/2012
8	Keiji Hirose	Fly-half	31	0	11	3	0	Hong Kong	Tokyo	08/05/2005
9	4 players on 30 points

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[28]

Most tries in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Daisuke Ohata	Wing	40	8	0	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tokyo	07/07/2002
2	Toru Kurihara	Wing	60	6	15	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tainan	21/07/2002
	Daisuke Ohata	Wing	30	6	0	0	0	Hong Kong	Tokyo	08/05/2005
	Yoshikazu Fujita	Wing	30	6	0	0	0	United Arab Emirates	Fukuoka	05/05/2012
5	Terunori Masuho	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Singapore	27/10/1998
	Kosuke Endo	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	South Korea	Daegu	01/05/2010
	Alisi Tupuailei	Centre	25	5	0	0	0	Sri Lanka	Colombo	21/05/2011
	Kentaro Kodama	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	South Korea	Kanagawa	30/04/2016
9	10 players on 4 tries

Last updated: Japan vs Russia, 24 November 2018. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[29]

Youngest players

#	Player	Pos	Age	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Yoshikazu Fujita	Wing	18 years and 210 days	United Arab Emirates	Fukuoka	05/05/2012
2	Christian Loamanu	Wing	18 years and 338 days	Uruguay	Montevideo	16/04/2005
3	Ayumu Goromaru	(Fullback)	19 years and 46 days	Uruguay	Montevideo	16/04/2005
4	Terunori Masuho	Wing	19 years and 95 days	United States	Chicago	04/05/1991
5	Faulua Makisi	(Flanker)	19 years and 122 days	South Korea	Incheon	21/05/2016
6	Seiji Hirao	Centre	19 years and 129 days	NZ Universities	Pukekohe	30/05/1982
7	Dogo Maeda	(Fly-half)	19 years and 152 days	South Korea	Kanagawa	30/04/2016
8	Kenji Shomen	(Fly-half)	19 years and 165 days	South Korea	Ulsan	13/10/2002
9	Masato Furukawa	Flanker	19 years and 167 days	South Korea	Incheon	21/05/2016
10	Yoshihito Yoshida	Wing	19 years and 226 days	Oxford University	Tokyo	01/10/1988