Japan national rugby union team

Japan

Nicknames	Cherry Blossoms Brave Blossoms Sakuras
Emblem	Sakura
Union	Japan Rugby Football Union
Head coach	Eddie Jones
Captain	Michael Leitch
Most caps	Hitoshi Ono (98)
Top scorer	Ayumu Goromaru (708)
Top try scorer	Daisuke Ohata (69)
Home stadium	Japan National Stadium Chichibunomiya Stadium
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	14 (as of 28 August 2023)
Highest	7 (2019)
Lowest	20 (2003, 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
New Zealand 145–17 Japan (Bloemfontein, South Africa; 4 June 1995)
World Cup
Appearances	10 (First in 1987)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2019)
Website	en.rugby-japan.jp (in English)

The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms (Japanese: ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ, romanized: Bureibu burossamuzu), or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's 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 (PNC) and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC). They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup (RWC) since the tournament began in 1987, and hosted the event in 2019.

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 match 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 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 the first of their three biggest upsets when, in a Rugby World Cup pool match against South Africa, they won 34–32.^[2][3][4]

In the years between, Japan faced quality opposition, playing relatively well with solid results including a tie against France, and a narrow loss to Wales at Cardiff. Their second shock win was a 19–12 defeat of world number-two ranked Ireland in a 2019 Rugby World Cup pool game. Emerging undefeated from the tournament's pool stage after a 28–21 victory over Scotland, Japan made their first-ever World Cup quarter-final appearance, going down 3–26 to eventual world champions South Africa.^[5][6]

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.^[7] 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 Japanese players. 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.^[8]

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 Tetsunosuke Onishi, a professor of Waseda University) 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.

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.

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.

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.^[9] Assistant coach Osamu Ota took over as caretaker coach for two Rugby World Cup qualifiers in November 2006.

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 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 had not 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 number 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.

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.^[10] 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.

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.^[11]

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.^[12][13] After 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.^[14]

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 2015 Rugby World Cup in Brighton, England. BBC reported the win as "arguably the biggest upset in rugby union history".^[15] 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.^[16]

Jamie Joseph, former coach of New Zealand's Highlanders Super Rugby team and the Māori All Blacks, took over as head coach for Japan (and the Sunwolves Super Rugby team) in 2016. In the 2017 Asia Rugby Championship, Japan sealed their twelfth consecutive Asia Rugby Championship, winning all four games. They went on to defeat Romania 33–21 in the 2017 June rugby union tests, but lost to Ireland 2–0, during their first test series since 2005, losing the first test 50–22 and the second 35–13. In November 2017, Joseph led his side to a single win and a draw in four games. They started their End-of-year series with two consecutive home losses, a 27–47 loss to a World XV side and a 30–63 loss to Australia. Japan's first win came against Tonga 39–6 in Toulouse, France, before going on to draw with France 23–23, which was the first time that these two nations had drawn with one another.

During the 2018 June tests, Joseph led Japan to a 1–all series draw with Italy, winning the first test 34–17, and losing the second 25–22. The team then beat Georgia 28–0 at the Toyota Stadium.

In 2019, Japan won the Pacific Nations Cup with wins against Fiji, Tonga and the United States, with no losses.

Japan hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2019, and the team repeated their feat of a shock win in Brighton at the 2015 World Cup, this time beating world No. 2-ranked Ireland 19–12 at Shizuoka Stadium in Fukuroi, Shizuoka^[17][18] They reached the quarter-finals for the first time in the team's history after beating Scotland 28–21 at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama that was battered by Typhoon Hagibis only the night before.^[19]

Japan traditionally plays with white and red hooped shirts (with white collar and cuffs) with a Sakura embroidered on the chest, 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.

Since its first test against Canada in 1930, Japan played with the traditional hooped red and white shirts, the emblem on the shirt originally depicted the Sakura as "bud, half-open and full-bloomed".^[20] The current version of the emblem, depicting three full-bloomed Sakura, was dated 1952, when Japan played against Oxford University XV^[21][22] at Hanazono, Higashi-Osaka, on 1 October 1952.^[23]

On 4 July 2019 the Japan Rugby Football Union on Thursday unveiled the national team's jersey for this year's Rugby World Cup, the shirt featuring a samurai helmet motif representing the tradition of Japan's warrior spirit. The combination of Samurai and Sakura (Cherry Blossom) has long been linked in Japanese culture.

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 1997 is Canterbury. Before that, the kits were manufactured by Japanese company Sceptre between 1987 and 1995^[24][25] and in 1982, by Suzuki Sports.^[26] Currently, the jersey sponsors are Lipovitan D (in the front) and Toshiba (in the back). Previously, between 1997 and 2001, the shirt sponsor was Japan Telecom.

1960s–2002	2003–2006	2007–2009	2011–2014
2015–2018	2019–2023	2023–present

1960s–2002	2003–2006	2007–2009	2011–2014
2015–2018	2019–2023	2023–present

3 June 1968[27]	Junior All Blacks	19–23	Japan	Athletic Park, Wellington
	Try: Mike O'Callaghan ??? (2) Con: ??? (2) Pen: ??? (2)		Try: Yoshihiro Sakata (4) Akira Yokoi Tadayuki Ito Con: Tsutomu Katsuraguchi Pen: Tsutomu Katsuraguchi	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)[28]	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	South Africa	32–34	Japan	Falmer Stadium, Brighton
16:45	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'		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'	Attendance: 29,290 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)

28 September 2019	Japan	19–12	Ireland	Shizuoka Stadium, Fukuroi
16:15 JST (UTC+09)	Try: Fukuoka 59' c Con: Tamura (1/1) 61' Pen: Tamura (4/6) 18', 34', 40', 72'		Try: Ringrose 14' m Rob Kearney 21' c Con: Carty (1/2) 22'	Attendance: 47,813 Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

13 October 2019	Japan	28–21	Scotland	International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
16:15 JST (UTC+09)	Try: Matsushima 18' c Inagaki 26' c Fukuoka (2) 40' c, 43' c Con: Tamura (4/4) 20', 27', 40+2', 44'	Report	Try: Russell 7' c Nel 50' c Fagerson 55' c Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 8', 51' Russell (1/1) 56'	Attendance: 67,666 Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)

Additionally, Japan tied  France 23–23 in Paris, 25 November 2017.^[29]

• Official Japan Schedules
• Official Japan Results

Men's World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t

Top 20 as of 9 December 2024^[30]

Rank	Change[i]	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.78
2		Ireland	090.78
3		New Zealand	090.36
4		France	088.51
5		Argentina	084.97
6		Scotland	083.34
7		England	082.31
8		Australia	081.52
9		Fiji	080.07
10		Italy	078.64
11		Wales	074.01
12		Georgia	073.85
13		Japan	072.95
14		Samoa	072.68
15		United States	070.02
16		Portugal	068.82
17		Uruguay	067.06
18		Spain	065.98
19		Tonga	065.46
20		Romania	063.01
21		Chile	061.72
22		Hong Kong	059.49
23		Canada	059.18
24		Netherlands	058.56
25		Russia	058.06
26		Namibia	057.87
27		Zimbabwe	057.16
28		Brazil	056.53
29		Belgium	056.51
30		Switzerland	056.04

Japan's historical rankings

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. See or edit source data.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Japan national XV to 10 December 2024.^[31]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Arabian Gulf	3	3	0	0	100.0%	256	20	+236
Argentina	7	1	6	0	16.67%	186	298	−112
Australia	6	0	6	0	0.0%	111	315	−204
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
British & Irish Lions	1	0	1	0	0.0%	10	28	-18
Canada	26	16	8	2	61.54%	667	609	+58
British Columbia Bears	6	2	2	2	33.3%	103	82	+21
Chile	1	1	0	0	100.0%	42	12	+30
England	6	0	6	0	0.0%	78	292	−214
England XV	5	0	5	0	0.0%	71	131	−60
England Saxons	3	0	3	0	0.0%	35	147	−112
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	20	4	16	0	20%	375	564	−189
France	8	0	7	1	0.0%	158	300	−142
France XV	6	0	6	0	0.0%	31	272	−241
Georgia	7	5	2	0	71.43%	173	121	+52
Hong Kong	29	24	4	1	82.8%	1175	370	+805
Ireland	10	1	9	0	10%	173	447	−274
Ireland XV	2	0	2	0	0.0%	28	81	−53
Ireland Students	1	0	1	0	0.0%	12	24	−12
Italy	10	2	8	0	20%	181	325	−144
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	6	0	5	0	0.0%	111	453	−342
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
Portugal	1	1	0	0	100.0%	38	25	+13
Queensland Reds	1	0	1	0	0.0%	6	42	−36
Romania	6	5	1	0	83.3%	152	119	+33
Russia	7	6	1	0	83.3%	299	127	+172
Samoa	19	7	12	0	36.84%	410	574	−164
Scotland	9	1	8	0	11.1%	132	363	−231
Scotland XV	4	1	3	0	25.0%	64	165	−101
Singapore	1	1	0	0	100.0%	45	15	+30
South Africa	3	1	2	0	33.3%	44	99	−55
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	19	10	9	0	52.63%	480	469	+11
United Arab Emirates	3	3	0	0	100.0%	310	6	+304
United States	25	11	13	1	44%	601	699	−98
Uruguay	6	5	1	0	83.33%	201	74	+127
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	386	163	212	11	42.23%	10,352	10,985	−633

As of 21 September 2024

Name	Years	Tests	Won	Lost	Draw	Win %
Shigeru Kayama	1930−1934	5	3	1	1	60.0%
Chuji Kitajima	1936, 1956	5	0	4	1	0.0%
Takenosuke Okumura	1952−1953	4	0	4	0	0.0%
Kozo Nishino	1958	3	0	3	0	0.0%
Tomoo Chiba	1959	2	0	1	1	0.0%
Masao Wada	1959	2	0	2	0	0.0%
Yasujiro Kasai	1963	1	1	0	0	100%
Tetsunosuke Onishi	1966−1971	12	4	8	0	33.3%
Hitoshi Oka	1972, 1975, 1985−1986	16	3	12	1	18.8%
Akira Yokoi	1972, 1976, 1978−1979	9	1	7	1	11.1%
Ryo Saito	1974, 1976−1978, 1980−1981	15	3	11	1	20.0%
Hiroshi Hibino	1976, 1982−1984, 1987−1988	17	4	13	0	23.5%
Katsumi Miyaji	1978, 1984, 1987	5	2	3	0	40.0%
Ryozo Imazato	1979	1	0	1	0	0.0%
Iwao Yamamoto	1980, 1982, 1996	10	5	5	0	50.0%
Hiroaki Shukuzawa	1989−1991	14	5	9	0	35.7%
Osamu Koyabu	1992−1995	14	6	8	0	42.9%
Seiji Hirao	1997−2000	33	13	20	0	39.4%
Shogo Mukai	2001−2003	24	9	15	0	37.5%
Mitsutake Hagimoto	2004−2005	15	5	9	1	33.3%
Jean-Pierre Élissalde	2005−2006	9	4	5	0	44.4%
Osamu Ota	2006 (Caretaker)	2	2	0	0	100%
John Kirwan	2007−2011	55	31	22	2	56.4%
Eddie Jones	2012−2015	44	33	11	0	75.0%
Scott Wisemantel	2013 (Caretaker)[14]	4	2	2	0	50.0%
Ryuji Nakatake	2016 (Interim)[32]	4	4	0	0	100%
Mark Hammett	2016 (Interim)[32]	3	1	2	0	33.3%
Jamie Joseph	2016−2023[33]	50	23	26	1	46.0%
Eddie Jones	2023−	7	3	4	0	42.9%

The following Japan head coaches have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:^[34]

World Rugby Coach of the Year

Year	Nominees	Winners
2015	Eddie Jones	—
2019	Jamie Joseph

On 15 October 2024, Japan named a 37-player squad for their 2024 end-of-year matches against New Zealand (26 October), France (9 November), Uruguay (16 November) and England (24 November).^[35]

• Head Coach: Eddie Jones

Caps updated: 16 November 2024 (after game vs Uruguay)

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Mamoru Harada	Hooker	(1999-04-15) 15 April 1999 (age 25)	10	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Kenta Matsuoka	Hooker	(1997-06-06) 6 June 1997 (age 27)	4	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Atsushi Sakate	Hooker	(1993-06-21) 21 June 1993 (age 31)	47	Saitama Wild Knights
Opeti Helu	Prop	(1998-07-22) 22 July 1998 (age 26)	2	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Shogo Miura	Prop	(1995-06-08) 8 June 1995 (age 29)	14	Toyota Verblitz
Takayoshi Mohara	Prop	(2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 24)	6	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Yukio Morikawa	Prop	(1993-02-06) 6 February 1993 (age 31)	4	Tokyo Sungoliath
Takato Okabe	Prop	(1995-02-19) 19 February 1995 (age 29)	7	Yokohama Canon Eagles
Shuhei Takeuchi	Prop	(1997-12-09) 9 December 1997 (age 27)	12	Urayasu D-Rocks
Keijiro Tamefusa	Prop	(2001-09-03) 3 September 2001 (age 23)	9	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Daichi Akiyama	Lock	(1996-11-14) 14 November 1996 (age 28)	1	Toyota Verblitz
Warner Dearns	Lock	(2002-04-11) 11 April 2002 (age 22)	21	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Amanaki Saumaki	Lock	(1997-03-08) 8 March 1997 (age 27)	5	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Epineri Uluiviti	Lock	(1996-07-07) 7 July 1996 (age 28)	5	Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
Sanaila Waqa	Lock	(1995-07-17) 17 July 1995 (age 29)	9	Hanazono Kintetsu Liners
Amato Fakatava	Back row	(1994-12-07) 7 December 1994 (age 30)	13	Black Rams Tokyo
Kazuki Himeno	Back row	(1994-07-27) 27 July 1994 (age 30)	35	Tokyo Sungoliath
Faulua Makisi	Back row	(1997-01-20) 20 January 1997 (age 27)	14	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Isaiah Mapusua	Back row	(2000-12-21) 21 December 2000 (age 24)	5	Toyota Verblitz
Kanji Shimokawa	Back row	(1999-01-17) 17 January 1999 (age 25)	13	Tokyo Sungoliath
Tevita Tatafu	Back row	(1996-01-02) 2 January 1996 (age 28)	19	Bordeaux Bègles
Shinobu Fujiwara	Scrum-half	(1999-02-08) 8 February 1999 (age 25)	9	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Ren Iinuma	Scrum-half	(2000-02-08) 8 February 2000 (age 24)	0	Urayasu D-Rocks
Taiki Koyama	Scrum-half	(1994-10-31) 31 October 1994 (age 30)	8	Saitama Wild Knights
Naoto Saitō	Scrum-half	(1997-08-26) 26 August 1997 (age 27)	23	Toulouse
Nakakusu Ichigo	Fly-half	(2000-06-01) 1 June 2000 (age 24)	0	Black Rams Tokyo
Harumichi Tatekawa (c)	Fly-half	(1989-12-02) 2 December 1989 (age 35)	62	Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay
Junta Hamano	Centre	(2001-05-02) 2 May 2001 (age 23)	2	Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Yuki Ikeda	Centre	(1995-05-21) 21 May 1995 (age 29)	0	Black Rams Tokyo
Yusuke Kajimura	Centre	(1995-09-13) 13 September 1995 (age 29)	6	Yokohama Canon Eagles
Nicholas McCurran	Centre	(1996-06-13) 13 June 1996 (age 28)	6	Toyota Verblitz
Tomoki Osada	Centre	(1999-11-25) 25 November 1999 (age 25)	16	Saitama Wild Knights
Dylan Riley	Centre	(1997-05-02) 2 May 1997 (age 27)	27	Saitama Wild Knights
Siosaia Fifita	Wing	(1998-12-20) 20 December 1998 (age 26)	15	Toyota Verblitz
Jone Naikabula	Wing	(1994-04-12) 12 April 1994 (age 30)	16	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Malo Tuitama	Wing	(1996-03-23) 23 March 1996 (age 28)	7	Shizuoka Blue Revs
Takuro Matsunaga	Fullback	(1998-08-13) 13 August 1998 (age 26)	3	Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Yoshitaka Yazaki	Fullback	(2004-05-12) 12 May 2004 (age 20)	7	Waseda University

This list of "famous" or "notable" people has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help improve this article by defining clear inclusion criteria to contain only subjects that fit those criteria. (November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Yoshihiro Sakata, 16 caps, member of World Rugby Hall of Fame
• Toshiyuki Hayashi, legendary lock with Kobe Steel, Oxford and Japan.
• Seiji Hirao, centre, former Japan captain and coach of Japan (RWC1999).
• Keiji Hirose, former fly-half, and previously the leading points scorer for Japan (now second).
• Kensuke Iwabuchi, the first Japanese to play professional rugby in England (for Saracens), also technical adviser to Sanix.
• Toru Kurihara, world record points scorer in one match, 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, former number 8 and captain at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
• Wataru Murata, player of Yamaha Jubilo.
• Daisuke Ohata, world record try scorer (69 tries throughout his career) member of World Rugby Hall of Fame
• 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.
• Yoshihito Yoshida, world class Japanese wing, known especially on the Sevens circuit.
• Ayumu Goromaru, former fullback and the leading points scorer for Japan.
• Kenki Fukuoka, former wing of Japan, known for his speed and sidesteps.

Last updated: Japan vs Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[36]

Last updated: Japan vs Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[37]

Last updated: Japan vs Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[38]

Last updated: Japan vs Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[39]

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Toru Kurihara	Wing	60	6	15	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tainan	21 July 2002
2	Daisuke Ohata	Wing	40	8	0	0	0	Chinese Taipei	Tokyo	21 July 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 April 2013
5	Toru Kurihara	Wing	35	2	11	1	0	South Korea	Tokyo	16 June 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 April 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 Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[40]

#	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 July 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 October 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 May 2011
	Kentaro Kodama	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	South Korea	Kanagawa	30 April 2016
9	10 players on 4 tries

Last updated: Japan vs Italy, 21 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[41]

Japan has participated in the Rugby World Cup since the tournament's 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 the United States in the same pool stage, but despite their 3–1 record failed to reach the knockout round.

They were the home team for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which was held in Japan.

In the 2019 World Cup, Japan were drawn in Group A alongside Ireland, Russia, Samoa, and Scotland. After a nervy opening night win against Russia (30–10),^[42] Japan went on to beat Ireland 19–12,^[43] a huge upset and a result few predicted. Their third group game against Samoa ended in another win, this time 38–19, while also securing a highly important bonus point (for scoring four or more tries).^[44]

In the highly anticipated final group game against Scotland, both teams needed to win to progress to the knockout stages at the expense of the other. The match went ahead despite pre-game worries that it would have to be cancelled due to the ongoing issues caused by Typhoon Hagibis. The pre-tournament rules stated that if the typhoon was sufficient to intervene, the game would be cancelled, and the result declared a draw. This controversial rule^[45] would have allowed Japan to progress by default due to previous results.

After final safety checks, the game was allowed to commence. Japan edged out Scotland 28–21 to register their second shock win of the tournament. They also became the first Asian nation to top their group at a Rugby World Cup, and the first Asian team to progress to the knockout stages.^[46]

Japan played South Africa in the quarter-finals in Tokyo on Sunday 20 October 2019, kick off 19:15 JST. They kept pace with South Africa in the first half, but two tries and three penalties in the second half for South Africa put the game out of reach and Japan lost 26–3.^[47]

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	Pld.	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad	Head coach		Pos.	Pld.	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Pool stage	3	0	0	3	48	123	Squad	K. Miyaji		Invited
1991		3	1	0	2	77	87	Squad	H. Shukuzawa		2nd	3	2	0	1	65	63
1995		3	0	0	3	55	252	Squad	O. Koyabu		1st	4	4	0	0	252	28
1999		3	0	0	3	36	140	Squad	S. Hirao		1st	3	3	0	0	221	25
2003		4	0	0	4	79	163	Squad	S. Mukai		1st	4	4	0	0	420	47
2007		4	0	1	3	64	210	Squad	J. Kirwan		1st	6	6	0	0	379	60
2011		4	0	1	3	69	184	Squad			1st	4	4	0	0	326	30
2015		4	3	0	1	98	100	Squad	E. Jones		1st	4	4	0	0	316	8
2019	Quarter-finals	5	4	0	1	118	88	Squad	J. Joseph		Automatic qualification
2023	Pool stage	4	2	0	2	109	107	Squad
2027	To be determined
2031											To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	37	10	2	25	753	1,454	—			—	28	27	0	1	1,979	261
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

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	25 titles	107	100	1	6	6286	891

• Rugby union in Japan
• List of Japan national rugby union test matches
• Japan women's national rugby union team

• Official website (in English)
• 41st University Rugby Championship
• Japanese rugby union news from Planet Rugby Archived 31 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine