Japan national American football team

The Japan national American football team represents Japan in international American football competitions. The team is controlled by the Japan American Football Association, and has been one of the world's strongest international teams since it began participating regularly in international tournaments in the 1990s, and currently possesses the second most American Football World Cups^[1] (1999, 2003).

Japan 日本

Home Away
Association	JAFA
Confederation	IFAF Asia
Founded	1984
Colors	Red, White
Head coach	Kiyoyuki Mori
General manager	Shinzo Yamada
First international
Japan 24–14  Sweden (Palermo, Italy; June 28, 1999)
Biggest win
Japan 88–0  South Korea (Osaka, Japan; February 23, 2003)
Biggest defeat
Japan 12–59  United States (Canton, United States; July 18, 2015)
IFAF World Championship of American Football
Appearances	5 (first in 1999)
Best result	(1999, 2003)
World University American Football Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 2014)
Best result	(2014)

Japan national American football team

Medal record
Men's American football
Representing  Japan
World Championship
	1999 Italy	Team
	2003 Germany	Team
	2007 Japan	Team
	2011 Austria	Team
	2015 United States	Team
World University American Football Championship
	2014	Team
	2016	Team
	2018	Team

Japan won the inaugural 1999 IFAF World Championship and won again in 2003.^[2] In 2007 they advanced to the final, losing to the United States 23–20 in overtime.^[3][4][5] In 2010 Japan beat Germany 24–14 in the inaugural Germany-Japan Bowl.^[6] In February 2011, Japan bested South Korea (76–0) to qualify for the 2011 IFAF World Championship.^[7]

Japan won silver medal (2014) and two bronze medals (2016 and 2018) in the World University American Football Championship

IFAF World Championship record

Year	Position	GP	W	L	PF	PA
1999	1st	3	3	0	84	14
2003	1st	2	2	0	57	20
2007	2nd	3	2	1	116	23
2011	3rd	4	3	1	103	61
2015	2nd	3	1	2	65	109

2011 IFAF World Championship Roster

Japan National American Football Team 2011 IFAF World Championship roster
Quarterbacks 11 Naoki Maeda QB/WR 29 Yasuhiro Maruta QB/RB  6 Shun Sugawara  8 Tetsuo Takata 19 Minoru Tono Running backs 20 Takuya Furutani 25 Kosuke Kimiyama 31 Tomokazu Sueyoshi Wide receivers 85 Ryomi Hagiyama  7 Shoei Hasegawa  1 Noriaki Kinoshita 84 Takahiro Haruta TE 17 Michihiro Ogawa 87 Yuji Oya TE 83 Ken Shimizu		Offensive linemen 77 Haruhisa Hiramoto OL 71 Yutaro Kobayashi OL 57 Kazuhiro Kuramochi OL 75 Tsukasa Miyamoto OL 67 Yuta Murai OL 72 Takanari Murakami OL 70 Tsuneno Sano OL 73 Yuji Taniguchi OL Defensive linemen 53 Motoyuki Hirai DL 93 Mitsunori Kihira DL 92 Takeshi Nisikawa DL 37 Munekazu Shikama DL 41 Daiki Takechi DL 43 Yasuo Wakisaka DL 13 Masayoshi Yamanaka DL 96 Takayuki Yoneda DL		Linebackers 10 Kentaro Azuma LB  2 Naoki Kosho LB 42 Takashi Makiuchi LB 55 Akinobu Soma LB 45 Shoichiro Suzuki LB  9 Masayoshi Tsukada LB Defensive backs 14 Masashi Fujimoto DB 22 Ryohei Imanishi DB 21 Koki Kato DB 16 Takeshi Miyake DB 24 Tadanari Sano DB 27 Atsushi Tsuji DB 36 Yuichi Watanabe DB Special Teams 15 Daisuke Aoki K/P		Inactive List Roster updated 2011-07-08

2014

Preparing for the qualification match for the 2015 IFAF World Championship, the JAFA scheduled an international friendly match against Germany on April 12, 2014 at Kawasaki Stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. 85 players were initially chosen for the national team on March 11 which was whittled down to the required 45-men roster before April 12.^[8] Before a crowd of 1,889, Japan defeated Germany 38–0 in a strong defensive showing for the Japanese which limited Germany to only 135 yards of total offense, as well as causing four turnovers and two sacks, the latter of which was all in the second half.^[9] Before going against the Philippines, Japan made 5 changes in their roster, replacing WRs Ryoma Hagiyama and Naoki Maeda with Takeshi Akiyama and Junpei Yoshimoto, RB Keita Takanohashi with Takashi Miyako, LB Yuki Ikeda with Yoshiki Tanaka, and S Toshinari Masatani with Takeshi Miyake.^[10] Against a young Philippine team that was in its first year in the IFAF, the Japanese showed no quarter, scoring on every offensive possession as well as holding the Philippines to only 1st down en route to an 86–0 victory, the 2nd biggest win in the national team's history.^[11] With the win, Japan, along with South Korea, (which defeated Kuwait in the other qualification match 69-7) qualified for the 2015 IFAF World Championship tournament in Canton, Ohio, United States.

Japan 2014 final roster
Quarterbacks  6 Shun Sugawara (Obic) 8 Keiya Hiramoto (Fujitsu)  19 Shohei Kato (Lixil) Running backs 3 Takashi Miyako (Nojima Sagamihara) 20 Keita Takanohashi (Fujitsu)  25 Eisuke Tomatsu (Nojima Sagamihara) 26 Takuto Hara (Obic) Wide receivers 1 Naoki Maeda (LIXIL) 4 Yasushi Nakagawa (LIXIL 7 Shoma Endo (Panasonic) 15 Takeshi Akiyama (Fujitsu) 17 Yasuhiro Miyamoto (LIXIL) WR/K  24 Naohiko Shibata (Panasonic)  83 Junpei Yoshimoto (Fujitsu) 85 Ryoma Hagiyama (Obic) 87 Yuta Hayashi (Asahi Beer) Tight ends 41 Tomoaki Ohashi (Fujitsu) 84 Akimitsu Mori (Obic)		Offensive linemen 57 Tetsuya Seita (Fujitsu) G 67 Yusuke Yamamoto (Obic) G 70 Kohei Arai (LIXIL) C 72 Yutaro Kobayashi (Fujitsu) T 73 Haruhisa Kurokawa (Asahi Soft Drinks) T 76 Takayuki Suzuki (Panasonic) T 77 Takehito Noda (Asahi Soft Drinks) T 78 Masahiro Asano (Panasonic) G Defensive linemen 10 Wataru Takeda (Panasonic) T 50 Shota Tomita (Obic) T 53 Yo Okamoto (Fujitsu) E 55 Toru Hirasawa (Asahi Soft Drinks) E 90 Yoshihiro Nakata (Obic) E 91 Hiroyuki Shigechika (LIXIL) E		Linebackers 9 Masami Tsukada (Obic) 13 Kensuke Amaya (LIXIL) 42 Yuki Ikeda (Kwansei Gakuin) 44 Yusuke Yoshimoto (IBM) 45 Shuhei Takeuchi (Fujitsu) 54 Yoshiki Tanaka (Hosei) 96 Haruka Sawada (Kansai) Defensive backs 14 Masashi Fujimoto (Obic) CB 16 Takashi Miyake (Obic) S 21 Koki Kato (LIXIL) CB 16 Takashi Miyake (Obic) S 22 Ryohei Imanishi (Panasonic) CB 23 Hidetoshi Yano (LIXIL) S 27 Atsushi Tsuji (Panasonic) S 28 Keizaburo Sunagawa (Obic) CB 36 Toshinori Masutani (Panasonic) S Special teams  18 Eita Saeki (Panasonic) P/K		Head coach Kiyoyuki Mori accessed 2016-03-09

2015

Main article: 2015 IFAF World Championship

Due to Canada dropping out of the tournament for personal team reasons, Japan was granted a bye on the scheduled match which was supposed to be on July 9 and in turn would play the winner of the Mexico-United States match on July 12. In their first match of the tournament, Japan, despite a strong defensive showing in the first half that included 2 interceptions and 29-yd field goal block, eventually lost to the United States 18–43. In their 2nd match, Japan defeated Mexico 35–7 with a strong effort on offense and defense. The win ensured the Japanese a rematch with the United States for the Gold Medal. Team Japan would lose to the United States 12–59 in what is the national team's largest loss in history.

Japan 2015 final roster
Quarterbacks  19 Katsuya Nagakawa (LIXIL) QB/WR 8 Tetsuo Takata (Panasonic)  10 Shohei Kato (Lixil) Running backs 20 Takuya Furutani (Obic)  6 Kosuke Kamiyama (Fujitsu) 29 Taku Ri (Waseda)  21 Ryo Takagi (IBM) Wide receivers 1 Junpei Yoshimoto (Fujitsu) 7 Shoma Endo (Panasonic) 18 Noriaki Kinoshita (Obic)  11 Naoki Maeda (LIXIL) RS 81 Takashi Kurihara (IBM) 83 Yuta Hayashi (Asahi Beer) 80 Yasuhiro Miyamoto (LIXIL) WR/K Tight ends 88 Takahiro Haruta (Fujitsu) TE/LS		Offensive linemen 79 Akira Katsuyama (Fujitsu) T 57 Tetsuya Seita (Fujitsu) G 78 Kohei Arai (LIXIL) C 66 Shun Mochizuki (Fujitsu) G 72 Yutaro Kobayashi (Fujitsu) T 77 Takehito Noda (Asahi Soft Drinks) T 67 Yusuke Yamamoto (Obic) G 75 Haruhisa Kurokawa (Asahi Soft Drinks) T Defensive linemen 90 Takuya Seike (Obic) T 92 Mitsunori Kihira (Obic) T 4 Toru Hirasawa (LIXIL) E 13 Motoyuki Hirai (Fujitsu) E 41 Ryota Takahashi (Fujitsu) E 43 Yasuo Wakisaka (Panasonic) T/E 99 Shota Tomita (Obic) T 54 Shoichi Shikama (Panasonic) E		Linebackers 17 Kensuke Amaya (LIXIL) 42 Shuhei Takeuchi (Fujitsu) 96 Haruka Sawada (Obic) 45 Shoichiro Suzuki (Fujitsu) 5 Masayoshi Tsukada (Obic) Defensive backs 14 Masashi Fujimoto (Obic) CB 22 Ryohei Imanishi (Panasonic) CB/RS 21 Kento Tojo (Obic) CB 16 Takashi Miyake (Obic) S 24 Yuki Ishii (Fujitsu) CB 27 Atsushi Tsuji (Panasonic) S 28 Atsushi Fujita (Fujitsu) S 36 Keizaburo Sunagawa (Obic) CB Special teams  26 Shintaro Saeki (Panasonic) P/K		Head coach Kiyoyuki Mori Assistant coaches Tsuyoshi Kawada - Assistant Head Coach Tominaga Hajime - Offensive Coordinator/Running backs and Tight Ends Makoto Ohashi - Defensive Coordinator Norikazu Nobuhara - Special Teams Coordinator/Secondary Hayato Arima - Quarterbacks Shoei Hasegawa - Wide Receivers Masayoshi Yamanaka - Defensive Linemen Masahara Fumitaka - Offensive Linemen Gen Arisawa - Linebackers Team doctor Takeshi Sorimachi Trainers Rika Yoshihiro Shigenobu Okuma Yoshinaga Takanori Equipment Managers Tomomi Nakamura Kunie Makotochu Shin Nishikawa Director of Operations Shinzo Yamada accessed 2016-03-09

See also

• Eyeshield 21
• X-League

Notes

1. "IFAF Competition". IFAF. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
2. "Worldcup 2003". www.worldcup2003.info. Archived from the original on 22 August 2002. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
3. "U.S. edges Japan to win football World Cup". Bangor Daily News. July 16, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
4. "U.S. wins American football title". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 15, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "3rd IFAF World Championships2007 in KAWASAKI/JAPAN".
6. "IFAF - Featured Articles - JAPAN WINS FIRST-EVER GERMAN-JAPAN BOWL". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. "Japan trounces South Korea, qualifies for IFAF World Championship | the Japan Times Online". Archived from the original on 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
8. "Japan names 45-man squad for clash with Germany". xleague.com. April 9, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
9. Marantz, Ken (April 14, 2014). "Japan grinds out 38-0 win over Germany". xleague.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
10. "Japan makes 5 changes for clash with Philippines". xleague.com. April 21, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
11. Ikezawa, Hiroshi (April 26, 2014). "Japan rolls to 2015 IFAF berth with rout". japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved March 11, 2016.

External links

• (in Japanese) Japan American football national team Official website