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
AssociationJAFA
RegionAsia (AFAF)
Founded1984
ColorsRed, White
Head coachKiyoyuki Mori
General managerShinzo 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
Appearances5 (first in 1999)
Best result (1999, 2003)
Japan national American football team
Medal record
Men’s American football
Representing  Japan
World Championship
1999 ItalyTeam Competition
2003 GermanyTeam Competition
2007 JapanTeam Competition
2011 AustriaTeam Competition
2015 United StatesTeam Competition

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]

IFAF World Championship record
Year Position GP W L PF PA
19991st3308414
20031st2205720
20072nd32111623
20113rd43110361
20152nd31265109

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

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

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

 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

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 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

Notes
  1. "IFAF Competition". IFAF. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
  2. http://www.worldcup2003.info/%5B%5D
  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.
  5. http://wc2007.info/index_e.html
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-04-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sf20110227a1.html
  8. "Japan names 45-man squad for clash with Germany". xleague.com. April 9, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  9. Marantz, Ken (April 14, 2014). "Japan grinds out 38-0 win over Germany". xleague.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  10. "Japan makes 5 changes for clash with Philippines". xleague.com. April 21, 2014. 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.
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