# Japan national rugby sevens team

The Japan national rugby sevens team participates in competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens.

## History
### Hong Kong Sevens

Japan won the Plate match at the 1980 and 1999 Hong Kong Sevens.
In the 2007 Hong Kong Sevens, Japan reached Bowl semi-finals (19th place), where they lost against France; previously they had beaten Asian rivals China and Chinese Taipei. In 2008, they lost all four matches versus South Africa, Argentina, Russia and Hong Kong.
Japan won in 2009 against China and Sri Lanka, after which they lost the Bowl semi-finals versus Portugal. In 2010 they beat Hong Kong but were defeated by Scotland in Bowl quarter-finals, so they ended 13th.
The team won in 2011 against China, Scotland and the United States, then were beaten by Canada in the Bowl final to end 9th.
In the 2012 World Series qualifier at Hong Kong, Japan were defeated by Portugal and Russia and won against Guyana in the group phase. The team won against Hong Kong in quarter-finals, but was defeated by Spain in semi-finals and Portugal in the third-place match. so they failed to qualify for the World Series.
In the 2013 World Series pre-qualifier at Hong Kong, the team won all group phase matches against Brazil, Georgia and Jamaica. However, Georgia beat them in quarter-finals.
In the 2014 World Series qualifier at Hong Kong, Japan won the three group phase matches against Uruguay, Cook Islands and Trinidad and Tobago. Later they beat Tunisia, Russia and Italy to claim World Series core status for 2014/15.

### Sevens World Series

Japan won the Plate final match (5th place) at the 2000 Japan Sevens, scoring 8 points for the 1999–2000 World Sevens Series. The team lost the Bowl final match to end 10th in the 2002 Australia Sevens and 2002 Singapore Sevens.
In the 2012 USA Sevens they reached Bowl semifinals (11th place). In the 2014 Japan Sevens they repeated that result.
Japan became a core team for the 2014–15 Sevens World Series. As hosts of the 2015 Japan Sevens, they won over Samoa, tied Argentina and lost to France to advance to Cup quarter-finals. They were defeated by Fiji and then Scotland, therefore resulting 7th in the tournament. However, they resulted last in seven out of ten events and finished 15th, therefore the team lost its core team status for 2015–16.
At the 2016 Wellington Sevens, Japan defeated France to reach Bowl semi-finals, where they lost to Scotland, therefore claiming 11th place. The team advanced to Cup quarter-finals of the 2016 USA Sevens after winning over Scotland and drawing versus England. They lost to Fiji and defeated Kenya to reach the Plate final, where they fell to New Zealand to clinch 6th place.

### 2024

Japan qualified for the Sevens Challenger Series and competed in the first round in Dubai. They were edged out of the quarter-final by eventual winners Kenya and then went on to beat Tonga for fifth place. They came ninth in the overall Challenger Series.

## Tournament Summary
### Summer Olympic Games

Olympic Games record :
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D |
| 2016 | Semifinal | 4th | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 11th Place Match | 11th | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2024 | 11th Place Match | 12th | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | Fourth | 3/3 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
Olympic Games History :
| 2016 | Pool stage | Japan 14 – 12 New Zealand | Win |
| 2016 | Pool stage | Japan 19 – 21 Great Britain | Loss |
| 2016 | Pool stage | Japan 31 – 7 Kenya | Win |
| 2016 | Quarterfinal | Japan 12 – 7 France | Win |
| 2016 | Semifinal | Japan 5 – 20 Fiji | Loss |
| 2016 | Bronze medal | Japan 14 – 54 South Africa | Loss |
| 2020 | Pool stage | Japan 19 – 24 Fiji | Loss |
| 2020 | Pool stage | Japan 0 – 34 Great Britain | Loss |
| 2020 | Pool stage | Japan 12 – 36 Canada | Loss |
| 2020 | 9–12th place playoff | Japan 7 – 21 Kenya | Loss |
| 2020 | 11th-place match | Japan 31 – 19 South Korea | Win |
| 2024 | Pool stage | Japan 12 – 40 New Zealand | Loss |
| 2024 | Pool stage | Japan 5 – 40 Ireland | Loss |
| 2024 | Pool stage | Japan 5 – 49 South Africa | Loss |
| 2024 | 9–12th place playoff | Japan 7 – 42 Samoa | Loss |
| 2024 | 11th-place match | Japan 10 – 21 Uruguay | Loss |

### Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup record :
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D |
| 1993 | Bowl Winner | 13th | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 1997 | Bowl Finalist | 17th | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 2001 | Plate Quarterfinalist | 13th | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2005 | Plate Quarterfinalist | 13th | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2009 | Bowl Quarterfinalist | 21st | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2013 | Bowl Finalist | 18th | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Challenge Trophy Quarterfinalist | 15th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 0 Titles | 6/6 | 40 | 16 | 24 | 1 |

### Asian Games

Asian Games record :
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D |
| 1998 | Runner-Up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2002 | Semifinalst | 4th | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 2006 | Winners | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | Winners | 1st | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Winners | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Runner-Up | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 3 Titles | 6/6 | 32 | 27 | 5 | 0 |

## Team
### Current squad

12-member squad for the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Dubai.
| No. | Players |
| 3 | Yu Okudaira |
| 4 | Junya Matsumoto |
| 6 | Moeki Fukushi |
| 7 | Kippei Taninaka |
| 8 | Yoshihiro Noguchi |
| 10 | Tamakasa Maruo |
| 11 | Shotaro Tsuoka |
| 12 | Taisei Hayashi |
| 14 | Timo Fiti Sufia |
| 15 | Taichi Yoshizawa |
| 18 | Kippei Ishida |
| 21 | Kazuma Ueda |

### Coaches

* Wataru Murata - head coach from February 28, 2008
* Kensuke Iwabuchi - coach from February 28, 2008