# Japan women's national volleyball team

The Japan women's national volleyball team (Hinotori Nippon, 火の鳥NIPPON), or All-Japan women's volleyball team, is currently ranked 7th in the world by FIVB. The head coach is Masayoshi Manabe.
One of their greatest successes was at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, when they defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to the gold medal.
Japan was qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics by winning the Women's Olympic Qualifier that was held from 8 May to 16 May in Tokyo, Japan. In Athens, Greece the team took fifth place in the overall-rankings.
Finally after almost three decades of medal drought in the Olympics, Japan took home the bronze medal by defeating South Korea in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

## Medals

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Olympic Games | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Nations League | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| World Championship | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| World Grand Prix | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| World Cup | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| World Grand Champions Cup | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Asian Games | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| Asian Championship | 5 | 7 | 7 | 19 |
| Asian Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Eastern Asian Championship | 6 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| Universiade | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Montreux Volley Masters | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Asian Cup | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Universiade | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| Total | 20 | 27 | 23 | 70 |

## History
### 2012 London Olympics

Japan qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics as the best Asian team in the 2012 FIVB Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament. In the 2012 Olympics, Japan had been placed on Group A with Russian Federation, Italy, Dominican Republic, the host Great Britain and Algeria. Japan finished third in the Group. In the quarter-finals, Japan faced their old Asian rival China. Saori Kimura and Yukiko Ebata each scored 33 points in this thrilling game in which China were beaten by 3–2. It was their first win over China in 11 years as far as FIVB games are concerned. On 9 August 2012, the Japanese were outplayed by the defending champions Brazil in the semi-finals. On 11 August 2012, Japan beat South Korea 3–0 in the bronze medal match. It is the first Olympics' volleyball medal for the Japanese since the 1984 Summer Olympics. On August 13, 2012, Japan Women's Team was ranked 3rd in the world behind United States women's national volleyball team and Brazil women's national volleyball team.

### 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Japan was the host nation for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The other teams in their group in Tokyo were Kenya, Serbia, Brazil, Korea and the Dominican Republic. Japan's opening match was on 25 July 2021 in Tokyo against Kenya. They beat Kenya in their first match in straight sets and lost against Serbia, Brazil, Korea and the Dominican Republic which caused them to miss the qualification for the quarterfinals.

### Winner of 6 major world titles

| Year | Games | Host | Runner-up | 2nd Runner-up |
| 1962 # | 4th World Championship | USSR | USSR | Poland |
| 1964 # | Tokyo Olympic Games | Japan | USSR | Poland |
| 1967 # | 5th World Championship | Japan | USA | South Korea |
| 1974 & | 7th World Championship | Mexico | USSR | South Korea |
| 1976 & | Montreal Olympic Games | Canada | USSR | South Korea |
| 1977 & | 2nd World Cup | Japan | Cuba | South Korea |
#, & – Twice 3 Straight Major titles in 1960s and 1970s
(World Women's Volleyball Championship, World Cup, Olympic Games)

## Results
### International
#### Olympic Games

* 1964 – Gold Medal
* 1968 – Silver Medal
* 1972 – Silver Medal
* 1976 – Gold Medal
* 1984 – Bronze Medal
* 1988 – 4th place
* 1992 – 5th place
* 1996 – 9th place
* 2004 – 8th place
* 2008 – 7th place
* 2012 – Bronze Medal
* 2016 – 8th place
* 2020 – 10th place
* 2024 – 9th place

#### World Championship

* 1960 – Silver Medal
* 1962 – Gold Medal
* 1967 – Gold Medal
* 1970 – Silver Medal
* 1974 – Gold Medal
* 1978 – Silver Medal
* 1982 – 4th place
* 1986 – 7th place
* 1990 – 8th place
* 1994 – 7th place
* 1998 – 8th place
* 2002 – 13th place
* 2006 – 6th place
* 2010 – Bronze Medal
* 2014 – 7th place
* 2018 – 6th place
* 2022 – 5th place
* 2025 – Qualified

#### World Cup

* 1973 – Silver Medal
* 1977 – Gold Medal
* 1981 – Silver Medal
* 1985 – 4th place
* 1989 – 4th place
* 1991 – 7th place
* 1995 – 6th place
* 1999 – 6th place
* 2003 – 5th place
* 2007 – 7th place
* 2011 – 4th place
* 2015 – 5th place
* 2019 – 5th place

#### World Grand Champions Cup

* 1993 – 4th place
* 1997 – 5th place
* 2001 – Bronze Medal
* 2005 – 5th place
* 2009 – 4th place
* 2013 – Bronze Medal
* 2017 – 5th place

#### FIVB World Grand Prix

* 1993 – 6th place
* 1994 – 4th place
* 1995 – 7th place
* 1996 – 8th place
* 1997 – 4th place
* 1998 – 7th place
* 1999 – 7th place
* 2000 – 8th place
* 2001 – 6th place
* 2002 – 5th place
* 2003 – 9th place
* 2004 – 9th place
* 2005 – 5th place
* 2006 – 6th place
* 2007 – 9th place
* 2008 – 6th place
* 2009 – 6th place
* 2010 – 5th place
* 2011 – 5th place
* 2012 – 9th place
* 2013 – 4th place
* 2014 – Silver Medal
* 2015 – 6th place
* 2016 – 9th place
* 2017 – 7th place

#### FIVB Nations League

* 2018 – 10th place
* 2019 – 9th place
* 2021 – 4th place
* 2022 – 7th place
* 2023 – 7th place
* 2024 – Silver Medal

#### Montreux Volley Masters

* 1989 – Bronze Medal
* 2001 – Bronze Medal
* 2005 – 4th place
* 2009 – 7th place
* 2010 – 7th place
* 2011 – Gold Medal
* 2013 – 5th place
* 2014 – 6th place
* 2015 – Silver Medal
* 2019 – Silver Medal

### Continental
#### Asian Games

* 1962 – Gold Medal
* 1966 – Gold Medal
* 1970 – Gold Medal
* 1974 – Gold Medal
* 1978 – Gold Medal
* 1982 – Silver Medal
* 1986 – Silver Medal
* 1990 – Bronze Medal
* 1994 – Bronze Medal
* 1998 – Bronze Medal
* 2002 – Bronze Medal
* 2006 – Silver Medal
* 2010 – 6th place
* 2014 – 4th place
* 2018 – 4th place
* 2022 – Silver Medal

#### Asian Championship

* 1975 – Gold Medal
* 1979 – Silver Medal
* 1983 – Gold Medal
* 1987 – Silver Medal
* 1989 – Bronze Medal
* 1991 – Silver Medal
* 1993 – Silver Medal
* 1995 – Bronze Medal
* 1997 – Bronze Medal
* 1999 – Bronze Medal
* 2001 – 4th place
* 2003 – Silver Medal
* 2005 – Bronze Medal
* 2007 – Gold Medal
* 2009 – Bronze Medal
* 2011 – Silver Medal
* 2013 – Silver Medal
* 2015 – 6th place
* 2017 – Gold Medal
* 2019 – Gold Medal
* 2021 – Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
* 2023 – Bronze Medal

#### Asian Cup

* 2008 — 4th place
* 2010 — 4th place
* 2012 — 5th place
* 2014 — 4th place
* 2016 — 4th place
* 2018 — Silver Medal
* 2022 — Gold Medal

## Head-to-head record

This page shows Japan women's national volleyball team's Head-to-head record at the Volleyball at the Summer Olympics, FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League.
| Opponent | GP | MW | ML |
| Algeria | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Argentina | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Belgium | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Brazil | 14 | 1 | 13 |
| Bulgaria | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Canada | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| China | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Croatia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cuba | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Dominican Republic | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| East Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| France | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Germany | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hungary | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Italy | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Kenya | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| North Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Peru | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Poland | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| Romania | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Russia | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Serbia | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| South Korea | 17 | 12 | 5 |
| Soviet Union | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Turkey | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| United States | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Venezuela | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 164 | 94 | 70 |

## Team
### Current squad

The following is the Japan roster in the 2024 Summer Olympics
Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe
| No. | Name | Date of birth | Pos | Height |
| 1 | Koyomi Iwasaki | 1 May 1989 | S | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| 2 | Kotona Hayashi | 13 November 1999 | OH | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) |
| 3 | Sarina Koga (c) | 21 May 1996 | OH | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| 4 | Mayu Ishikawa | 14 May 2000 | OH | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| 6 | Nanami Seki | 12 June 1999 | S | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) |
| 8 | Manami Kojima | 7 November 1994 | L | 158 cm (5 ft 2 in) |
| 10 | Arisa Inoue | 8 May 1995 | OH | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) |
| 11 | Nichika Yamada | 24 February 2000 | MB | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| 12 | Satomi Fukudome | 23 November 1997 | L | 162 cm (5 ft 4 in) |
| 15 | Airi Miyabe | 29 July 1998 | MB | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| 20 | Ayaka Araki | 2 September 2001 | MB | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| 21 | Yukiko Wada | 8 January 2002 | OH | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) |

### Former squads

* 1994 squad:
Head coach: Tadayoshi Yokota
| No. | Name | Date of birth | Height | 1994 club |
| 1 | Motoko Obayashi | 15.06.67 | 182 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | Hitachi |
| 2 | Aki Nagatomi | 17.07.69 | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | Hitachi |
| 3 | Chie Natori | 09.08.69 | 176 cm (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | Daiei |
| 4 | Mika Yamauchi | 07.10.69 | 182 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | Daiei |
| 6 | Tomoko Yoshihara | 04.02.70 | 179 cm (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) | Hitachi |
| 7 | Kiyoko Fukuda | 04.08.70 | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | Hitachi |
| 8 | Miho Murata | 03.09.70 | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | Hitachi |
| 9 | Asako Tajimi | 26.02.72 | 179 cm (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) | Hitachi |
| 12 | Yumi Natta | 12.07.69 | 161 cm (5 ft 3+1⁄2 in) | Daiei |
| 13 | Naomi Eto | 12.07.72 | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | Hitachi |
| 16 | Maki Fujiyoshi | 24.05.74 | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | Hitachi |
| 17 | Miyuki Shimasaki | 13.10.74 | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | Hitachi |
| 5 | Kazuyo Matsukawa | 07.01.70 | 181 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | Daiei |
| 10 | Kumiko Sakamoto | 13.12.72 | 177 cm (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | Daiei |
| 14 | Minako Onuki | 15.10.72 | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | NEC |
| 15 | Miho Ota | 27.10.73 | 179 cm (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) | Hitachi |
| 18 | Eiko Yasui | 08.05.71 | 164 cm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in) | Kanagawa |
* 1996 Olympic Games — 9th place (tied)
    Kaiyo Hoshini, Aki Nagatomi, Kazumi Nakamura, Chieko Nakanishi, Motoko Obayashi, Ikumi Ogake, Mika Saiki, Kiyomi Sakamoto, Asako Tajimi, Chiho Torii, Mika Yamauchi, and Tomoko Yoshihara. Head coach: Kuniaki Yoshida.
* 1999 FIVB World Cup — 6th place
    Naomi Eto, Megumi Itabashi, Chikako Kumamae, Hitomi Mitsunaga, Junko Moriyama, Ikumi Ogake, Minako Onuki, Yuka Sakurai, Miki Sasaki, Hiromi Suzuki, Asako Tajimi, and Hiroko Tsukumo. Head coach: Nobushika Kuzuwa.
* 2002 World Championship — 14th place
    Makiko Horai, Sachiko Kodama, Chikako Kumamae, Hisako Mukai, Kanako Naito, Minako Onuki, Ai Otomo, Kana Oyama, Yuko Sano, Sachiko Sugiyama, Miyuki Takahashi, and Shinako Tanaka. Head coach: Masahiro Yoshikawa.
* 2003 FIVB World Cup — 5th place
    Tomoko Yoshihara, Chie Tsuji, Miki Sasaki, Kanako Omura, Yoshie Takeshita, Miyuki Takahashi, Makiko Horai, Yuko Sano, Sachiko Sugiyama, Saori Kimura, Kana Oyama, and Megumi Kurihara. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2004 Olympic Qualification Tournament — 1st place (qualified)
    Tomoko Yoshihara, Chie Tsuji, Ikumi Narita, Miki Sasaki, Kanako Omura, Yoshie Takeshita, Miyuki Takahashi, Sachiko Sugiyama, Ai Otomo, Kana Oyama, Megumi Kurihara, and Saori Kimura. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2004 Olympic Games — 5th place (tied)
    Tomoko Yoshihara, Chie Tsuji, Ikumi Narita, Miki Sasaki, Kanako Omura, Yoshie Takeshita, Miyuki Takahashi, Sachiko Sugiyama, Ai Otomo, Kana Oyama, Megumi Kurihara, and Saori Kimura. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2005 FIVB World Grand Prix — 5th place
    Erika Araki, Makiko Horai, Megumi Itabashi, Ayako Onuma, Ai Otomo, Yuka Sakurai, Miki Shimada, Kaoru Sugayama, Sachiko Sugiyama, Yoshie Takeshita, Miyuki Takahashi, and Chie Yoshizawa. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament — 3rd place (qualified)
    Erika Araki, Miyuki Kano, Yuki Kawai, Saori Kimura, Megumi Kurihara, Kanako Omura, Yuka Sakurai, Yuko Sano, Miyuki Takahashi, Sachiko Sugiyama, Yoshie Takeshita, and Asako Tajimi. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2008 Olympic Games — 5th place (tied)
    Erika Araki, Miyuki Kano, Yuki Kawai, Saori Kimura, Megumi Kurihara, Kanako Omura, Yuka Sakurai, Yuko Sano, Miyuki Takahashi, Sachiko Sugiyama, Yoshie Takeshita, and Asako Tajimi. Head coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto.
* 2010 World Championship — 3rd place
    Megumi Kurihara, Hitomi Nakamichi, Yoshie Takeshita, Kaori Inoue, Ai Yamamoto, Yuko Sano, Mai Yamaguchi, Mizuho Ishida, Erika Araki, Saori Kimura, Yukiko Ebata, Saori Sakoda, Akiko Ino, and Kanari Hamaguchi, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe.
* 2012 Olympic Games — Bronze Medal
    Erika Araki (c), Saori Kimura, Yoshie Takeshita, Yukiko Ebata, Kaori Inoue, Ai Otomo, Yuko Sano, Mai Yamaguchi, Risa Shinnabe, Saori Sakoda, Maiko Kano, and Hitomi Nakamichi, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe.
* 2014 World Championship
    Saori Kimura (c), Miyu Nagaoka, Hitomi Nakamichi, Arisa Takada, Arisa Satō, Mai Yamaguchi, Mizuho Ishida, Yuki Ishii, Risa Shinnabe, Yukiko Ebata, Saori Sakoda, Kana Ōno, Sayaka Tsutsui, and Haruka Miyashita, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe.
* 2016 Olympic Games — 5th place
    Saori Kimura (c), Miyu Nagaoka, Arisa Satō, Mai Yamaguchi, Yuki Ishii, Saori Sakoda, Haruka Miyashita, Kanami Tashiro, Erika Araki, Yurie Nabeya, Haruyo Shimamura and Kotoki Zayasu, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe.
* 2018 World Championship — 6th Place
    Nana Iwasaka (c), Koyomi Tominaga, Kanami Tashiro, Erika Araki, Mai Okumura, Haruyo Shimamura, Risa Shinnabe, Yuki Ishii, Sarina Koga, Ai Kurogo, Mami Uchiseto, Miyu Nagaoka, Kotoe Inoue, Mako Kobata, Head coach: Kumi Nakada.
* 2020 Summer Olympics — 10th Place
    Erika Araki (c), Ai Kurogo, Sarina Koga, Kanami Tashiro, Mayu Ishikawa, Haruyo Shimamura, Mako Kobata, Yuki Ishii, Mai Okumura, Aki Momii, Kotona Hayashi and Nichika Yamada, Head coach: Kumi Nakada
* 2022 World Championship — 5th Place
    Sarina Koga (c), Mami Uchiseto, Mayu Ishikawa, Haruyo Shimamura, Arisa Inoue, Aki Momii, Kotona Hayashi, Nichika Yamada, Satomi Fukudome, Mami Yokota, Airi Miyabe, Nanami Seki, Ameze Miyabe and Yoshino Sato, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe.
* 2024 Summer Olympics — 9th Place
    Sarina Koga (c), Koyomi Iwasaki, Kotona Hayashi, Mayu Ishikawa, Nanami Seki, Manami Kojima, Arisa Inoue, Nichika Yamada, Satomi Fukudome, Airi Miyabe, Ayaka Araki and Yukiko Wada, Head coach: Masayoshi Manabe

### Coaches history

* Tadayoshi Yokota
* Kuniaki Yoshida
* Nobushika Kuzuwa
* Masahiro Yoshikawa
* Shoichi Yanagimoto (2003–2008)
* Masayoshi Manabe (2008–2016; 2021–2024)
* Kumi Nakada (2016–2021)
* Ferhat Akbaş (2025–present)

## Gallery

* Sata Isobe spiking ball against Soviet Union National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
* Emiko Miyamoto at the 1964 Olympics
* Yuriko Handa at the 1964 Olympics
* Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the team leader, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball