Japan women's national football team

, also known as , is a Japanese women's association football team.  The team represents Japan in international competition.  It is made up of the best female players in Japan.

Nadeshiko Japan is best known as the first Asian team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup.

History
Japan Football Association (JFA) set up an official women's organization in 1979. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) asked each member country to promote and develop the sport among women.Hongo, Jun, "Nadeshiko Japan eyes London Olympic gold ", Japan Times, 24 January 2012, p. 3.

In 1981 the Japan women's national football team played its first international match in Hong Kong.  The team lost to Taiwan 0-1.

The women’s national team qualified for the "1991 FIFA Women's World Cup" in China.

In 2004, the JFA organized a public contest to select a name for the team; and "Nadeshiko Japan" was chosen from among 2,000+ entries."Nadeshiko", a kind of dianthus flower, comes from the phrase 

In the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Japan defeated the United States team in the last game of a knockout tournament."Japan edge USA for maiden title,"  17 July 2011; "Women's World Cup final: Japan beat USA on penalties," BBC (UK). 17 July 2011; retrieved 2012-8-8.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Nadeshiko Japan won the silver medal.Baxter, Kevin.  "Japanese soccer team gets upgrade ...," Los Angeles Times. August 11, 2012; excerpt, " Japan's soccer association was chided for making the world champions fly coach to London .... But association President Kuniya Daini confirmed the women will have better seats on the trip home"; retrieved 2012-8-17.

International statistics
FIFA Women's World Cup Record

Hosts / YearResult* 1991  Group Stage  3  0  0  3  0  12  −12 1995  Quarter Final  4  1  0  3  2  8  −6 1999  Group Stage  3  0  1  2  1  10  −9 2003  Group Stage  3  1  0  2  7  6  +1 2007  Group Stage  3  1  1  1  3  3  0 2011  Champions  6  4  1  1  12  6  +6 2015  Runner-up  7  6  0  1  11  8  +3Total  7/7  28  13  3  11  34  51  −17
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

FIFA Women's World Cup RecordYearRoundScoreResult1991Group stage  0 – 1 LossGroup stage  0 – 8 LossGroup stage  0 – 3 Loss1995Group stage  0 – 1 LossGroup stage  2 – 1 WinGroup stage  0 – 2 LossQuarterfinals 0 – 4 Loss1999Group stage  1 – 1 DrawGroup stage  0 – 5 LossGroup stage  0 – 4 Loss2003Group stage  6 – 0 WinGroup stage  0 – 3 LossGroup stage  1 – 3 Loss2007Group stage  2 – 2 DrawGroup stage  1 – 0 WinGroup stage  0 – 2 Loss2011Group stage  2 – 1 WinGroup stage  4 – 0 WinGroup stage  0 – 2 LossQuarterfinals 1 – 0 WinSemifinals 3 – 1 WinFinal 2 – 2 (3–1) Win2015 Group stage  1 – 0   Win Group stage  2 – 1   Win Group stage  1 – 0   Win Round of 16  2 – 1   Win Quarterfinals  1 – 0   Win Semifinals  2 – 1   Win Final  2 – 5   Loss

Olympic Games Record

Hosts / YearResult* 1996  Round 1   3  0  0  3  2  9  −7 2000  Didn't Qualify   -  -  -  -  -  -  - 2004  Quarterfinals   3  1  0  2  2  3  −1 2008  4th Place  6  2  1  3  11  10  +1 2012  Finals  5  3  2  0  6  2  +4Total  4/5  17  6  3  8  21  24  −2
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games RecordYearRoundScoreResult1996Round 1 2 – 3 LossRound 1 0 – 2 LossRound 1 0 – 4 Loss2004Round 1 1 – 0 WinRound 1 0 – 1 LossQuarterfinals 1 – 2 Loss2008Round 1 2 – 2 DrawRound 1 0 – 1 LossRound 1 5 – 1 WinQuarterfinals 2 – 0 WinSemifinals 2 – 4 LossThird-place 0 – 2 Loss2012Round 1 2 – 1  WinRound 1 0 – 0  DrawRound 1 0 – 0  DrawQuarterfinals 2 – 0  WinSemifinals 2 – 1  WinFinal  –   Loss

Coaches
 Seiki Ichihara (1981)
 Takao Orii (1984)
 Ryohei Suzuki (1986-1989)
 Tamotsu Suzuki (1989-1996)FIFA.com,   FIFA Women's World Cup, p. 2 [PDF p. 2 of 2]; retrieved 2012-8-17.
 Satoshi Miyauchi (1997-1999)RedSwift.com,  "'Nadeshiko Japan' Squad"  retrieved 2012-8-17.
 Tamotsu Suzuki (1999)
 Shinobu Ikeda (2000-2002)
 Eiji Ueda (2002-2004)
 Hiroshi Ohashi (2004-2007)
 Norio Sasaki (2008-2016)FIFA.com, "Coach of the Year, Norio Sasaki" ; Westlake, Adam.  "Nadeshiko Japan coach Sasaki to step down after London Olympics,"  Japan Daily Press. August 9, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-17.
 Asako Takakura (2016-)

Related pages
 Sports in Japan
 Japan at the Olympics
 Japan national football team
 List of Japan women's international footballers

References

Other websites

 Japan Football Association website ; 

Category:Asian women's national football teams
Category:Football in Japan
Category:National sports teams of Japan