With the IFAF Senior World Championship just three days away now, each day we will preview a team competing in the tournament. Here is a look at Japan.
Japan enters the tournament holding the most success at IFAF Senior World Championship having reached the championship game each time and is a two-time champion winning in 1999 and 2003.
In 1999 at the first IFAF Senior World Championship, Japan became the first ever World Champions of American Football in a 6-0 overtime victory over Mexico having defeated Sweden and Australia in the group stages, while Mexico triumphed against Italy and Finland. A total of 330 players and coaches participated in the first senior world championship.
Four years later in Germany, Japan beat France 23-6 in one semi final and Mexico edged Germany 21-17 in the other to again meet for the world championship. Japan ran out 34-14 winners as running back Ikunori Hanna carried the ball 11 times for 125 yards and a touchdown to earn the MVP award. Germany defeated France 36-7 to claim third place.
Japan hosted the 2007 Senior World Championship in the Kawasaki suburb of Tokyo as the tournament featured the national teams of France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden and the United States.
USA Football initiated the first ever US senior national team under veteran head coach John Mackovic and Team USA outlasted Japan 23-20 in double overtime to return home triumphant from Tokyo.
Most recently, the Japan Senior National team dominated the IFAF Senior World Championship qualifier game with a 76-0 shut out victory against Korea on February 26.
About American Football in Japan:
The Japan American Football Association (JAFA) was established in 1934, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009, and now consists of 390 teams with more than 18,000 members and players.
JAFA has three different football leagues; 64 corporate-sponsored semi-pro teams, 220 university teams, and 106 high school teams with a bowl game concluding each league.
The Koshien Bowl was established in 1947, making it the oldest championship game in Japanese football history. The bowl determines the collegiate champion featuring the top team in the east versus the best from the west.
The corporate-sponsored semi-pro league launched the Tokyo Super Bowl in 1987 as their title game, but today is called the Japan X Bowl.
In 1948, the Rice Bowl was developed as an East-West all-star game. In 1983, its status was changed in celebration of the 50th anniversary of American football in Japan. Now the Rice Bowl features the champions of the Koshien Bowl and the Japan X Bowl in determining Japan’s national champion.
Coaching Staff:
The Japanese Senior National team is led by head coach Kiyoyuki Mori. Coach Mori is head coach of the Kajima Deers and led the team to a Japan X Bowl victory in 2009. In his playing career he was a linebacker for the Kyoto University Gangsters, six-time Koshien Bowl colliegiate National champions.
Kiyoyuki Mori, Head Coach (Kajima Deers)
Makoto Ohashi, Defensive Coordinator (OBIC Seagulls)
Satoshi Fujita, Offensive Coordinator (Fujitsu Frontiers)
Goro ito, Asst. Coach (Kajima Deers)
Gen Arisawa, Asst. Coach (Kajima Deers)
Hideo Yanagi, Asst. Coach (Fujitsu Frontiers)
Norikazu Nobuhara, Asst. Coach (Fujitsu Frontiers)
Masato Itai, Asst. Coach (Kansai University)
Shinzo Yamada, Asst. Coach (IBM Big Blue)
Players to Watch:
Running Back Tomokazu Sueyoshi
5-10, 207 – Waseda University
Only one college player was selected to the senior national team – running back Tomokazu Sueyoshi who plays for Waseda University in Tokyo. The 21-year-old had an outstanding season last year recording 1,424 yards and 22 touchdowns leading his team to the college finals. He also played in the qualifying match against South Korea and ran for 48 yards.
In 2008, he played for the junior national team which defeated a US all-star team in Kawasaki, Japan.
Kicker Daisuke Aoki
5-11, 207 – Kajima
Daisuke Aoki has proved to be one of top kickers in Japan with a very power and accurate leg making all 10 extra-point kicks and going 2-3 in field goals during Japan’s IFAF Senior World Championship qualifier game 76-0 victory against Korea. Aoki made a 27-yard and 39-yard field goal and was named game MVP.
Aoki plays for Kajima, and this season he helped his team reach the X-League title game. This was Daisuke Aoki rookie season, but impressed all and was named to the All X-League team. He was one of only seven players from his Kajima team selected.
Other Player Notes:
The reigning Japan X League champions, OBIC Seagulls have the most players represented on Japan with 13. The Panasonic Denko Impulse, who reached the Japan X Bowl, have eleven and last year’s semifinalist Kajima Deers had nine players selected. The Fujisu Frontiers, who’s head coach Satoshi Fujita is on the Japan coaching staff, have six players represented.
Twenty-three players on Japan’s 75-man roster have played at previous IFAF Senior World Championships. And defensive lineman Yasuo Wakisaka is the only player in the tournament that has competed at each IFAF Senior World Championship.
LB – Kentaro Azuma – 2007
RB – Takuya Furutani – 2003 & 2007
WR – Shoei Hasegawa – 2007
DL – Motoyuki Hirai – 2007
OL – Haruhisa Hiramoto – 2003 & 2007
LB – Naoki Kosho – 2007
OL – Kazuhiro Kuramochi – 2007
WR – Naoki Maeda – 2007
LB – Takashi Makiuchi – 2007
DB – Takeshi Miyake – 2007
OL – Tsukasa Miyamoto – 2007
OL – Yuta Murai – 2007
OL – Takanari Murakami – 2007
DB – Tadanari Sano – 2003 & 2007
WR – Ken Shimizu – 2003 & 2007
LB – Shoichiro Suzuki – 2007
QB – Tetsuo Takata – 2007
LB – Masayoshi Tsukada – 2007
DL – Yasuo Wakisaka – 1999, 2003 & 2007
DB – Yuichi Watanabe – 2007
DL – Masayoshi Yamanaka – 2003 & 2007
DL – Takayuki Yoneda – 2007
WR – Koji Yoneyama – 2007
Game Schedule for Japan:
Saturday, July 9: Austria vs Japan Graz, Austria
Monday, July 11: Japan vs France Graz, Austria
Wednesday, July 13: Japan vs Canada Graz, Austria
Placement Games July 15 & 16 in Vienna, Austria
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