Rugby Sevens - Team Japan

Nickname
Sakura Sevens

General
Japan are the reigning Asian Games champions, having secured their maiden title at the 2018 Games in Indonesia. After beating the Indonesian, Kazakhstani, and Thai teams in the pool phase, they overcame the Republic of Korea in the quarterfinals and Kazakhstan for a second time in the semifinals. The Japanese team then prevailed in a low-scoring gold medal match against the People's Republic of China, 7-5.

The 2018 final saw Japan gain a measure of revenge over the Chinese team, who had beaten Japan 14-12 in the gold medal match at the 2014 Asian Games. When women's sevens made its first appearance at the Games in Guangzhou in 2010, Japan were beaten by Hong Kong, China in the quarterfinals.

The Japanese team have been dominant at the Asian Series for most of the last decade, winning seven of the eight titles on offer between 2013 and 2021. However, they had to settle for the runners-up spot in 2022 after losing in the final to the People's Republic of China in two of the three legs of the competition. Japan won the other leg with victory over the Chinese team in the Republic of Korea.

The team lost to Fiji in the first round of the 2022 World Cup, and then won all three of their matches in the challenge stage of the tournament to rank ninth overall. In the 2022/23 World Series, they ranked eighth, with their best tournament performance a fifth-place finish in the final leg in France.

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan lost their three pool matches to the Australian, US, and Chinese teams. They were also beaten in the classification rounds by Kenya and Brazil, and ranked last out of 12 teams.