Japan women's national volleyball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japan
Nickname(s)Nippon (火の鳥NIPPON)[1]
AssociationJapan Volleyball Association[2]
Head coachMasayoshi Manabe
FIVB ranking8 (as of 31 July 2023)
Uniforms
Home
Away
Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances13 (First in 1964)
Best result (1964, 1976)
World Championship
Appearances16 (First in 1960)
Best result (1962, 1967, 1974)
www.jva.or.jp/en/senior_women/ (in English)

The Japan women's national volleyball team (Hinotori Nippon, 火の鳥NIPPON), or All-Japan women's volleyball team, is currently ranked 6th[4] 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.

Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the captain of Oriental Witches [ja],[5] 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball

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.[6]

Medals[edit]

Event Gold Silver Bronze Total
Olympic Games 2 2 2 6
Nations League 0 0 0 0
World Championship 3 3 1 7
World Grand Prix 0 1 0 1
World Cup 1 2 1 4
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 24 71

History[edit]

2012 London Olympics[edit]

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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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[edit]

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.[10] Japan's opening match was on 25 July 2021 in Tokyo against Kenya.[11] They beat Kenya in their first match in straight sets [12] and lost against Serbia, Brazil, Korea and the Dominican Republic which caused them to miss the qualification for the quarterfinals.[13]

Winner of 6 major world titles[edit]

Year Games Host Runner-up 2nd Runner-up
1962 # 4th World Championship USSR Soviet Union USSR Poland Poland
1964 # Tokyo Olympic Games Japan Soviet Union USSR Poland Poland
1967 # 5th World Championship Japan United States USA South Korea South Korea
1974 & 7th World Championship Mexico Soviet Union USSR South Korea South Korea
1976 & Montreal Olympic Games Canada Soviet Union USSR South Korea South Korea
1977 & 2nd World Cup Japan Cuba Cuba South Korea South Korea

#, & – Twice 3 Straight Major titles in 1960s and 1970s

(World Women's Volleyball Championship, World Cup, Olympic Games)

Results[edit]

International[edit]

Olympic Games[edit]

  • Japan 1964 Gold Medal
  • Mexico 1968 Silver Medal
  • Germany 1972 Silver Medal
  • Canada 1976 Gold Medal
  • United States 1984 Bronze Medal
  • South Korea 1988 – 4th place
  • Spain 1992 – 5th place
  • United States 1996 – 9th place
  • Greece 2004 – 8th place
  • China 2008 – 7th place
  • United Kingdom 2012 Bronze Medal
  • Brazil 2016 – 8th place
  • Japan 2020 – 10th place

World Championship[edit]

World Cup[edit]

World Grand Champions Cup[edit]

FIVB World Grand Prix[edit]

FIVB Nations League[edit]

Montreux Volley Masters[edit]

  • 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[edit]

Asian Games[edit]

  • Indonesia 1962 Gold Medal
  • Thailand 1966 Gold Medal
  • Thailand 1970 Gold Medal
  • Iran 1974 Gold Medal
  • Thailand 1978 Gold Medal
  • India 1982 Silver Medal
  • South Korea 1986 Silver Medal
  • China 1990 Bronze Medal
  • Japan 1994 Bronze Medal
  • Thailand 1998 Bronze Medal
  • South Korea 2002 Bronze Medal
  • Qatar 2006 Silver Medal
  • China 2010 – 6th place
  • South Korea 2014 – 4th place
  • Indonesia 2018 – 4th place
  • China 2022 Silver Medal

Asian Championship[edit]

Asian Cup[edit]

Team[edit]

Current squad[edit]

The following is the Japan roster in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League

Head coach: JapanMasayoshi Manabe

No. Name Date of birth Pos Height Weight
1 Miyu Nagaoka 25 July 1991 OP 179 cm (5 ft 10 in) 64 kg (141 lb)
2 Kotona Hayashi 13 November 1999 OH 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) 60 kg (130 lb)
3 Sarina Nishida 21 May 1996 OH 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) 66 kg (146 lb)
4 Mayu Ishikawa 14 May 2000 OH 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) 64 kg (141 lb)
6 Nanami Seki 12 June 1999 S 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) 62 kg (137 lb)
7 Mika Shibata 7 June 1994 S 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) 60 kg (130 lb)
10 Arisa Inoue 8 May 1995 OH 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) 68 kg (150 lb)
11 Nichika Yamada 24 February 2000 MB 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) 74 kg (163 lb)
12 Satomi Fukudome 23 November 1997 L 162 cm (5 ft 4 in) 61 kg (134 lb)
16 Yuka Meguro 16 January 1996 L 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) 60 kg (130 lb)
23 Airi Miyabe 29 July 1998 MB 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) 66 kg (146 lb)
24 Mai Irisawa 2 June 1999 MB 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) 72 kg (159 lb)
29 Minami Nishimura 23 March 2000 L 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) 64 kg (141 lb)
37 Yukiko Wada 8 January 2002 OH 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) 56 kg (123 lb)

Former squads[edit]

  • 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+12 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+12 in) Daiei
4 Mika Yamauchi 07.10.69 182 cm (5 ft 11+12 in) Daiei
6 Tomoko Yoshihara 04.02.70 179 cm (5 ft 10+12 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+12 in) Hitachi
12 Yumi Natta 12.07.69 161 cm (5 ft 3+12 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+12 in) Daiei
10 Kumiko Sakamoto 13.12.72 177 cm (5 ft 9+12 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+12 in) Hitachi
18 Eiko Yasui 08.05.71 164 cm (5 ft 4+12 in) Kanagawa

Coaches history[edit]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nickname:HINOTORI NIPPON". jva.or.jp.
  2. ^ "JVA".
  3. ^ "AVC".
  4. ^ "FIVB Senior World Ranking - Women". The FIVB. FIVB. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  5. ^ Remembering Volleyball's 'Oriental Witches' - The New York Times
  6. ^ "LONDON 2012 VOLLEYBALL, VOLLEYBALL WOMEN". olympic.org. August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Brazil, Japan reach semifinals". ESPN.com. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Japan humbled by Brazil in women's volleyball semifinals, to play S. Korea for bronze". The Japan Times. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Japan beats South Korea for historic volleyball bronze". The Japan Times. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Kenya Unveil Roster For The Tokyo Olympics". fivb.com. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Kenya Unveil Roster For The Tokyo Olympics". This is Volleyball. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Malkia Strikers go down to Japan in Olympics opener". Citizentv.co.ke. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  13. ^ NEWS, KYODO. "Olympics: Dominican Republic ends Japan women's volleyball quest". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  14. ^ "New women's volleyball coach Nakada ready for challenge". japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  15. ^ "女子バレー 中田久美監督が退任「不本意な結果、大変申し訳ない」後任は未定" (in Japanese). yahoo.co.jp. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

External links[edit]