Rugby Sevens - Team Japan

Nickname
Sakura Sevens

General
Japan qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as hosts. At the 2016 Games in Rio, they were drawn in a pool with hosts Brazil, as well as Canada and Great Britain, who went on to finish third and fourth in the tournament, respectively. They finished bottom in their pool following three defeats, but went on to record a victory over Kenya in the ranking play-off matches before being defeated by Brazil again and ultimately placing 10th.

The Japanese team played in three of the five legs of the curtailed 2019/20 World Series as an invitational team. Their best result during the series was a ninth-place finish in Sydney. In recent years they have struggled to maintain status as a core team in the World Series, and have only twice played in every leg of the competition, in 2015/16 and 2017/18.

Japan ranked 10th at the 2018 World Cup in San Francisco. After defeat in the round of 16 to eventual runners-up France, they contested the tournament's Challenge Trophy and reached the final, where they lost out to England.

Japan have been more successful at continental level, winning seven Asian championship titles between 2012 and 2019. They are the reigning Asian Games gold medallists, following victory over the People's Republic of China at the 2018 Games in Indonesia.