Japan: Fact file

Form guide

Japan's women competed on SVNS 2024 and finished ninth out of 12 teams. This meant that they travelled to the season-ending Grand Final in Madrid needing to win back their core team status for next year, a feat they achieved with a 26-12 win against Argentina.

Japan's men were relegated from the series at the end of the 2023 season after finishing 15th. They competed in the second tier World Rugby Sevens Challenger in 2024 and finished eighth. Both the men's and women's teams won Asia's showpiece regional title in November to book their place in Paris.

Star dust

Sevens commentator and reporter Rob Vickerman says: "Chiharu Nakamura was a Rio Olympian and she is continuing to lead from the front as a forward. The men's team has been rebuilding for the past 12 months and will be sure to spring a surprise on the grandest stage."

Road to Paris 2024

There was double delight for Japan as both the men’s and women’s teams became the final regional qualifiers for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with victory in the Asia Rugby qualification tournament in Osaka. The women were first to qualify with a 21-14 win against China before the men staged a dramatic comeback to beat Hong Kong China by an identical scoreline.

Previous Olympics

Both teams competed in the inaugural Olympic rugby sevens in Rio in 2016, the men outdoing all expectations to reach the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions Fiji, before losing the bronze medal match to South Africa. Both were again present as hosts in Tokyo in 2021, and they will now complete a hat-trick of appearances in the French capital.