Japan
Japan hopes for victory in Canton
About the Team
Japan continues to impress on the international stage
Japan will fly the flag for Asia as the continent's representative at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship.Asia's other IFAF member countries are in the process of developing their junior programs and declined the entry invitation, paving the way for Japan to continue its impressive development on the international stage.
In 2006 Japan equaled its highest ever finish at the NFL Global Junior Championship, a 19-and-under tournament played annually in the Super Bowl host city from 1997 to 2007. Having lost narrowly to Mexico and eventual champion Canada and tied the United States in the group stages, Japan beat Germany to face Mexico again for the Bronze medal. A gutsy coaching call having scored a touchdown when trailing 7-0 saw Japan go for the two-point conversion and steal third place with a last minute 8-7 victory.
Japan first entered the NFL GJC in 2001, finishing third ahead of Team Europe, then finished fourth in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
In 2008 the Japanese junior national team hosted a US all-star team selected from 12 states and 27 high schools in the GE Global Challenge Bowl in Kawasaki near Tokyo and emerged as 24-14 winners. It was the first time Japan had triumphed over the United States at the junior international level.
The Japan American Football Association (JAFA) was established in 1934, and today 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.
The game takes place annually during the national New Year's holiday. The Japan X Bowl champions hold the series lead over the Koshien champions.
Japan won the first even IFAF Senior World Championship in Italy in 1999 and successfully defended the title four years later in Germany. In 2007 Japan lost the championship game on home soil to the United States.
In a unique game to be staged on July 25, 2009, the Japanese senior national team will take on the Fighting Irish Legends, a Notre Dame alumni team coached by Lou Holtz, in the famous Tokyo Dome.
Japan - www.americanfootball.jp