2018 Top Challenge League
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2018 Top Challenge League
The 2018 Top Challenge League was the second season of Japan's second-tier domestic rugby union competition, the Top Challenge League. It was played from 8 September to 9 December 2018, with eight participating teams. NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won the competition for the third time – having previously won in 2010–11 and 2016–17 and qualified for the promotion play-offs, along with Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars, Kintetsu Liners and Kurita Water Gush. Kamaishi Seawaves and Chugoku Red Regulions finished seventh and eighth respectively to qualify for the relegation play-offs. Competition rules In January 2017, the JRFU announced the format of the Top Challenge League competition. The competition was played in two stages. The First Stage was a round-robin format, where all eight teams played each other once. The top four teams in the First Stage progressed to Group A of the Second Stage, while the bottom four teams progressed to Group B. Each of these groups was anoth ...
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Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ...
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2018–19 Top League
The 2018–19 Top League was the 16th season of Japan's top-tier domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. Competition rules The sixteen Top League teams were divided into two conferences for the #First Stage, first stage of the competition; each team played the seven other teams in their conferences once. All sixteen teams then progressed to a play-off stage; the top four teams in each conference advanced to the #Title play-offs, title play-offs and the bottom four teams in each conference to the #9th-place play-offs, 9th-place play-offs, which determined the final positions for the season. The #Title play-offs, title play-offs doubled up as the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship, which would no longer include university teams. The bottom four teams in the 9th-place play-off all played in relegation play-off matches. Teams The following teams took part in the 2018 Top League competition: * Honda Heat won the 2017–18 Top Challenge League to win promotion back to ...
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Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagawa Prefecture borders Tokyo to the north, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northwest and Shizuoka Prefecture to the west. Yokohama is the capital and largest city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Kawasaki, Sagamihara, and Fujisawa. Kanagawa Prefecture is located on Japan's eastern Pacific coast on Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay, separated by the Miura Peninsula, across from Chiba Prefecture on the Bōsō Peninsula. Kanagawa Prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with Yokohama and many of its cities being major commercial hubs and southern suburbs of Tokyo. Kanagawa Prefecture was the political and economic center of Japan du ...
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Atsugi, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 223,960 and a population density of 2400 persons per km². The total area of the city is . While the name "Atsugi" is often associated with the United States Navy base named Naval Air Facility Atsugi, the base is actually not in Atsugi, but straddles the border between the nearby cities of Ayase and Yamato. Geography Atsugi is located in the hilly center of Kanagawa Prefecture, approximately from central Tokyo or from central Yokohama. It is located at the northern end of the Sagami Plain created by the Sagami River, which originates from Lake Yamanaka, and straddles the Tanzawa Mountains in the west and the plain on the west bank of the Sagami River to the southeast. The Nakatsu River and Koayu River, which originate from the Higashitanzawa Mountains, join the Sagami River, which forms the border with Ebina, Zama, and Sagamihara. Parts of the western portion of the city are within th ...
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Kansai
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo and Shiga Prefecture, Shiga, often also Mie Prefecture, Mie, sometimes Fukui Prefecture, Fukui, Tokushima Prefecture, Tokushima and Tottori Prefecture, Tottori. The metropolitan region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area. Name The terms , , and have their roots during the Asuka period. When the old provinces of Japan were established, several provinces in the area around the then-capital Kyoto were collectively named Kinai and Kinki, both roughly meaning "the neighbourhood of the capital". Kansai (literally ''west of the tollgate'') in its original usage refers to the land west of the Osaka Tollgate (), the border between Yam ...
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Iwate Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the west, and Miyagi Prefecture to the south. Morioka is the capital and largest city of Iwate Prefecture; other major cities include Ichinoseki, Ōshū, and Hanamaki. Located on Japan's Pacific Ocean coast, Iwate Prefecture features the easternmost point of Honshu at Cape Todo, and shares the highest peaks of the Ōu Mountains—the longest mountain range in Japan—at the border with Akita Prefecture. Iwate Prefecture is home to famous attractions such as Morioka Castle, the Buddhist temples of Hiraizumi including Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji, the Fujiwara no Sato movie lot and theme park in Ōshū, and the Tenshochi park in Kitakami known for its huge, ancient cherry trees. Iwate has the lowest population density of any prefecture ...
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Kamaishi, Iwate
is a city located on the Sanriku rias coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,609, and a population density of 74 persons per km2, in 16,230 households. The total area of the city is Geography Kamaishi is located in the Kitakami Mountains of south-central Iwate Prefecture, with the Pacific Ocean to the east. The spectacular, rugged coast of Kamaishi is entirely within the Sanriku Fukkō National Park. There are four large bays, Ōtsuchi Bay in the north, Ryōishi Bay, Kamaishi Bay and Tōni Bay in the south. Each is separated by large, rocky, pine-covered peninsulas which jut out into the Pacific Ocean. Immediately the rocky cliffs develop into hills rising to along the coast and farther inland. The highest point in Kamaishi is Mount Goyōzan in the southwest at 1,341.3 meters in elevation. Most of the land is mountainous, allowing for little agriculture. The main rivers are the Kasshigawa River which empties into Kamaishi Bay and the Un ...
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Hiroshima Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the east, Tottori Prefecture to the northeast, Shimane Prefecture to the north, and Yamaguchi Prefecture to the southwest. Hiroshima is the capital and largest city of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region, with other major cities including Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Kure, Hiroshima, Kure, and Higashihiroshima. Hiroshima Prefecture is located on the Seto Inland Sea across from the island of Shikoku, and is bounded to the north by the Chūgoku Mountains. Hiroshima Prefecture is one of the three prefectures of Japan with more than one UNESCO World Heritage Site. History The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of tra ...
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Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011. Hiroshima was founded in 1589 as a castle town on the Ōta River delta. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Hiroshima rapidly transformed into a major urban center and industrial hub. In 1889, Hiroshima officially gained city status. The city was a center of military activities during the imperial era, playing significant roles such as in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the two world wars. Hiroshima was the first military target of a nuclear weapon in human history. This occurred on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the city. Most of Hiroshima was destroyed, and by the end of th ...
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Mazda Blue Zoomers
Skyactivs Hiroshima (formerly Mazda Blue Zoomers) are a Japanese rugby union team who compete in the Japan Rugby League One. They were formerly owned by car manufacturers Mazda based in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. The team rebranded as Skyactivs Hiroshima, dropping the Mazda name, ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022. Squad The Skyactivs Hiroshima squad for the 2023 season is: See also *2007–08 Top League The 2007–08 Top League was the fifth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Sanyo Wild Knights became the first ever team in the Top League to win all their league games, but were defeated for the Top League ti ... References External links * {{Skyactivs Hiroshima squad Sports teams in Hiroshima Prefecture Blue Zoomers Japan Rugby League One teams ...
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Kyuden Voltex
Kyuden Voltex is a Japanese rugby team owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyūshū Denryoku). The nickname "Voltex" is a conflation of "Voltage" and "Techniques" and was decided after the team won promotion to the Top League. The team is based in Kashii, Fukuoka and from the 2007-8 season is playing in the semi-professional Top League at the top of Japanese domestic rugby. It is the third team based in Kyūshū to play in the league, the other two being Coca-Cola Red Sparks and Munakata Sanix Blues , formerly ''Fukuoka Sanix Blues'' and ''Fukuoka Sanix Bombs'', was a Japanese rugby union team based in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Founded in April 1994 (Heisei 6), the team rose rapidly through the Kyūshū leagues and was in the Top .... In the fifth season of the Top League (2007-8) Kyuden managed to avoid the play-offs and stay in the league. They also won the league's "Fair Play" prize. Team colours Main: red with yellow trimmed jersey, black shorts; Second: ...
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