Basketball is included in top
sports being played in
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 ...
but it is less popular than
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
baseball.
Team
B. League is a professional league in
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 ...
that has been established last 2016.
It is a combination of Super League and
bj league
The was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official go ...
enforced by
FIBA.
B. League has three divisions, with 18 teams in Divisions 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Division 3 only has 12 teams.
It has captured the growing popularity of the
sport among the young people of
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 ...
. It has developed homegrown players that are now playing in
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
like
Rui Hachimura.
Competitions
1976 World Olympics
This was the last major appearance of the National Team at the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
. The Women's National Team reached its highest ranking, at 5th place.
2019 FIBA World Cup
The Men's National Team was able to enter after a great performance during the qualifiers, even though they ranked #48 in the world.
They ranked #31 in the final standings of the competition.
The Women's National Team ranked #9 in this competition.
2020 Tokyo Olympics
Since
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 ...
is the host country for this
Olympic Games, the Men and Women's National Teams automatically qualified for this competition.
However, the games were postponed to a later date due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
References
External links
B. League official website{{Sport in Japan
Basketball in Japan