The Japanese national Australian rules football team ( ja, 日本のオーストラリアンフットボールチーム, Nihon no ōsutorarianfuttobōruchīmu), nicknamed the Samurai ( ja, 侍, Samurai), represent Japan in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

. The team represents the best Japanese-born players and is selected by

AFL Japan AFL Japan is a league and governing body for Australian rules football in Japan. The Top League season runs from April to November, with a summer break during August. All teams including the University teams compete in the Top League. The most s ...

from domestic competitions which have been running since 1987.

Identity

Since its inception, the team has been nicknamed the ''

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

''. The team wears the

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have ''de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

of Japan: red, white and also black; however there has been several design variations in the team's jumper, including a clash strip used when playing teams like Canada. For the 2005 International Cup, the side wore the colours in a vertical pattern (similar to the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

) with the official Samurais' logo featuring a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

warrior. In 2006, the design featured a predominantly black stripe with white stars and red trim. For the 2008 International Cup, the team reverted to a predominantly white strip with a red sash.

History

The Samurais' first international opposition was in 1995 when the team competed in the

Arafura Games The Arafura Games is a unique, inclusive multi-sport event where athletes with a disability compete in the same program as able-bodied athletes. Competitors from around the world compete in the week-long games held every 2 years in Darwin, Northe ...

. They have since competed in the games in 1997, 1999 and 2001. In 2001, Troy Beard became coach of the Samurais. Japan's Samurais competed in the inaugural

Australian Football International Cup The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup or simply the IC) is a triennial international Australian rules football sport competition. It is the biggest worldwide tournament in the sport and is open to ...

in 2002 finishing in 10th place. The year 2004 saw a vastly improved Samurai touring Australia and Singapore, playing six matches and winning four. One of these games was again against New Zealand, but this time an Auckland club rather than the national team, which Japan lost by just two points. In 2005, the Samurai took home the

Silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the

. Later that year, the team again competed in the International Cup, lifting its international ranking to 9th and included its first International Cup win, by 71 points against Spain. Richard Laidler, who had been Troy Beard's assistant for four years previously took on the senior coaching position in 2006 and the Samurai again toured Australia with a young squad playing 4 games finishing with a 2-point win against Box Hill North Football Club, but losses to the Howlong Football Club, Box Hill North

Superules Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 (in the case of k ...

and Melbourne Vietnam Australian Football Club. In 2007, the Samurai toured Australia, finishing 6–9 (45) in its game against the newly formed Melbourne based Vietnamese side, the Elgar Park Dragons 13–7 (85). Against Box Hill they registered a 30-point win. In the lead-up to the 2008 International Cup, Japan once again competed against its sister club Box Hill, this time easily accounting for its Australian rivals, winning by 56 points. This increased expectations for the Japanese side. During the cup, they had a breakthrough win against Samoa, following it with a thrashing of India which helped them to climb to 8th in the overall tournament ranking.

Notable players

Michito Sakaki, current captain of the Samurai, has trained with the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

and played semi-professionally in Australia has been All-International in both 2005 and 2008. Teammate Tsuyoshi Kase also trained with Essendon and has played amateur football in Australia.

International competition

International Cup

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: 10th *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: 9th *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: 8th *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: 12th *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 13th

Arafura Games

*1995: 4th (as ''Japan/ Singapore'') *1997: 6th *1999: Qualifying rounds *2001: 4th

References

External links

Official Samurais WebsiteReview of Japan's 2006 tour of AustraliaSamurai downed by Vietnamese at Windy Hill – finish Aus tour 1–3Samurais back touring AustraliaMichito goes semi-pro in AustraliaSamurai's first ever win outside Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan National Australian Rules Football Team National Australian rules football teams

Australian rules football in Japan