Women's football in Japan is one of the rising powers of
women's football Women's football most often refers to:
* Women's association football (hannah jones ).
Women's football may also refer to:
* Women's gridiron football
* Women's Australian rules football
* Ladies' Gaelic football
* Women's rugby league
* Women's ...
.
History
The first women's football team in Japan was formed in 1966.
In the first national female football tournament in 1980, women played 8-a-side football and on smaller soccer fields than their male counterparts.
National competition
The
WE League was established in the 2021–22 season as Japan's first fully professional women's football league. It replaced the top level
Nadeshiko League
The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Sports league, league in Japan.
The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese association football ...
as the country's top women's league. The Nadeshiko League now occupies the two levels below the WE League.
The Nadeshiko League began in 1989. It was a three-tiered system, but has since reverted to a two-tier system.
National team
The team, organized by the
Japan Football Association
The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions.
History
The organisat ...
, is the only Asian women's side to win
FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
, winning in
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 ...
. The Japanese national team playing style has been compared to Spain's men's national team of
Tiki-taka.
-
In Fiction
* While there are not many depictions of Japanese women's football in fiction, one prominent example is the manga ''
Mai Ball!
Mai, or MAI, may refer to:
Names
* Mai (Chinese surname)
* Mai (Vietnamese surname)
* Mai (name)
* Mai (singer), J-Pop singer
* Iris Mai (born 1962), German chess master
Places
* Chiang Mai, largest city in northern Thailand
* Ma-i, a pre-Hi ...
'' by
Inoue Sora. It depicts a Japanese high school girls' team as they rise to the challenge of being the national best in the Japanese high school girls' football tournament.
See also
*
Sports in Japan
Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball, association football, basketball and tennis are popular with both participants and spectators.
S ...
**
Football in Japan
*** Women's football in Japan
*
Japan Football Association (JFA)
*
Japanese association football league system
The Japanese association football league system is organized in a pyramidal shape similar to football league systems in many other countries around the world. The leagues are bound by the principle of promotion and relegation; however, there are s ...
*
WE League (I)
*
Nadeshiko League
The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Sports league, league in Japan.
The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese association football ...
**
Nadeshiko League Division 1 (II)
**
Nadeshiko League Division 2 (III)
*
Regional Leagues (IV)
*
Empress's Cup (National Cup)
*
Nadeshiko League Cup (League Cup)
References
Football in Japan
{{Japan-sport-stub