is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional volleyball player. She's a member of the

Japan Women's National Volleyball Team The Japan women's national volleyball team (Hinotori Nippon, 火の鳥NIPPON), or ''All-Japan women's volleyball team'', is currently ranked 7th in the world by FIVB. The head coach is Ferhat Akbaş. One of their greatest successes was at the 19 ...

, as one of its outside hitters. In 2025, she is assigned as the national team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and currently plays for the club Igor Gorgonzola Novara. She won the title of

2024–25 Women's CEV Cup The 2024–25 Women's CEV Cup was the 53rd edition of the European Women's CEV Top Teams Cup, CEV Cup volleyball club tournament. Format Qualification round (Home and away matches): *32nd finals Main phase (Home and away matches): *16th finals ...

for the first time of the club's history. Ishikawa competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Women's volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. She used to be the captain of Japan U-18 and U-20 national volleyball team.

Personal life

Ishikawa has one older sister and one older brother,

Yūki Ishikawa is a Japanese male professional volleyball player from Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. He is the captain of the Japan men's national volleyball team, and plays as an outside hitter. At club-level, he currently plays for Sir Susa Vim Perugi ...

, who is the team captain of

Japan men's national volleyball team The Japan men's national volleyball team (), also referred to as Ryujin Nippon (Japanese: 龍神ニッポン; Literal translation, Lit. trans: ''Dragon God of Japan'') or simply Nippon, represents Japan in international volleyball competitions an ...

. She was motivated by her siblings to start playing volleyball and her brother would always give good advice about spiking when she was in high school.

Career

Early years

She started playing volleyball when she was in the third year of Yahagi Minami Elementary School, in Okazaki city, and joined the local club team Anjo Kita Rabbits. In 2013, she attended Nagano City Susobana Junior High School, which is known as a strong team. In junior high school, she participated in the "National Junior High School Athletic Meet" for three consecutive years, winning twice in 2013 (1st year) and 2015 (3rd year). After graduating from junior high school in 2016, she entered Shimokitazawa Seitoku High School, which has a prestigious high school volleyball team. She had become a regular player since the first year and won the "2016 The National High School Comprehensive Athletic Meet Volleyball Tournament" (Inter-high) by defeating Kinrankai High School with a set count of 3–0. In 2017, she became the ace of the team and at the "69th All Japan Volleyball High School Championship" (Harutaka), she led the team and defeated Shujitsu High School with a straight set in the final round. In March 2017, Mayu was first registered as a member of

Japan women's national under-18 volleyball team Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in th ...

and competed as national team representative for the first time at 2017 Asian Girls' U18 Volleyball Championship in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. She served as the captain and Japan team won the title. In the third year of high school in 2018, she became captain of the team. In the same year, at the "2018 The National High School Comprehensive Athletic Meet Volleyball Tournament" (Inter-high), she defeated 3–0 in the final with Kinrankai High School and achieved the third tournament victory for the first time in two years. At the "73rd National Sports Festival Volleyball Competition" (Kokutai) in the fall, as the representative of Tokyo, her school had defeated Kinrankai High School with a set count of 3–1. The victory made Shimokitazawa Seitoku High School achieve two consecutive high school crowns. In January 2019, the team challenged the triple crown in the "71st All Japan Volleyball High School Championships" (Harutaka), Shimokitazawa Seitoku High School lost to Higashi Kyushu Ryutani High School with a full set in the semi-finals round.

Professional years

On January 16, 2019, Toray Arrows of the V.League Division 1 announced that Mayu would join the team as an informal player. She debuted in 2018/19 season, in the final 8 round, in the match against

Hisamitsu Springs is a women's volleyball team based in Kobe, Hyogo, Kobe city, Hyogo and Tosu, Saga, Tosu city, Saga, Japan. It plays in V.League (Japan), V.League 1. The club was founded in 1948. In July 2020 the team announced an official name change from ...

in the starting lineup. In July 2019, at

2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship The 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship will be the twentieth edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship, contested by the women's national teams under the age of 20 of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, Mayu served as the captain of the under-20 national team. Mayu led the team to victory and received the "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) and 2nd "Best Outside Spiker" awards. In August of the same year,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

won the gold medal at the

2019 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship The 2019 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship was the twentieth edition of the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Korea Volleyball Ass ...

, and Mayu received the same awards at the end of the competition. Her success was evaluated by

Kumi Nakada is a former professional volleyball player and former coach of Hisamitsu Springs. She was a setter who led Japan to the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles at 18 years of age. Coaching In October 2016, Nakada became the ...

, the director of the Japan senior national team, so she became a member of the

2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 2019 FIVB Women's World Cup was the 13th edition of the event, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The tournament was held from 14 to 29 September 2019 in Japan. T ...

Japanese roster. In the tournament, she was appointed as a starting member in the matches against

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and was the best Japanese scorer in both games. In 2021, she participated in the

2021 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League The 2021 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League was the third edition of the FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, an annual women's international volleyball tournament. The 2021 version of VNL was scheduled to start earlier than the previous ...

. Mayu was also part of the Japanese women's roster for the

. In April 2025, She and her club, Igor Gorgonzola Novara, won their first

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

trophy. In May, it was reported that Mayu would be the new captain of the national team and lead the team competing in 2025 VNL and

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. She and her brother become the first siblings who serve as the captain of the Japan national team.

Awards

Individual

* 2018-2019 All Japan High School Championship - Best Outside Spiker *

- Best Outside Spiker *

- Most Valuable Player *

- Best Outside Spiker

High school team

* 2016-17 All Japan High School Championship- - Champion, with Shimokitazawa Seitoku * 2017-18 All Japan High School Championship- - Bronze medal, with Shimokitazawa Seitoku

Club team

2018–19 V.League Division 1 Women's The Volleyball 2018–19 V.League Division 1 Women's was the 25th tournament year and the 1st top level women's tournament of the newly branded and reorganized V.League (Japan). It was held from November 3, 2018 – April 13, 2019. Clubs P ...

- - Runner-up, with Toray Arrows * 2018-19 Kurowashiki Tournament - Simple_cup_icon

- Champion, with Toray Arrows *

2020–21 V.League Division 1 Women's The Volleyball 2020–21 V.League Division 1 Women's is the 27th volleyball tournament year and the 3rd top level women's volleyball tournament of the newly branded and reorganized V.League (Japan). It is held from October 17, 2020 – February 21 ...

- - Runner-up, with Toray Arrows * 2020-21 Japanese Empress' Cup - - Runner-up, with Toray Arrows *

- Champion, with Igor Gorgonzola Novara

National team

* 2017 Asian Girls' U18 Volleyball Championship - - Champion *

- - Champion *

- - Champion

References

External links

Profile Player - Japan - FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship 2019
at ''FIVB.org''
中国＆韓国撃破の立役者・石川真佑にVNL公式サイトが注目！「高みを目指すため欠かせない存在だ」【女子バレー】
at ''yahoo.co.jp''
石川真佑と黒後愛。女子バレーの若きエースが攻守両面で見せる進化
at ''sportiva.shueisha.co.jp''
優勝は逃したが…東レ女子"21連勝の立役者"石川真佑20歳の「頼もしい」成長ぶり　2つの課題を克服できたワケ
at ''number.bunshun.jp''
東レアローズ石川真佑選手のタテヨココネクション
at ''getsuvolley.com''
Player focus: Mayu Ishikawa -Japan's top scorer in their victory against China on Wednesday
at ''volleyballworld.com'' * Mayu Ishikawa's Japanese Wikipedia
Volleyball-Brother can wait as Japan's Mayu Ishikawa focuses on Games
at ''

reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

.com'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishikawa, Mayu 2000 births Living people Japanese women's volleyball players Japan women's international volleyball players Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players for Japan Sportspeople from Okazaki, Aichi Volleyball players from Aichi Prefecture Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Japanese sportswomen