The Japanese Top League ジャパンラグビートップリーグ

Suntory Sungoliath club won the Top League in 2017

The Japanese rugby championship

The Top League is the national rugby championship of Japan, where the sport enjoys an ever-increasing popularity, espacilally with the organization of the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

The top 16 rugby clubs in Japan

Here are the 16 teams vying for the 2017-2018 season of the Japanese Top League, with the corresponding cities and the year they were founded, in the ranking order of the previous season. The names of the clubs can be surprising at first, as they are very commercial! The practice of naming, aiming for a company to sponsor a sports club or a stadium by using its name, is very common in Japan.

Suntory Sungoliath (Fuchu, 1980)

Yamaha Jubilo (Iwata, 1984)

Panasonic Wild Knights (Ota, 1960)

Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers (Kobe, 1928)

NTT Shining Arcs (Chiba, 1976)

Ricoh Black Rams (Tokyo, 1953)

Canon Eagles (Machida, 1980)

Toyota Verblitz (Toyota, 1941)

Toshiba Brave Lupus (Fuchi, 1948)

NEC Green Rockets (Abiko, 1985)

Munakata Sanix Blues (Munakata, 1994)

Kubota Spears (Abiko, 1978)

Kintetsu Liners (Higashi-Osaka, 1929)

Coca Cola Red Sparks West (Fukuoka, 1966)

Toyota Industries Shuttles (Kariya, 1984)

NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (Osaka, 1994)

Total Victories By Team

Toshiba Brave Lupus: 5

Suntory Sungoliath: 4

Panasonic Wild Knights: 3

Sanyo Wild Knights: 1

Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers: 1

Suntory Sungoliath club won the Top League in 2017

Latest Articles

L'artisanat traditionnel du Tohoku - les poupées Kokeshi

Traditional Arts & Crafts of Tohoku

Located north of the main island of the Japanese archipelago, the northern part of Honshu known as Tohoku has its own cultural identity and traditions passed down from generations for years.

Summer in Japan: Furin

5 tips for surviving the Japanese summer

With its temperatures reaching 40°C in the sun and its humidity... the Japanese summer can be unbearable when you are confronted with it for the first time.

Torii Gates

Shinto & Shrines

A guide for travellers to Japan on Shintoism and visiting shrines with information sourced from a 17th generation Shinto Priestess. 

See All (368)