Japanese national Australian rules football team
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
.
The team represents the best Japanese born players and is selected by AFL Japan
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 successful team has been the Tokyo Goannas, who have...
from domestic competitions which have been running since 1987.
Identity
Since its inception, the team is nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d the Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
.
The team wears the national colours 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 in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
) with the official Samurais logo featuring a caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
warrior. In 2006, the design featured a predominately black strip with white stars and red trims. For the 2008 International Cup, the team reverted to a predominately white strip with a red sash.
History
The Samurai's first international opposition was in 1995 when the team competed in the Arafura GamesArafura Games
The Arafura Games is a Multi-sport event held every 2 years in the Australian city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It is an international event which draws its competitors from around the world. First held in 1991, the most recent Games, held in 2009, involved over 30 nations and over 3,000...
. 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
Australian Football International Cup
The Australian Football International Cup is an international sport competition in Australian rules football...
in 2002 finishing in 10th place.
2004 saw a vastly improved Samurai touring Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, 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
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
in the Arafura Games
Arafura Games
The Arafura Games is a Multi-sport event held every 2 years in the Australian city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It is an international event which draws its competitors from around the world. First held in 1991, the most recent Games, held in 2009, involved over 30 nations and over 3,000...
. 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
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 2006, 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 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 SakakiMichito Sakaki
Michito Sakaki , is an Australian rules football player from Japan.Michito has achieved recognition as currently being one of the best and most successful players to learn and play the game outside of Australia....
, current captain of the Samurai, has trained with the Essendon Football Club
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
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 Cup
- 20022002 Australian Football International CupThe 2002 Australian Football International Cup was the inaugural international Australian rules football tournament held in Melbourne, Australia in 2002....
: 10th - 20052005 Australian Football International CupThe 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
: 9th - 20082008 Australian Football International CupThe 2008 Australian Football International Cup was the third time the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition, has been contested....
: 8th - 20112011 Australian Football International CupThe 2011 Australian Football International Cup is the fourth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League....
: TBC
Arafura Games
- 1995: 4th (as Japan/ Singapore)
- 1997: 6th
- 1999: Qualifying rounds
- 2001: 4th