Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks – nicknamed the Blue Sharks – are a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese rugby union team, currently playing in the

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. The team is the rugby team of

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

, civil engineering and

general contracting A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

firm Shimizu, based in Chūō in Tokyo. The team was created in 1976 as the rugby union team for Shimizu Corporation. When rugby union in Japan was restructured in 2003 with the introduction of the Top League, Shimizu Blue Sharks was allocated to the second tier Top East League. They were relegated after the 2007–08 season, and played in lower leagues for a decade. They won promotion back for the 2017–18 season, where they secured a fourth-place finish. The following season, they won the competition, and also won their

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

match against

Chugoku Red Regulions Chugoku Electric Power Rugby Football Club – nicknamed the Red Regulions – is a Japanese rugby union team, currently playing in the Japan Rugby League One. The team is the rugby team of electric utilities provider Chugoku Electric Power, based ...

to be promoted to the

Top Challenge League The Top Challenge League was a professional rugby union competition in Japan. It was the second-highest level of rugby competition in the country and is a companies league; all the teams are owned by major companies and the players are generally e ...

for

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. The team rebranded as Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the

in 2022.

Squad

The Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks squad for the 2023 season is:

External links

References

{{Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks squad Rugby clubs established in 1976 1976 establishments in Japan Japan Rugby League One teams